"Industrialism" was a product of the intense labor struggles of the
nineties, of the Pullman railway strike in 1894, of the general strike
of the bituminous miners of 1898, and of a decade long struggle and
boycott in the beer-brewing industry. Industrialism meant a united front
against the employers in an industry regardless of craft; it meant doing
away with the paralyzing disputes over jurisdiction amongst the several
craft unions; it meant also stretching out the hand of fellowship to the
unskilled worker who knowing no craft fitted into no craft union. But
over and above these changes in structure there hovered a new spirit, a
spirit of class struggle and of revolutionary solidarity in contrast
with the spirit of "business unionism" of the typical craft union.
Industrialism signified a challenge to the old leadership, to the
leadership of Gompers and his associates, by a younger generation of
leaders who were more in tune with the social ideas of the radical
intellectuals and the labor movements of Europe than with the
traditional policies of the Federation.
But there is industrialism and industrialism, each answering the demands
of a _particular stratum_ of the wage-earning class.
Pages:
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321