From socialism to solidarity: The politics of District 54 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

The politics of Cleveland District 54 International Association of Machinists calls into question labor historians John R. Commons, Selig Perlman, Michael Rogin, Julie Greene, and Philip S. Foner's bland descriptions of the American Federation of Labor and its affiliates' political and organizational activities. They have depicted the AFL and its affiliates as self-satisfied bureaucracies that only tended to skilled craftsmen's needs and either excluded or half-heartedly participated in politics. This dissertation agrees with the works of Michael Kazin, Gary M. Fink, and Richard Schneirov who deal with local labor union history and politics, where union members, factionalized by both major political parties and an array of third-parties, played an important role in determining the preservation of United States democracy. It will show that under a unified national labor law, local and state labor union political activities gained a voice and a measure of justice in the workplace through political solidarity.;The value of the political history of the machinists is synonymous with their role in our modern world. Their skills are the industrial cornerstone and keystone of society. Not only do machinists manufacture the machinery for production and all consumer products, but more importantly, they keep them in working order.;Cleveland District 54 political history mirrors the entire regional labor history. Although, New York and Chicago surpassed Cleveland's labor leadership position, its pivotal events impacted national labor policy. These include the political achievements of John Fehrenbatch, James Reynolds, and Harry Vollmer, and Cleveland's participation in the Brown Hoisting strike and injunction action, the 1900--1901 eight-hour National Association of Manufacturers' first national agreement, the National Civic Federation membership controversy, and the machinists' periodic advocation of industrial organization and amalgation of lesser-skilled workers.;District 54 under Matthew DeMore's long leadership held the distinction of being the largest machinists district before the organization of the huge-aviation districts. DeMore revised its constitution and by-laws and made Cleveland a model for other districts to emulate.;The district united the Cleveland labor community by establishing regional affordable family union eye care and the first pre-paid medical care plan in Cleveland. In return, the city honored the machinists as one of Cleveland's most honest and progressive labor unions.