Brief History of Local No. 24
Amalgamated Lithographers of America
"January 14,
1915 was the date the "Charter" of Local No. 24 was
issued under the name of the Amalgamated Lithographers of America,
Local No. 24. It has operated under this "Charter"
continuously since that time and is the reason for this
anniversary observance. It must be noted that this was not
the start or founding of the "Local", nor its first
Charter.
The first seeds were sowed in the early 1890's
or possibly the 1880's when members of the "Romar Fishing
Club" then a secret society, who in June of 1882 changed
their name to the "Hudson Lithographic Association",
affiliated with the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor.
They ceased to be a secret organization and began to organize
lithographic workers wherever they found them. These members
left their jobs and journeyed to many cities, of
which Pittsburgh was one, and spread the word that a National
Organization of Lithographics Workers was being formed to protect
their mutual interests.
By 1901 there were thirty-three
members in the Pittsburgh area. A few of these members and
their local roll members were Brothers Henry Ruff No. 1; Fred
Litschge No. 2' Henry Loshelder No. 8, John Dierker No. 16 and
Jacob Schmid No. 22. On October 20th, of this same year
these members made application for a charter from the
Lithographers International Protective and Beneficial Association
of the United States and Canada, (who previously, as the Hudson
Lithographic Union, withdrew from the Knights of Labor and in 1887
formed the Independent Lithographic International Protective
Association and still later in 1894, when broadened in scope,
changed their name to the L.I.P. and B.A.) and by 1902 was granted
its first charter with the five previously mentioned brothers
being some of its chartered members. It is difficult to
trace back the exact date these Brothers became active in the
Union and the industry, but in April 1924, Local 24 gave a banquet
for Brother John Dierker, Roll No. 16 in honor of his 5oth year in
the industry. This establishes him as an 1874
lithographer. Then, also the minutes show that in May of
1927 the Union had its 25th anniversary banquet. This
substantiates the 1902 date being the original date the union was
chartered.
Our first record of attendance at
conventions, as a Local, was in 1904. It was attended by
Brother Thomas Reese, presumably the President, then in 1906 by
Brother Finley.
It might be interesting to note at
this time some conditions that existed in 1905. There were
at that time 5 Union Shops in the area, 16 Litho presses, the work
week was 48 hours, the rates of pay were: Artists $36.66,
Provers $30.00, Engravers $24.20, Pressman $22.60, and Stone
Grinders $13.20. The apprentice ratio was one apprentice to
three and one-third journeymen.
Since our early days, our progress
has been steady. We have had many difficulties but made many
gains. The interest of the worker has always been its top
objective. In order to better be able to care for our
members the Local proposed in December 1939 the possibilities of
having a full time paid President because of the increasing
burdens place on the office. It was decided that the Local
could not afford a full time officer but that at a later date one
could be established. This dream of the old-timers for a
centrally located office with a paid President again was being
considered in the year of 1953. After many meetings of the
Council Board, Membership and International, the first full time
President with a centrally located office was established the
first of November 1953. In looking back over the years we
find that the Local now consists of approximately 400
members. Our contract being in force, now calls for a 35
hour work week with wage scales as follows: Artists $119.53,
Photographers $119.53, Platemakers $113.05, Paper Pressman
$122.15, Paper Feeders $75.08, Tin Pressman $128.27, Tin Feeders
$82.25. These advantages are along with the three and four
week paid vacations, guaranteed paid holidays, paid Health and
Welfare programs, time and on-half, double and triple time for
overtime hours worked, plus many other benefits granted by the
Local. We are moving forward, as an example we now have an
apprentice school operated jointly by the Union and our
Management. This is to be further expanded so as our
Journeyman may be better equipped in their particular craft.
We have an active Education Committee and an important Health
Committee to care for the needs of the members. Our
Membership rolls are increasing.
In all of our progress let us stop
for a moment and pay credit where credit is due, that is to the
older members whose untiring and unselfish efforts made all of
this possible. Awards are to be given to our members with 25
or more years uninterrupted service to this Local, also our active
Past Presidents are to be remembered.
A complete history of the Local
will be made available at a later date.
Fraternally,
Theodore T. Meyers
President
"
(Source: 40th Anniversary Book,
January 28, 1956, an excerpt from the "History of the
Lithographer Local No. 24," compiled by President Theodore T.
Meyers.) |