The Development of Unions

Disclaimer: These words are the author’s personal views and do not reflect the Labor Guild’s opinion.

I think it is important for every person that belongs to a union understand where labor unions came from, how they developed into what they are now and the union members’ responsibilities to their livelihoods and their union.

People organize around common issues. From simply help with honoring and burying the dead to protecting ships and their cargo from pirates at sea. You see, unions began around organizing, first as family bonds. Family members assisted each other for protection and survival in a very arduous agrarian culture. As tasks grew larger the families had to reach out to a greater network of assistance. Other families, friends, or like-minded people with the same shared goals of societal need and interest.
Formal craft guilds did not come about until the end of the feudal system. Where wars depleted the agrarian farm workers, along with poor harvests and plagues, people were forced into the cities, a place where trade was beginning to flourish with skilled workers. The products being made by the 1500’s were being traded to areas outside of their own country.

When workers began getting paid in currency and were not dependent on barter or the benevolence of the Lord who owned the land they were tied to, it led to the end of feudalism. The fact that workers were being paid wages pretty much was the wooden stake in the heart of feudalism. It was also the beginning of capitalism.

Craft guilds began to organize within their special craft. Blacksmiths, Bakers, Cordwainers (leather trades), Brewers, Woodworkers, Masons, Fish Mongers (traders in fish) and so many more. Each had a Patron Saint and followed strict codes of ethics and behavior in both their personal and work lives.

The main purpose of the craft guild was to protect the quality and reputation of the trade and its members. Strict rules were in place governing not only the progression from apprentice to craftsman, but also to monitor the conduct and behavior of its members. Too much time spent in a tavern, laziness, and certain spectator sports such as wrestling, theft, and breach of peace, could cause expulsion. To become a member of the craft guild, one would have to show some basic aptitude for the specific trade. Enrollees would have to find a way to get a master craftsman to train him or her as an apprentice.

Craft Guild Member Rights: A right to earn a decent living. A right to sell your goods. The right to set your own price, within limits. The right to work in another town if you wish. The right to be part of the local council. Illness in the worker’s family would be taken care of by the guild. A right to a priest at your death bed.

Craft Guild Members Responsibilities: To produce quality workmanship. To always set a fair price. Obligation to help a fellow guild member in need. An apprentice in training was prohibited from drinking and hanging out in taverns. If single, an apprentice was not allowed to court a lady.

What are union members’ Rights today? A right to progressive seniority. A mechanism to learn the trade and progress up. Access to benefits of health care for you and your family. A structure to adjudicate grievances. A right to be represented by the Union and or Attorney throughout the process. Fairness in the workplace, where favoritism is not rewarded. A right to retire with dignity.

What are the responsibilities of Union members today? Yes, that is what I asked, and it is a question that should be asked of union members more often. The answer is not simply that one pays dues. Rather: To develop your craft skills and perform them well, to do quality work. Advocate for your craft and your Union. Work to strengthen the position of your craft. Know and follow the rules of the Union. Learn and prepare yourselves to one day lead. Support each other and other unions.

The combined craft guilds of London ran the City’s local government, maintained law and order, and elected its own Mayor who was known as the “Master of all Companies” and acted as “Chief Magistrate” for judicial decisions.

With mercantilism prospering, a system with which to organize trade and tax revenue was deemed necessary. The crown awarded (to the highest bidder or best friend) a “Charter” which allowed (craft) monopolies to exist to maintain the quality of goods, from beer to shoes. These Merchant Guilds regulated the number of businesses producing those goods, including the wages for both employer and employee. Thus, they alone controlled their respective industry. A general tax had to be paid by every member called a “Scot and Lot” and an oath had to be taken, pledging to obey the rules and to pay annual dues for the privilege of doing business. Something union members still do today.

As these goods were being produced, markets, through sea trade, were being developed for them to be sold in. The earliest of these trade ventures was financed by the Guild, Saint Thomas A ‘Becket. (AKA) Merchant Adventurer, to trade with Germany and Holland in 1407. Yes, that was 85 years before Columbus set out for the Americas in 1492.

As the need for shared infrastructure increased it was necessary to raise money privately as well as jointly to finance expensive infrastructure projects such as: wharfs, convoys, and overseas embassies. The Government alone was unable to finance these multiple projects. Like I said, people organize around societal needs, interests, and issues. The decision was made to pool capital sources. This became the defining difference between Guilds and Corporations. For the very moment capital was pooled: was the moment of birth of “corporations”. In essence, the Union is the older sibling of the corporation and was born of the same mother.

