THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
Temple University Professional, Technical and Administrative Employees and Merakey,
Human Services-Woodhaven Center, Administrative Assistants
1616 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-4482
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Philadelphia History
When it all started here
Yes, unions. They started here.
Pennsylvania's first labor union on record was formed by the shoemakers in Philadelphia in 1794, according to the Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor by
James C. Docherty. Strikes date back to colonial times when Philadelphia’s Journeymen Cordwainers were demanding $6 a week, but the union became
defunct after members were convicted of engaging in criminal conspiracy.
Over the decades, unions ebbed and flowed in power, but were saved by FDR and the New Deal, the first huge step toward accommodating working
families. Specifically, the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act, which provided for employees’ right to organize, and bargain collectively.
According to Philadelphia Divided: Race and Politics in the City of Brotherly Love by James Wolfinger, unions had been organizing, but the
explicit permission in the New Deal meant they could do so free from repercussions, with the side benefit that getting more involved
politically would help in creating jobs for their members.
