Other Tendencies. The American Federation of Labor and many of the old-line national unions, such as the railway brotherhoods, tend to become big institutional machines directed by officials out of touch with the rank and file. In times of stress, insurgent movements are almost certain to appear. Radical and discontented members break away and form new "dual" unions or become "outlaws" or insurgents while retaining nominal membership. The years 1919 and 1920 have witnessed movements of this sort. The "outlaw" strikes in the railway industry in the spring of 1920, the recalcitrant attitude of certain groups of coal miners in the fall of 1919, the strikes or "vacations" in the autumn of 1919 on the part of the members of local unions in the printing industry in spite of the opposition of the national organization, and the development of a labor party in the face of the disapproval of the American Federation officials, are tokens of a rising wave of insurgency in labor circles against the "regulars" in control. A representative of the local trade unions of Passaic, New Jersey, voiced the following sentiment in a speech before the City Council:- "I tell you, gentlemen, you are treading on dangerous grounds. Samuel Gompers, that good old man, has headed the American Federation of Labor for thirty-two years. He has held labor in check, and has held it well. . . . However, the time is coming when he cannot hold it. Labor will show its teeth, and butt." The shop steward's movement in England is indicative of growing dissatisfaction with the officers of the old-line English trade unions. Insurgency in American unions may be interpreted as an attempt to give the impetuous rank and file harassed by the high cost of living and impatient of the slow gains of business unionism, a more direct and more potent voice in the management and in the determination of the policies of labor organizations.

The recently proposed amalgamation of the Amalgamated

Clothing Workers and the Amalgamated Textile Workers, two unions outside of the American Federation of Labor; the plan favored in 1920 by the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union of forming an alliance of all unions of men's and women's garment and cloth headgear workers, an alliance of the needle trades; and the temporary united efforts of twenty-four organizations in the steel strike of 1919 clearly point toward a growing unity of action among allied trades. Another tendency, which the rising cost of living has greatly accelerated, is found in the organization of municipal employees, "white collar" workers, and professional workers. Among the new organizations many of which are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, are: The American Federation of Teachers, including certain locals composed of university teachers; the International Association of Fire Fighters; the National Federation of State, County and City Employees; the Library Employees' Union of New York; organizations of school custodians and janitors; a union of draftsmen; and others of a similar type.1 Organized labor in the United States may be expected to experience significant changes in program, methods and membership in the near future.

REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING

Hoxie, "President Gompers and the Labor Vote," Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 16: 693–700.

Kennedy, "Socialistic Tendencies in American Trade-Unions," Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 15: 470-488.

Walling, "The New Unionism," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 24: 296-315.

King, Industry and Humanity. Ch. 11.

Hoxie, Trade Unionism in the United States.
Hunter, Labor in Politics.

1 Janes, Quarterly Journal of the University of North Dakota, January, 1919.

Carlton, Organized Labor in American History. Chs. 8, 10, and 11. The American Labor Year Book, 1919-1920. Pt. 6.

Wright, "The Contest in Congress between Organized Labor and Organized Business," Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 19: 235-261, February, 1915.