The East India Company (E.I.C.) received its Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth on December 31, 1600, making it the oldest among several similarly formed European East India Companies. The E.I.C. set up private factories in foreign countries, smuggled opium to China from India, and collected the taxes for the Mughal of India. The E.I.C. even had its own jails and judicial system, coined its own currency, and built an army of 250,000 which was then two times the size of England’s troop strength. The East India Company also lent money back to the British government. This corporation eventually became so powerful it became a threat to the English government.

It had distinction of the first company to rule a country (India). However, they could not sustain the cost of military occupation and in doing so caused a famine, that claimed the death, of one third of the country’s population and brought about the Indian Rebellion in 1857.

Because the company had let things get so bad, the British had, had enough. Even though the Company had brought in a steady stream of cash to both Britain and their stockholders (many of them in Parliament) were now losing money. Members of Parliament could not lose their investment, nor could they stand by and watch one third of the population of India starve to death; nor could they dissolve the company because it controlled too much money. Thus, the government abolished E.I.C. in 1858 then annexed the company into the government structure (basically started a process to nationalize the company) and began to take over the army and assets in an effort to dissolve the company. However, it was not until 1874 that it was fully dissolved. (Is this the first example of over speculation and too big to fail?)

Another example: In 1700, Parliament authorized the joint stock venture of the South Sea Trading Company. It was designed to pay down government debt incurred from the war with Spain. It was planned that South Sea would have a monopoly on the former Spanish trade routes which included South America, allowing the Company to pay off the sovereign’s debt as well as make profits for their stockholders. Stockholders, anticipating huge returns due to the belief that gold from that region was practically infinite, along with promises of high dividends: began a frenzy of buying. Aristocrats and politicians alike lost fortunes. This is a great example of over speculation. Do you remember when we were sold on invading Iraq? Vice President Dick Cheney said that the United States would offset the cost of the invasion with the oil revenue from that country. I will stop here, although I will mention how British government gave the Virginia Company a Charter to warehouse petty thieves’ indigent women and children and as they felt they were the underbelly of society that caused disease and blight in London. They sent 6,000 people to Jamestown Virginia, viewed as a prison without walls in an attempt to colonize the New World. It led to a loss of capital on their investment and a high cost of life, of the 6,000 sent 4,800 died. Hence, their Charter was revoked.

These are just two of many examples of unbridled capitalism. In the preamble of our Constitution, the Federalist Papers, which was a series of 85 essays, 51 written by Alexander Hamilton, 29 by James Madison and 5 by John Jay. Talked about how our new government would be structured during this Antebellum Period (roughly 1780’s and pre–Civil War). The concept of including corporations as part of our structure was intentionally not included. By this time our founding fathers fully recognized the power and danger of pooled capital and joint stock corporations, as well as uncontrolled capital; and refused to add it to our Constitution. Although attempts were made and amendments to include corporations were tried; in the final analysis the founding fathers wanted nothing to do with giving federal legitimacy to such an entity. Thus, corporations were intentionally excluded from the Constitution. The corporate structure that did survive after the Constitution Convention was the reverse of the English structure. It would not be the monarchy granting charters, equivalent to monopolies, to the rich, but rather placed that responsibility on the individual state legislatures; thereby placing more restrictions upon them and making them more accountable. Charters for public service projects lasted for between twenty and thirty years before renewing. Once the project was complete, stockholders were paid off and the charter then dissolved. Banking was under even more restrictions, having to renew charters between three and ten years. These entities could not purchase stock in one another and were very closely watched to ensure they did not develop monopolistic traits like “limited liability. Most importantly corporations were forbidden to influence elections, public policy, and other civic society decisions.

This is the context and analysis of the fight that continues to be played out today. Corporations and unbridled capitalism against the workers. Owners feel they want more of the profits and workers want a livable wage and when workers don’t get what they need, they fight. Job one for corporations is to achieve a profit and job two is to maximize that profit. For workers it is to achieve a living wage to prosper, and this fight has continued since the 1500’s and will continue until capital is restricted. Like I keep saying, there is nothing wrong with capitalism that a strong dose of regulation can’t cure.