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cigar to fifteen cents, while
William Collins contended the increase would be less than 1/4th of a cent. Collins blamed the manufacturers for increased prices, stating that from 1906 to 1919, cigar manufacturers have increased their prices by $ 30 per 1,000 cigars, while cigar makers had only received a raise of $ 3.80 per 1,000 cigars made. Waitt & Bond cited increased wages of cigar packers, tobacco stripers, and general workers, increased federal taxes on cigars, increased tobacco prices, and other increased expenses, including freight and insurance rates, as the reason for the increased price and went on to state that Boston's cigar manufacturers were operating at the lowest profit since the establishment of the industry.
54:. After this, the manufacturers clashed with the local union, who threatened to strike if the manufacturers hired more employees, implemented the use of machinery, weighed tobacco, ended the practice of cigar makers using their mouths to shape cigars, or dismissed an employee without the consent of a union committee. On January 24, 1919, the Boston Cigar Makers' Union adopted a resolution calling for "all the land and workshops and public utilities" to "be conscripted for control by the
131:"Lack of business training, acumen and experience seems to be the generally accepted reason for the failure". All of the Co-operative's departments, except for bookkeeping and accounting, were staffed by cigar makers, which resulted in buyers and salesmen with little experience. Becker also criticized the accounting department, which he stated was "run by a man who owed his position to a feeling of sympathy by certain members".
34:'s 2,400 cigar makers walked off the job in protest of their employer's failure to meet their demand of a 13 7/11% raise. Three of Boston's largest cigar manufacturers chose to leave the city rather than meet the union's demands and a number of union members formed a cigar-making co-operative. By August 30, 1919, all of the remaining manufacturers had reached agreements with the union.
121:, was the Co-operative's first manager. Its factory was a former bowling alley. Although all of the Co-operative's employees were union members, the union officially had nothing to do with the business. The Co-operative operated on a "one-man, one-vote" system, which entitled a member to only one vote no matter how many shares he held.
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of the Cigar Makers' International Union. He also stated that the manufacturers would refuse to consider the cigar makers demand that "no firm shall discharge an employe without first consulting the grievance committee". Rothfuss claimed that the wage increase would raise the price of a ten-cent
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as a result of the walkout. Prior to the strike, Waitt & Bond had employed 1,200 cigar makers and had a weekly payroll of $ 30,000. Upon moving to Newark, Waitt & Bond operated on a non-union machine production basis. Other cigars makers followed suit. C. C. A. also moved to Newark while
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also faulted the Co-operative for not making an effort to take advantage of special seasonal demands and stated that "the generally accepted...final blow was due to a decision of the Board of
Directors not to center their activities in New England, but to open up a market in New York City". The
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President George W. Perkins criticized the amendment as an "attempt to fasten upon the
International Union...a communistic, socialistic, soviet form of government". On June 19, 1919, Perkins wrote that the proposed strike by the cigar makers would "put the Boston seed cigar entirely out of the
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The strike ended on August 30, 1919, when the
Sullivan factory in Manchester and the cigar makers agreed on a compromise of $ 20 per 1,000 cigars made (down from the union's original demand of $ 21). By that time, H. Traiser, Elcho, M. C. A., and Alles & Fisher had all resumed production.
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Following Waitt & Bond and C. C. A.'s departure, the Boston Union
Cigarmaker's Co-operative was formed. The Co-operative began with 50 cigar workers and $ 90,000 worth of capital. Morris Becker, a cigar maker who had put himself through
79:, H. Traiser, C. C. A., Breslin & Campbell, Elcho, M. C. A., and Alles & Fisher. A number of the smaller shops who had granted the increase were able to continue production. A strike at the R. G. Sullivan factory in
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market...How much longer the Boston manufacturers can continue to pay these demands, with the many restrictions thrown around them, is a mighty serious question".
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Gustave A. Rothfuss, secretary of the Boston Cigar
Manufacturers' Association, accused Local 97 of making repeating wage demands and of
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On
October 8, 1921, five creditors filed a bankruptcy petition against the Co-operative. According to the February 18, 1922 issue of
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against manufacturers who failed to implement a 13 7/11% wage increase. This shut down Boston's large cigar manufacturers, including
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By
February 1920, 100 cigar makers were employed. By that December, the co-operative was the third largest cigar factory in Boston.
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Co-operative's rights were sold to a Boston cigar factory superintendent for $ 5,500.
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165:"Can the Cigar Come Back?: A Great Industry in Process of Evolution".
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Manufacturing industry labor disputes in the United States
46:, Boston's cigar factories hired many refugees from
312:"Why Boston Union Cigarmakers' Co-operative Failed"
256:"Says 10-Cent Cigars Will Go to 15 Cents or More".
238:"Strike Ties Up Cigar Making in Manchester, N H".
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341:Stoddard, William Leavitt (December 4, 1920).
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223:"2000 Cigarmakers Strike in Boston".
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271:"Cigarmakers Deny Boosting Prices".
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447:1910s strikes in the United States
30:On July 7, 1919, roughly 2,100 of
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392:The United States Tobacco Journal
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60:Cigar Makers' International Union
104:Breslin & Campbell moved to
442:Labor disputes in Massachusetts
417:1919 labor disputes and strikes
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388:"7-20-4 Strike Has Been Ended"
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372:"Union Cigarmakers Fail".
95:Departure of manufacturers
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343:"Making Their Own Cigars"
316:Bloomfield's Labor Digest
191:"When Labor Goes Too Far"
81:Manchester, New Hampshire
140:Resolution of the strike
291:The Boston Daily Globe
273:The Boston Daily Globe
258:The Boston Daily Globe
240:The Boston Daily Globe
225:The Boston Daily Globe
412:1919 in Massachusetts
38:Early labor struggles
27:1919 strike in Boston
427:Cigar makers strikes
394:. September 6, 1919.
133:Industrial Relations
129:Industrial Relations
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374:The New York Times
293:. August 14, 1919.
119:Suffolk Law School
101:Newark, New Jersey
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56:A. F. of L.
44:World War I
406:Categories
149:References
73:walked out
52:socialists
353:: 340–341
167:Barron's
67:Walkout
48:Belgium
32:Boston
359:2017
328:2017
207:2014
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