organization during the year. At the time of the convention 32 central labor unions and 391 local unions were affiliated with the State Branch. During the fiscal year ending in September, 1914, 62 unions with an aggregate membership of approximately 10,000 wage-earners became affiliated with the organization. The Executive Board reported that numerous charters for the organization of new unions in Massachusetts had been issued by the international organizations during the year and that these new organizations covered a wide representation both of localities and occupations.

The action of the previous convention in providing for permanent headquarters for the organization, and for the payment of an increased salary for full-time service of the Secretary-Treasurer, was found to have resulted in greatly increasing the efficiency of the organization. According to reports of the executive officers made at the convention, the organization had enjoyed the most successful year in its history, and attention was called to its improved financial standing, the important labor legislation obtained through its efforts, the increase in the number of its affiliated unions, and the highly satisfactory progress of the labor movement in this State.

Among the resolutions passed at this convention one urged the further support of the labor press and another provided for the appointment of a committee to prepare plans for a campaign for the purpose of increasing the sale of goods bearing the union label.

Considerable time was devoted at this convention to a consideration of the report of its Legislative Committee. Many items of legislation were endorsed and the committee was directed to introduce bills covering these matters at the legislative session of 1915, and to lend its support to other bills relating to these subjects which might be introduced independently of the committee.

III.

NUMBER AND MEMBERSHIP.

1. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

Within the specific industries or trades over which they have jurisdiction the national and international unions assist in the organizing activities of their affiliated locals and in securing improved conditions for their members. The relationship between local unions and international unions is, therefore, so intimate that any adequate consideration of the locals in Massachusetts should include at least a brief statement relative to the number and aggregate membership of the locals in Massachusetts affiliated with the respective international unions.

2

A careful canvass of the international unions having one or more affiilated locals in the United States showed that there were 145 organizations of this character, of which number 113, or 77.9 per cent, were represented by affiliated locals in Massachusetts, and that the aggregate number of local unions in the United States was approximately 31,000, of which number 1,392,3 or 4.5 per cent, were in Massachusetts. According to a report by the New York State Bureau of Labor the aggregate trade union membership in the United States in 1913 was 2,604,701,4 and accepting this aggregate as approximately correct for 1914 (there having been only a slight change in trade union membership during the year), we find that Massachusetts, with 234,266 trade unionists at the close of the year, furnished approximately 9.0 per cent of the aggregate number in the United States.

A large majority of the international unions in the United States are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It is therefore important that a statement be made with reference to the number and membership of the local organizations directly or indirectly affiliated with this Federation. Of the 145 internationals having affiliated locals in the United States, 109, or 75.2 per cent, were affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and of these 109 internationals, 84, or 77.1 per cent,

1 As used in this report the terms "international organization" and "international union" include, for purposes of brevity, both national and international unions. For definitions and use of terms in this and other sections of this report, see Appendix, pages 60 and 61.

2 For the statistics in detail by international unions, see Table 1 on pages 47 to 50.

Of this number 46 were directly affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and 31 were independent, i.e., were not affiliated with any international organization.

No effort was made by this Bureau to ascertain at first hand the aggregate membership of all unions affiliated with each international, as it was not deemed advisable to duplicate the work of the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics in compiling information of this character. See article on "International Trade Union Statistics", in New York Labor Bulletin No. 67, November, 1914.

were represented by one or more locals in Massachusetts. The total number of local labor organizations in Massachusetts affiliated with the Federation, either directly or through the 84 affiliated internationals which had chartered locals in the State, was 1,136, or 81.6 per cent of the 1,392 locals in the State, while the aggregate number of organized wage-earners in Massachusetts, directly or indirectly affiliated with the Federation, was 173,443, or 74.0 per cent of the 234,266 organized trade unionists in the State.

The aggregate membership of the American Federation of Labor "paid-up and reported" in September, 1914, was 2,020,671.1 Using this aggregate as a basis it is found that Massachusetts, with 173,443 trade union members directly or indirectly affiliated with the Federation at the close of the year, furnished approximately 8.6 per cent of the aggregate membership of the Federation.

There were 13 internationals, each of which was represented in Massachusetts by affiliated locals having an aggregate membership of over 5,000 members. These internationals are listed in the following table in the order of their aggregate membership, and for each organization the number of affiliated locals in the United States and in Massachusetts, and the aggregate membership of affiliated locals in Massachusetts, are shown.

