The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance was a citizens' alliance formed by business interests in Minneapolis in 1903.
Looked up "Minneapolis citizens' alliance" on Internet Archive, left off on "Going it Alone" book.
BOOKS / JOURNAL ARTICLES.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
JOURNALS.[9]
- CURRENTLY ON MILLIKAN 2001, p. 24.[10]
Background
edit
By the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota had become one of the largest centers of flour milling in the world, producing about 15 million barrels of flour annually.[11] Much of this success was due to the largescale wheat production in the region, as the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Montana during this time were producing roughly 750 million bushels of wheat annually, with Minneapolis serving as the main processing and distribution center for the industry.[11] The city's milling industry during the time was dominated by several large milling companies, including Pillsbury and the Washburn-Crosby Company, who collaborated economically.[11] In 1881, these companies established the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, which they used to set prices for member companies and exclude non-members from the grain exchange.[12] In addition to the Chamber of Commerce, other civic and business organizations were formed to promote industry in Minneapolis, such as the Minneapolis Business Union in 1890 and the Minneapolis Commercial Club in 1901.[13] Around the same time, as Minneapolis's economy continued to grow, so too did the population, increasing from 66,000 in 1880 to 165,000 in 1890.[14]
Organized labor in Minneapolis
editRoughly coinciding with this period of time was a rise in labor organization among workers in the state, as the 1880s and 1890s saw the formation of several statewide labor union federations.[15] This continued into the Progressive Era as activists and reformers advocated for increased organization.[16][14] Between 1900 and 1902, Minneapolis, which historically had not had a very strong organized labor presence, membership in labor unions had roughly doubled, with about 30,000 workers represented in 300 different unions.[17] During that same time, the number of annual labor strikes increased from 11 to 24.[17]
In the early 1900s, Minneapolis experienced a small labor shortage of skilled workers,[18] primarily among machinists.[19] Emboldened, a group of about 150 machinists organized the Machinists' Union Local 91,[20] a local union of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), in 1900.[19] By the following year, Local 91 had members representing three different foundries.[19] In April 1901, the local submitted a list of demands to machinist employers that included increased wages, guaranteed overtime pay, and a standard nine-hour workday.[21] Additionally, the machinists were seeking a closed shop system in Minneapolis whereby employers could only hire union members.[16] The employers rejected the demand, prompting a labor strike.[21] However, to combat the union, an employers' organization, the Twin City Association of Employers of Machinists, was formed, representing 42 local foundries.[22] The employers' organization took a hardline stance against the union and by July, the strike had ended in failure for the organized workers.[23] As a result of the successful strikebreaking, the city's foundries remained open shop, meaning that union membership was not a requirement for employment.[19]
History
editFormation
editAccording to historian William Millikan, the employers' organization's success in breaking the 1901 machinists' strike demonstrated to the business community of Minneapolis as a whole the necessity of having an organized opposition to labor unions.[24] The perceived necessity of such an organization was further highlighted in 1902, when a truck drivers' strike slowed down the city's economy.[25] By 1903,[16][26][27] influential businessman Edmund J. Phelps and former judge-turned-business lawyer Martin B. Koon had convinced others in the city's business community to form a citizens' alliance.[28] Otis P. Briggs, who had previously led the organization of the machinist employers during the 1901 strike,[29] was tapped to draft a constitution for this new group, drawing largely from the open shop policies of the National Metal Trades Association, a nationwide employers' organization.[10] Briggs framed the alliance's anti-union and pro-open shop stances as a matter of individual liberty.[30] To that end, he cited the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States,[30] further stating that the closed shop was a violation of people's rights protected by the First Amendment.[31] Per their own constitution, the four main goals of the Minneapolis Citizens Alliance was:[10]
- To promote, on a fair and equitable basis, industrial peace and prosperity in the community, and the steady employment of labor.
- To discourage strikes, lockouts, and unfair demands by either employer or employee.
- To secure for employer and employee freedom of contract in the manner of employment.
