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Centuries of Craftsmanship
The roots of
the trade and of the organization of craftsmen in Britain, for example, are to
be found more than five centuries ago. In 1422 a list of the crafts "exercised
in London from times of old" includes the coppersmiths and braziers. Half a
century earlier attempts by the craftsmen to protect and advance the trade were
recorded in the books of the London Guildhall in 1365 when it was recorded that
the "good men of the mystery of founders" petitioned the Mayor and Aldermen
complaining that:
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divers
members of the mystery make their work of false metal and use false solder
which, when exposed to fire or great strain, break and dissolve to the great
damage of those that do purchase them and to the great slander of the City
and the whole mystery.
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The next 300 years were the era of the Guilds, organizations
controlled by master craftsmen, designed for their own benefit, but also
striving to maintain the integrity of their trades. The Guilds were
fundamentally employers organizations, with journeymen and apprentices under
their employ governed by strict and often harsh rules and discipline.
The crafts were diverse and often in competition.
Coppersmiths, Braziers and Tin Plate Workers were the largest during this
period. Most of the tools of the trades remain familiar today. The Court of Tin
Plate Workers in 1760 listed the requirements for setting up a tin plate shop.
In addition to a few tools unrecognizable today, the list includes: "large and
small anvil, large and small shears, large and small beak irons, smoothing
hammers, planishing hammers, hollowing hammers, flate faced hammers, creasing
hammers, creasing irons, hollow and flat punches, chisels and gouges, knippers,
plyers, squares and rules, soldering shanks, a vide, fire pots and large and
small compasses."
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The key to
control of the trade was control of apprenticeship. Seven years of servitude
was established by law. Each master was limited in the number of
apprentices, usually three or fewer. Apprentices lived in the home of the
master and were fed and clothed, but received no wages. Whipping was legal
and an apprentice who fled was prosecuted on his capture.
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The Guilds survived and functioned for a remarkably long
time. By the middle of the 18th century, however, the system was in decline.
Throughout that century the largest London guild, the London Tin Plate Workers
Company was locked in a running battle with journeymen. An important means of
control was the fixing of prices for the various articles produced. But by 1769
journeymen were in full revolt against the prices established. Repeated court
actions to revise prices upwards failed; however, increasingly masters were
forced to negotiate their price lists with the journeymen. It was the dawn of
the new era of trade societies, resisted fiercely by the employers. Records
indicate that as early as 1721 employers complained of these "unlawful
combinations".
The first evidence of formal union organization in the
trades is a handwritten book of articles of the Friendly Society of Tin Plate
Workers of London, dated January 1798. At that time and for several decades
after, union organization as we know it was illegal. Accordingly, the stated
objectives of the Friendly Societies were deliberately vague, suggesting that
their primary purpose was to aid members in distress through unemployment or
illness.
By the beginning of the 19th century, coppersmiths were
working mainly on vats and boilers for breweries and distilleries, were
producing copper utensils and were active in the shipping industry. Tin plate
workers were producing pots, pans, kettles, baths, lamps, dairy equipment and a
range of other household and industrial items.
Conditions of work in 1815 spelled out the following hours:
In Summer:
From six o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening from Tuesday through
Friday. Work started an hour later on Monday and finished an hour earlier on
Saturday.
In Winter: From eight o'clock in the morning until eight in the evening
from Monday through Friday and eight to five on Saturday.
Holidays allowed: Christmas Day and Good Friday.
When Britain
began manufacturing tin plate in the 17th century, after its introduction from
the continent, the work was centred in Wales. Later Wolverhampton in the English
midlands became a major centre. The workers, who were said to be descendants of
the old travelling tinkers, included both highly-skilled and semi-skilled
workers. The highly-skilled tin plate workers were among the higher paid workers
in the region.
An important factor throughout the 19th century was the
tramping system. With no unemployment pay for most workers, members of the
various trade societies were enabled to leave their home town in search of work.
Arriving in a new town, they could register with the landlord at the local
society's public house. They were usually provided one night's food, lodging and
beer, but if no work was available they were expected to move on. The landlord's
records served as a clearing house of information as to the work situation in
the town and in nearby towns.
For young men the system was not too hard, but for older
men, life on the road and separation from wives and families imposed severe
hardship.
Strikes were a rarity throughout the 18th century because
most of the industry was operating on a handicraft basis. One British historian
was able to record only 433 strikes in all trades in all of Britain between 1717
and the end of the century. In the years that followed, however,
industrialization and the development of larger companies created conditions
under which tradesmen began to turn to various forms of collective action.
An early struggle of importance was the campaign against the
Combination Acts which, from the first passage in 1799, made collective action
by workers illegal.
In 1824 the laws were repealed and a wave of wage claims and
strikes swept the country. The campaign, which led to repeal, also resulted in
establishing the first national union of tin plate workers, uniting local
societies from many cities and towns throughout Britain. While the organization
only lasted for three or four years, it marked the beginning of the path toward
creation of an effective union, years later.
Following a series of strikes and lockouts, union delegates
from a wide variety of trades met in London and formed the Grand National
Consolidated Union in 1834.
The last half of the 19th century saw the dream of a
national union become a reality. The formation of the General Tramping Union of
Tin Plate Workers in 1861, followed by the formation of the Amalgamated Tin
Plate Workers of Birmingham and Wolverhampton led eventually into a merger as
the National Amalgamated Tin Plate Workers in 1900. Later, as the organization
embraced other, smaller trade groups, it became known as the National Union of
Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers. In 1983 the
union ceased to exist as a separate entity and became the craft section of the
Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (Technical and Supervisory Section). A
further merger in 1990 created the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, an
unusually diverse conglomeration.
The history and development of the sheet metal industry
owes much to this legacy of the craftsmanship and trade union commitment of
generations of British coppersmiths, braziers and tin plate workers.
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The other
important historical roots are found in the development of the International
Union in North America. Even before the American Revolution, British and
Irish settlers in the northeast states had established a tradition of
travelling tinsmiths who were the original Yankee peddlers. They travelled
far afield bringing their household tinwares to the sparsely settled
countryside, often doing customized work to fit farm or domestic needs.
During the same era coppersmith shops became common, after the advent of
copper mining in the middle of the 18th century. The coppersmiths produced
both heavy and light domestic wares, but also produced much fine work, now
valued as colonial art. Paul Revere, historically famous as a silversmith
was originally a coppersmith.
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By the middle of the 19th century, following the Civil War,
the United States was expanding and industrializing at a rapid pace. The demand
for skilled craftsmen was great, but an economy, which was experiencing intense
boom and bust periods also created great insecurity, even for the skilled
craftsmen. Trade union organization was spreading rapidly throughout the
country, but employer and government opposition was fierce.
In 1887, Robert Kellerstrass, secretary of the relatively
large and well established Tin & Cornice Makers Association of Peoria, Illinois,
took the initiative in establishing a national union. For months he communicated
with tinners locals where ever they could be found. Finally, a founding
convention was set for Toledo, Ohio on January 25, 1888. Delegates from
Illinois,
Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee and Ohio met for four days, establishing
the Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers' International Association. In five
short years the organization grew to include 108 locals, to be found in most of
the United States.
In 1897 the organization became the Amalgamated Sheet Metal
Workers International Association. In 1903 the name was changed to the
Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers International Alliance. The current name - Sheet
Metal Workers International Association - was adopted in 1924.
In 1896 the first local was chartered in Canada first in
Toronto, four years later in Montreal and in 1902 in Vancouver.
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