Labor’s Reconstruction: Social Democracy and Progressivism in American Trade Unions, 1917-1925
Open AccessThis dissertation details the political maturation of organized labor in the United States. After World War I, the federal government ended its supports for collective bargaining and returned the industries it had nationalized to private ownership. In response, many employers cut wages, lengthened the working day, and laid off workers by the thousands. American unions often initiated work stoppages and protested, but striking had only limited success in reversing job cuts. In this moment, left-leaning trade unionists recognized that workplace justice required both political action and industrial action. They often described their movement as seeking a “reconstruction” of American political and economic life.European social democrats, particularly those in the British Labour Party, influenced this ideological turn toward worker-led reconstruction. The global economic calamity of the immediate post-war era convinced those on Europe’s broad left that only strong government intervention in the economy could ensure a reasonable standard of living. Social democratic parties won several important elections on the eastern end of the Atlantic during the 1920s and inspired American labor leaders to try and recreate that success. They attempted to do so largely by founding a new political institution, the Conference for Progressive Political Action (CPPA). This dissertation centers on the CPPA. It begins by showing how radical trade unionists, socialists, and liberals disaffected by Woodrow Wilson’s handling of the post-war era formed the Conference to gain influence in government. The CPPA would elect politicians dedicated to enshrining worker protections into law, advance public ownership of economic sectors vital to everyday life, and push for a general redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom. Organized labor’s interest in social democratic politics led several unions to unite a broad group of radical intellectuals and politicians behind a complex and competent electoral machine. The dissertation explains how the resultant CPPA succeeded in holding together a broad left, with at times conflicting beliefs in liberalism, progressivism, and socialism. Importantly, many in the Conference (though crucially not all) hoped to organize all workers across gendered and racial divisions. Many working women and African American reformers had a deep interest in social democracy and greater economic equality. This dissertation shows how some of the roots of the “classic” civil rights era emerge from the labor reconstruction period of the early 1920s. A central figure in this dissertation is Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, whom the Conference for Progressive Political Action ultimately nominated to run for president in 1924. La Follette actively sought trade union support and positioned himself as the CPPA’s de facto leader in Congress. Though he did not win his presidential election, the movement the senator helped construct survived. This dissertation concludes by showing how several CPPA veterans and their ideas shaped the New Deal and provided American liberalism its more social-democratic undertones.
- All rights reserved
Notice to Authors
If you are the author of this work and you have any questions about the information on this page, please use the Contact form to get in touch with us.