- To uphold the principle of the Open Shop.
- Northwestern Knitting Company was a member company.[32]
- List of some of the establishers.[14]
- Notable members, primarily milling companies, bankers, and department store owners.[31]
- Founding members were also members of some other groups, LIST HERE.[14]
- Minneapolis Club functioned as the Citizens Alliance's social arm.[33]
- From 1903 to 1917, every citizens' alliance president was also a member of the Minneapolis Club.[34]
- Difference between Saint Paul and Minneapolis, existence of a WASP presence in Minneapolis, but not so much in Saint Paul.[35]
- Martin B. Koon, judge, founded both alliance and club.[33]
- Quote from Walker about religion.[36]
- Often downplayed their own self-interests and instead utilized a social Darwinism approach to paint unions as bad.[37]
- Utilized boycotts and credit threats to keep members in line.[38]
- ORGANIZATION, MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS, AND DUES.[37]
- Connection to Woman's Club of Minneapolis.[39]
- Described by MNopedia as an "employer advocacy group".[40][41]
- One of a number of similar groups in existence in the United States by the end of 1903.[42]
- Part of a nationwide trend against unionization in the United States between 1902 and 1917, followed by the American Plan post-WWI.[43]
- Banks forced some members to join by threatening to withhold credit.[16][44]
- Threatened boycotts against companies that negotiated with unions.[44][45]
- Fought back against unions, tried to get open-shop policies.[16]
- Fought to keep Minneapolis a non-union city.[40][46]
- Alliance strengthened by success in the 1903 flour mill strike.[46][47]
- List of legislation passed in early 1900s, with citizens alliance influence.[15]
- 1916: Monthly bulletin established, info on readership over time, tried to target working class people to combat socialism and anarchism.[38]
- WWI: Public Safety Commission alleged to have close ties to the Citizens Alliance.[48]
- Post-WWI: Citizens Alliance controlled the Community Fund, a public welfare fund.[49]
- 1917: Hosted by Winnipeg citizens who considered creating their own citizens' alliance, later influenced actions in the Winnipeg general strike.[50]
- 1919: Free Employment Bureau established to find work for unemployed people.[51]
- Helped to establish the Committee of Thirteen, patterned after the Committee of Fifteen in NYC, to root out vice.[49]
- By 1923, women's group had severed ties with the Citizens Alliance, feeling that their commitment to capitalism was at odds with their social reform efforts.[52]
- 1920s through 1930s: Engaged in fighting against the Journeymen Barbers' International Union of America.[53]
- 1927 to 1930: United boycott of union shops.[38]
- By 1930s, represented about 800 employers in Minneapolis and had a full-time staff, along with paid informants.[54][31]
- Alliance spent thousands of dollars annually on labor surveillance.[55]
- Other actions against unions at the time, labor spies by large companies.[16][26]
- Many members were small business owners and entrepreneurs, but much of the financing came from the larger businesses.[31]
- Had received national attention by the 1930s due to their success.[43]
- 1931: Job-a-Week Program established to hinder unemployed organization efforts.[51]
- Quote about founder of alliance talking about open shop policy going into 1934.[56]
TEAMSTERS STRIKE
edit- 1930s: New Deal politics and Farmer-Labor governor spurred more union activity.[40]
- Farmer-Labor Governor Floyd Olson, very pro-labor.[44]
- 1933 NIRA: Impact and response from the alliance.[55]
- Going into 1934, Citizens Alliance had broken every Minneapolis strike since WWI.[52]
- 1934: Activity with the Teamsters' strike, organized special deputies with the police.[40]
- Citizens Alliance created a police force, negotiated with authorities (mayor and governor), and attempted to use nonunion labor to end the strike.[37]
- 1934 strike broke the alliance.[44][41][57]
- Teamsters' strike broke citizens' alliance's power in Minneapolis, which became much more union-friendly.[40]
- Strike broke the alliance's control.[58]
- Specific account of one battle in 1934.[59]
- Strike was the citizens alliance's "critical point".[46]
- DISCUSSION ON THE STRIKE.[60][61]
- Strike became catalyst for National Labor Relations Act of 1935.[44]
- Later history post-Teamsters strike, continued to live on.[31]
- Alliance revamped their NIRA attack efforts.[55]
- Later Strutwear strike in 1935 and 1936.[62]
- Began to decline in the 1930s, embraced anticommunism in 1940s and 1950s, but lost its complete anti-union strategy.[63]
Legacy
edit- Succeeded by the Associated Industries of Minneapolis.[64]
- St. Paul Daily News accused the group of engaging in terrorism, similar to radical labor unions.[38]
- Quote by Peter Rachleff about about "enemies of organized labor from the Twin Cities".[65]
- Quote on how the alliance controlled the city's economy until the Great Depression.[18]
- Quote on "notoriety".[43]
- Quote from Charles R. Walker about the alliance.[66]
References
edit- ↑ Wingerd, Mary Lethert (2001). Claiming the City: Politics, Faith, and the Power of Place in St. Paul. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-3936-0. OCLC 47018407.
