- Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance
The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance - commonly abbreviated STLA or ST&LA - was a revolutionary socialist labor union in the
United States closely linked to theSocialist Labor Party (SLP), which existed from1895 until becoming a part of theIndustrial Workers of the World at its founding in1905 .The idea to found the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance likely came from
Daniel DeLeon , a leader in the Socialist Labor Party. Before1895 , DeLeon and the SLP had worked within theKnights of Labor , but then they were driven out. OnDecember 6 ,1895 , members of the Knights met inNew York City to found the STLA. At the following convention of the SLP in1896 , it formally endorsed the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance.Hugo Vogt represented the labor union at the convention and promised that it would "not be affiliated with any capitalist party and will not spport any political action except that of the Socialist Labor Party."The organization of the STLA was very similar to that of the Knights of Labor. It differed from the
American Labor Union and the IWW, which it would later become a part of, in that it was not structured industrially. It radically resented the established trade unions, like theAmerican Federation of Labor ; its Declaration of Principles asserted that "the methods and spirit of labor organization are absolutely impotent to resist the aggressions of organized capital".The union was, however, never able to reach a mass following. Even at the most liberal estimate, it never had more than 15,000 members. It did not control any large factories was only able organize one significant strike - in Slatersville,
Rhode Island (now part ofNorth Smithfield ) -, which was, however, a great failure. In1905 , at that union's founding convention, the STLA became a part of the Industrial Workers of the World, an industrial union. Some in the IWW feared DeLeon, who became an important leader in the organization, would attempt to make it a shadow of the SLP, as the STLA had been. In1908 , the IWW was split and DeLeon and some of his fellow STLA members left it.Archives
* [http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/KCL05168.html Guide to the Socialist Labor Party Records, 1877-1907] . Collection Number: 5168. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.Consist of the official records of the Socialist Labor Party from its organization in 1877 until 1907. Retrieved September 19, 2006.
Articles
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/deleon/pdf/1895/1895_dec15.pdf#search=%22%22socialist%20Trade%20and%20labor%20alliance%22%22 "Editorial: The Socialist Trade & Labor Alliance"] . By Daniel De Leon. The People, New York, Sunday December 15, 1895. DeLeon article on the split from the Knights of Labor. Archived by the
Marxists Internet Archive . Retrieved September 19, 2006.
* [http://www.slp.org/pdf/de_leon/ddlother/ddl_ha1900.pdf#search=%22%22socialist%20Trade%20and%20labor%20alliance%22%22 "The Socialist Trade & Labor Alliance versus the ‘Pure and Simple’ Trade Union"] : "A Debate at the Grand Opera House, New Haven, Conn., November 25, 1900, between Daniel De Leon representing the Socialist Trade & Labor Alliance and the Socialist Labor Party, andJob Harriman , representing the "Pure and Simple" Trade Union and the Social Democratic Party". Daily People, Vol. I, No. 155. Sunday, December 2, 1900. 44 Page Document of contemporary debate. Retrieved September 19, 2006.* [http://www.slp.org/pdf/slphist/pre_stla.pdf "Preceding the ST&LA"] . Daily People. Vol. X, No. 1. July 3, 1910. By "X. L. Y., New York". Socialist Labor Party perspective on formation of ST&LA. Retrieved September 19, 2006.
References
* Brissenden, Paul Frederick: "The I.W.W.: A Study of American Syndicalism". New York: Columbia University Press. Pg. 47-49.
ee also
*
Labor federation competition in the U.S.
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