They first came together in the early 1880s as an affiliate of the Knights of Labor, the all-embracing late 19th century national labor organization. In 1885, some of these carpenters decided to form a new union and obtained a charter from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, an affiliate of the newly created American Federation of Labor. The St. Paul organization became Local 87, which local carpenters have used to better their conditions right up to the present day.

In the second half of the 19th century, carpenters in large American cities faced a changing labor situation. Previously, journeyman carpenters worked for master carpenters who had very few employees, or they worked directly for homeowners or small businessmen. As cities expanded, major building projects required employers who could provide a greater number of workers. As these carpenters and other building tradesmen were becoming permanent employees of building contractors, they found themselves losing their voice in determining their wages and working conditions. Local 87, in its first years, attracted many carpenters who were affected by this new organization of work. One complained to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1887: "There is not a building trade paid poorly as the skilled carpenters. Every other builder is working nine hours and is getting from 30 to 45 cents an hour for his work. You now pay the skilled carpenter 25 cents an hour for 10 hours work.”

One would think that by 1897, the year the Union Advocate was started, Local 87, now 12 years old, would have been a flourishing organization. Unfortunately this was far from the case. Taking advantage of the building boom in the late 1880s in St. Paul, in 1887 the carpenters attempted a strike to gain official recognition by the contractors and a 9-hour day. The standard at the time was 10 hours, 6 days a week. Though they failed to win their original demands, the union was able to convince hundreds of carpenters of the need for organization. By 1888, other locals joined Local 87. There were, in addition to Local 87, three ethnic carpenter locals in St. Paul: German, French, and Scandinavian, as well as Local 34 in Minneapolis started by agitation from St. Paul.

Union shrinks to 26 members
But the boom of the late 1880s was followed by the bust of the 1890s. Many discouraged carpenters changed occupations. Some left the city while others, unable to keep up their dues, dropped out of the union. By December of 1892, Local 87 was the only carpenters local in the Twin Cities and membership had fallen to 26 members. Only one of the original members remained in good standing. Throughout the 1890s the carpenters tried various organizing methods: holding open meetings with outside speakers, waiving initiation fees, even offering prizes for the member who brought in the most new recruits. But the industry was still in a depression and though Local 87 built its membership up to 60 in 1895 and 1896, they were back down to 40 members in 1897. The numbers stayed low until late 1898 when an interesting development occurred which changed the union\'s fortunes.

In March 1896, August Metzer, Local 87\'s financial secretary, went to Minneapolis to swear in the first 25 members of a new carpenters organization there -- Local 7, old Local 34 having closed its doors several years previously. The new local grew rapidly, and during 1897 they began sending delegations to Local 87\'s meetings to push the idea of standardizing wages and working rules for both cities. More importantly, they offered ideas to the St. Paul local as to how to build up their union. On August 16, 1898, Local 7 sent 50 of its members to Local 87\'s meeting and L.F. Blakefield, the business agent of Local 7, addressed the meeting at length. Blakefield continued to attend the biweekly union meetings in St. Paul for the next few months. In October he suggested that Local 87 start holding weekly meetings and elect a full-time business agent . The membership readily agreed. The new business agent, J.B. Morrison, began a one-on-one organizing campaign which quickly doubled the local\'s ranks. The Union wrote up their first agreement which Morrison eventually got almost all the contractors to sign. Although it was not much of a contract -- a 9-hour day with wages allowed to "regulate themselves at present" at 25 cents an hour or less -- but at least the carpenters had their foot in the door.

Grows in influence and power
From this point the union grew steadily in influence and power. Although not as strong as their Minneapolis brothers who claimed more than 800 members, the St. Paul local increased its membership to nearly 600 in 1900 and almost 700 the next year. Unions really took hold among the building trades during these years. Nationally, the Carpenters Union almost tripled its numbers between 1900 and 1910. In May 1900, with nearly all local builders under contract, the local demanded an 8-hour day with wages of 30 cents an hour. The contractors gave little resistance. A year later, the bosses reluctantly conceded the union\'s demand of 32 1/2 cents an hour. That fall the local bought matching shirts, caps and suspenders to wear in the Labor Day parade. They must have been a proud bunch.

But in 1902 when the carpenters tried to match the Minneapolis union scale of 37 1/2 cents, they were forced to strike. What really irritated the Builders\' Exchange, the employer organization, was the union demand for a union shop and that the contractors in the future would have to negotiate with the Building Trades Council rather than the individual unions. Employers across the country, alarmed by the growing popularity of unions, were beginning to strike back at workers with an "open shop drive." In 1900, 40,000 building trades workers in Chicago had been locked out by their contractors over their membership in the Building Trades Council. The Chicago dispute continued for the entire year until finally the unions surrendered and gave up their Council. Emboldened by the victory in Chicago, and fearful of the solidarity that a strong Building Trades Council would bring, the St. Paul Builders\' Exchange refused to recognize the Council.

When the carpenters went out in May of 1902, the bricklayers immediately followed out of sympathy. Soon the stone masons walked out, too, as did the mason tenders, hoisting engineers, steam fitters and iron workers who had their own dispute with the employers. The Builders’ Exchange claimed that the Building Trades Council was behind this impressive show of solidarity and they demanded its abolition. The Council and the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly in turn threatened to call out as many as 4,000 additional workers in a "general building trades strike." After three weeks, the Builders\' Exchange agreed to back off of its demand for the abolition of the Building Trades Council. The union compromised on wages, agreeing to a sliding scale between 30 and 40 cents. The carpenters insisted, though, that none of their members would work for under 37 1/2 cents, which they continued to enforce as their scale.

While the history of Local 87 would remain stormy in years ahead, it had built a solid foundation for itself, one grounded in solidarity with other building trades unions.

John Sielaff has been a member of Local 87 for 20 years.

Illustration by Ricardo Levins Morales, Northland Poster Collective.