- ↑ Palmer, Bryan D. (2013). Revolutionary Teamsters: The Minneapolis Truckers' Strikes of 1934. Historical Materialism Book Series. Vol. 53. Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-25420-6. OCLC 869372537.
- ↑ Palmer, Bryan D. (2022). James P. Cannon and the Emergence of Trotskyism in the United States, 1928–38. Historical Materialism Book Series. Vol. 232. Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-47151-1. OCLC 1256628645.
- ↑ Leonhardt, David (2024) [2023]. Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream (Random House Trade Paperback ed.). New York City: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-8333-3. OCLC 1468437015.
- ↑ Walker, Charles Rumford (1937). American City: A Rank-and-File History. New York City: Farrar & Rinehart. OCLC 480952.
- ↑ Korth, Philip (1995). Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87013-385-5. OCLC 31737916.
- ↑ Nord, David Paul (1986). "Hothouse Socialism: Minneapolis, 1910–1925". In Critchlow, Donald T. (ed.). Socialism in the Heartland: The Midwestern Experience, 1900–1925. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. pp. 133–166. ISBN 978-0-268-01719-4. OCLC 13268603.
- ↑ Chrislock, Carl H. (1991). Watchdog of Loyalty: The Minnesota Commission of Public Safety During World War I. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-263-3. OCLC 23356164.
- ↑ Millikan, William (Summer 1989). "Maintaining "Law and Order": The Minneapolis Citizen's Alliance in the 1920s". Minnesota History. 51 (6). Minnesota Historical Society Press: 219–233. ISSN 0026-5497. JSTOR 20179148. LCCN 85652033. OCLC 977573215.
- 1 2 3 Millikan 2001, p. 24.
- 1 2 3 Millikan 2001, p. 3.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 3, 18.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 20–22.
- 1 2 3 4 Wheeler 2004, p. 13.
- 1 2 Wheeler 2004, p. 14.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Backerud, Thomas K. (December 11, 2024) [August 21, 2014]. "Progressive Era in Minnesota, 1899–1920". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 10, 2025. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- 1 2 Millikan 2001, p. 5.
- 1 2 Nathanson 2010, p. 6.
- 1 2 3 4 Nathanson 2010, p. 71.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, p. 6.
- 1 2 Millikan 2001, p. 8.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 9, 12.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 10–12.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 12–16.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 22–23.
- 1 2 Backerud, Thomas K. (August 26, 2014). "What it meant to be 'progressive' in turn-of-the-century Minnesota". MinnPost. OCLC 191956532. Archived from the original on December 20, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Nathanson 2010, p. 72.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. 23–24.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, p. 9.
- 1 2 Millikan 2001, p. 13.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 106.
- ↑ Marks 2011, p. 29.
- 1 2 Wheeler 2004, p. 110.
- ↑ Kramer 2010, p. 47.
- ↑ Nathanson 2010, p. 100.
- ↑ Quam & Rachleff 1986, pp. 106–107.
