Existing comment:
Survival and Success
"When the very life of the organization depended on it... I mortgaged my household effects and building association stock to meet the checks and get out the Journal."
-- J.T. Kelly, 1894
Employer opposition, a tough economy and conflicting internal philosophies of trade unionism were among the major obstacles the Brotherhood faced in its first three decades. The NBEW grew in membership and became the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers with expansion into Canada, but a rift was brewing. President Frank J. McNulty's emphasis on craft unionism was at odds with Vice President James Reid's vision of industrial organizing. Reid's faction split from the Brotherhood in 1908, a division that took more than five years to settle and longer to heal. By 1917, the reunited union helped support the "Great War for Democracy" by providing skilled manpower at home and troops "over there." |