Irishlefty
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Trade Unions and the Pipe smoking industryAbout a year ago there was a thread that mentioned an advertisement for DG as "proudly Union made".
There was a Display Fixture and Smoking Pipe Worker’s Union (I believe in the CIO prior to the merger with the AFL) that recorded 5,000 members in New York in 1950. There were labor contracts with 'several' New York manufacturers and a 'branch' in Chicago with one Master Contract.
In attempting to further research the issue, I run into a distinct lack of information in the AFL/CIO records. All references to the 'Display Fixture and Smoking Pipe Worker's Union' dissappear after 1956.
In a 1950's court appeal against Fair Trade legislation, the Union expressed the opinion that their organization could not survive with out protectionist legislation eliminated by the new legislation as 'cheap' labor from European competitors created an unfair disadvantage to the American manufacturers who had labor contracts providing paid vacations and health and welfare benefits.
I have not yet been able to find specific information about the organization and longevity of the Dr. Grabow plant in Chicago but I will keep working on it.
Happy Labor Day.
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ozark southpaw
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Interesting! Never heard of pipe workers unions before. Could that have been part of the reason for the move to Sparta I wonder?
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ted
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| ozark southpaw wrote: | | Interesting! Never heard of pipe workers unions before. Could that have been part of the reason for the move to Sparta I wonder? |
That's the story I always heard. HLT/Grabow/Royalton/VanRoy were operating in Ozone Park NY (3 of RJ's pictures are of Christmas parties in
NY back in the 40's) with most employees Unionized.
The story is that they closed the plant on a Friday without telling the employees, had the movers and crews ready, and loaded all they would need. Opened up the following Monday beside the D&P facilities in Sparta.
The last Christmas party picture is 1943 and the archives here in Sparta say the factory started in 1944.
I've heard this from so many old sources that I'm sure the "gist" of it is true....ted
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Irishlefty
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Ted is most likely correct. The typical tactic of business to avoid Unions was to close down plants that voted the Union in and move to 'right to work' states where the laws made it darn near impossible to organize.
The first lesson I learned in the mid-60's on my first Union job was "go for a fair contract but not one that is so expensive to the employer that he will close the shop". The big problem was containing the zealots who wanted to get everything they could - if the company folds, no one has a job.
I am proud of a record of good contracts and maintaining good working relationships with management. I got a lot more from someone I just made laugh then someone I just got angry.
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LokoMac8
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Re: Trade Unions and the Pipe smoking industry | Irishlefty wrote: | About a year ago there was a thread that mentioned an advertisement for DG as "proudly Union made".
There was a Display Fixture and Smoking Pipe Worker’s Union (I believe in the CIO prior to the merger with the AFL) that recorded 5,000 members in New York in 1950. There were labor contracts with 'several' New York manufacturers and a 'branch' in Chicago with one Master Contract.
I have not yet been able to find specific information about the organization and longevity of the Dr. Grabow plant in Chicago but I will keep working on it. |
This is something that I have been intrigued about myself and the fact you found a name for the organization means you have already found more than I have in several years. I am glad to see someone else has an interest in this area of Dr. Grabow history and is researching it. Little is really known about something that majorly influenced Dr. Grabow history, from combining of previously seperate companies, the move of HL&T to Sparta and perhaps even the retirement of Linkman and the sale of the Dr. Grabow pipe name to HL&T.
The Union era of Dr. Grabow was very short lived, but it DID make print in both a couple of magazines ads and on some pipe displays. --RJ--
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Irishlefty
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RJ,
I had an inside track - access to the AFL/CIO archives, as disorganized as they are.
You and I understand that history is not just interesting but important. Now if we could only teach elected officials at all levels that you have to learn from history and avoid making the same old mistakes, then we might have something.
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Terry292
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| Irishlefty wrote: | | Now if we could only teach elected officials at all levels that you have to learn from history and avoid making the same old mistakes, then we might have something. |
Never gonna happen in our lifetimes, Lefty. Somebody, somewhere in the government, read 1984 a few years ago. It seems easier to change history than to learn from it.
Terry
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Irishlefty
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Afraid your right but I'm a cockeyed optimist.
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