- 1 2 3 Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 107.
- 1 2 3 4 Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 108.
- ↑ Wheeler 2004, p. 25.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Alam, Ehsan (February 6, 2019) [July 2, 2015]. "Minneapolis Teamsters' Strike, 1934". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 7, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- 1 2 Alam, Ehsan (July 7, 2015). "1934 Teamsters' strike turned Minneapolis from 'scab' town to union supporter". MinnPost. OCLC 191956532. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Pearson 2016, p. 48.
- 1 2 3 Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 105.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Croce, Randy (June 26, 2023) [October 8, 2019]. "Labor and Labor Organizing in Minnesota". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 1, 2025. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Croce, Randy (September 5, 2023). "The history of labor organizing in Minnesota". MinnPost. OCLC 191956532. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- 1 2 3 Jessup, Molly (April 19, 2022) [December 22, 2021]. "Minneapolis Flour Mill Strike, 1903". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Jessup, Molly (January 3, 2022). "How owners broke the 1903 Minneapolis flour mill strike". MinnPost. OCLC 191956532. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Wheeler 2004, p. 40.
- 1 2 Wheeler 2004, p. 49.
- ↑ Kramer 2010, pp. 46–47, 175.
- 1 2 Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 110.
- 1 2 Wheeler 2004, p. 109.
- ↑ Beer, Tom (December 7, 2021) [July 6, 2015]. "Journeymen Barbers in Minnesota". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Stipanovich 1982, p. 179.
- 1 2 3 Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 109.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, p. 12.
- ↑ Alam, Ehsan (May 8, 2023). "The Minneapolis teamsters' strike of 1934". MinnPost. OCLC 191956532. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
- ↑ Nathanson 2010, pp. 69–70, 72–91.
- ↑ Millikan 2001, pp. xxvii–xxxi.
- ↑ Galenson 1960, p. 479.
- ↑ Stipanovich 1982, pp. 179–180.
- ↑ Quam & Rachleff 1986, pp. 110–117.
- ↑ Quam & Rachleff 1986, p. 117.
- ↑ Nathanson 2010, p. 91.
- ↑ Rachleff 1993, p. 38.
- ↑ Quam & Rachleff 1986, pp. 105–106.
Sources
edit- Galenson, Walter (1960). The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935–1941. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC 258904.
- Kramer, Reinhold (2010). When the State Trembled: How A.J. Andrews and the Citizens' Committee Broke the Winnipeg General Strike. Canadian Social History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-9039-4. OCLC 755882788.
- Marks, Susan (2011). In the Mood for Munsingwear: Minnesota's Claim to Underwear Fame. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-822-2. OCLC 694616465.
- Millikan, William (2001). A Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor, 1903–1947. Introduction by Peter Rachleff. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-398-2. OCLC 45283124.
- Nathanson, Iric (2010). Minneapolis in the Twentieth Century: The Growth of an American City. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-725-6. OCLC 351319557.
- Pearson, Chad (2016). Reform or Repression: Organizing America's Anti-Union Movement. American Business, Politics, and Society. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. doi:10.9783/9780812292206. ISBN 978-0-8122-4776-3. OCLC 933420169.
- Quam, Lois; Rachleff, Peter J. (Fall 1986). "Keeping Minneapolis an Open-Shop Town: The Citizens' Alliance in the 1930s". Minnesota History. 50 (3). Minnesota Historical Society Press: 105–117. ISSN 0026-5497. JSTOR 20178998. LCCN 85652033. OCLC 977573215.
- Rachleff, Peter (1993). Hard-Pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-450-6. OCLC 26552776.
- Stipanovich, Joseph (1982). City of Lakes: An Illustrated History of Minneapolis. Woodland Hills, California: Windsor Publications. ISBN 978-0-89781-048-7. OCLC 1193365628.
- Wheeler, Leigh Ann (2004). Against Obscenity: Reform and the Politics of Womanhood in America, 1873–1935. Reconfiguring American Political History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-7802-2. OCLC 51924191.