National and International Unions Represented by over Five Thousand Members in Massachusetts at the Close of 1914.

1 See "Report of the Proceedings of the Thirty-fourth Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor,"

p. 44.

* In addition to the organizations having over 5,000 members in Massachusetts listed in this table, there were five organizations, each having more than 25 locals in this State, but having an affiliated membership of less than 5,000.

The Boot and Shoe Workers Union, with an affiliated membership of 28,411, ranked first in point of membership, followed in order by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, with 18,548 members, and the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, with 15,386, while each of 10 other organizations were represented by over 5,000 members in affiliated locals in Massachusetts.

With reference to the number of affiliated locals in the State it should be pointed out that the relative rank of the several organizations on the basis of number of affiliated locals by no means corresponds with their rank on the basis of aggregate membership. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, with 150 locals in Massachusetts, ranked first with respect to the number of locals in this State, the Boot and Shoe Workers ranked second with 69 locals, and the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers of America, with 63 locals, ranked third. In addition to these three organizations there were 15 others (five of which are not listed in the table) which had over 25 affiliated locals in the State.

For the purpose of comparison with the number of locals in Massachusetts, the corresponding number of locals in the United States is also shown in the table. It is of interest to note the proportionate representation in Massachusetts as indicated by the number of locals affiliated with the several internationals listed, ranging as high as 51.1 per cent in the case of the United Shoe Workers of America, and 41.3 per cent in the case of the Boot and Shoe Workers Union. In these two cases the percentage is naturally high, for the reason that a considerable portion of the boot and shoe manufacturing establishments in the United States are located in this State.

The number of locals, as classified under each occupation elsewhere in this report, does not represent invariably the number of locals in Massachusetts affiliated with any international having jurisdiction over that occupation, for in some cases one or more of these internationals conflict in their jurisdiction over the same occupation or group of occupations, while in other cases several closely related occupations may be under the jurisdiction of a single international.

Nearly all of the local organizations in Massachusetts, while affiliated with their respective international organizations, are at the same time affiliated with what this Bureau has found convenient to designate as

1

"delegate organizations", which have no direct membership but consist merely of "delegates" or "representatives" from groups of local unions. These organizations have, for convenience, been grouped under three classes: (A) State, District, and Trades Councils; (B) Central Labor Unions; and (C) Local Trades Councils.

B. STATE, DISTRICT, AND TRADES COUNCILS.

The total number of organizations included in this group2 at the close of 1914 was 74, as compared with a total of 71 at the close of 1913. These 74 organizations included 12 State Branches, comprising locals affiliated with various internationals; seven New England District Councils having affiliated locals in Massachusetts; 26 Railway Adjustment Committees, Grievance Committees, and Conference Boards; and 29 District Trades Councils (including carpenters, 11; painters, five; machinists, three; and others, 10). The number under each class in 1914 varied but little from that in 1913, the only variations being an increase of one each in the number of State Branches, Railway Adjustment Committees, and Painters District Councils.

The organizations of this character having at least 25 affiliated organizations in Massachusetts were: The Massachusetts State Branch of the American Federation of Labor, which at the close of the year represented 32 central labor unions and 391 local unions; the Massachusetts State Council, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, with 150 locals; the Grand Council of Carpenters of Eastern Massachusetts, with 68 local unions and 7 Local District Councils; the Massachusetts State Conference of Bricklayers, Masons, and Plasterers, with 45 locals; the New England Organizing Conference of Boot and Shoe Workers, with 39 locals; the Massachusetts State Conference of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers, with 34 locals; the Massachusetts State Association of the United Association of Journeymen Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Steamfitters Helpers, with 31 locals; and the New England District Council of Electrical Workers, with 30 locals.

C. CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS.

The number of central labor unions in Massachusetts at the close of 1914 was 36, as compared with 35 in 1913. There was one such body in each of 25 cities and 11 towns. In 103 cities there was no organization

1 See definition on page 60.

For a comparative statement for the years 1908-1914, see Table 2 on page 50.

While these cities had no central labor union, at least one of the local unions in each of these cities was affiliated with a central labor union in a neighboring city.