Brotherhood of Timber Workers

The Panic of 1907 hit the United States. In response, owners and operators of sawmills in the southern pine region threaten to cut wages by 20% and increase working hours. The poor working and living conditions on top of the unannounced pay cuts angered the sawmill workers, organized a large strike in response. The managers pulled back their threat after the full-scale strike. Promises of increased pay and better conditions were made. Over the course of the next few years, conditions and pay continued to be low.[3]^:227 The work was dangerous and routine actions required workers to have enough endurance to keep up with the machines. In 1919 there were 125 deaths reported in the industry, and 16,950 accidents with injuries. [1] ^:167

The BTW was created in an effort by workers to improve these terrible working conditions in the sawmills. In 1910, lumberjacks A.L. Emerson and Jay Smith began to recruit members for the Brotherhood of Timber Workers. They moved from camp to camp to recruit hundreds of black and white workers; membership grew and word spread rapidly. By the time they felt strong enough to come public they held their first convention in Alexandria, Louisiana. It was here where they drafted their constitution that extended membership to all races and sexes.[1] ^:176 The creation of the BTW sparked the interest of the Southern Lumber Operators' Association (SLOA). Their purpose was to prevent unions from rising in the lumber camps. Under a strict watch by John Henry Kirby the BTW's formation was known.

The clash began in 1911 when SLOA shut down 11 mills in De Ridder, Louisiana, locking out the workers in an attempt to defeat the BTW before it could gain momentum. This continued and mills were being shut down in the South and members of the BTW were being blacklisted. In order for workers to work again, the SLOA came up with a solution - they had to disown the union on paper called "yellow card" contracts or anti-union cards.[4] Although this was one of the only ways for workers to gain their jobs back, most members refused and this made the union stronger.

The attempts by the SOLA to crush the rising union had failed and mills were reopened. The clash was not over but mill workers had won a small battle receiving a slightly higher wage.

At the BTW's second annual convention held in Alexandria, Louisiana in 1912, Bill Haywood, also known as "Big Bill" Haywood, attended with leaders A.L. Emerson and Covington Hall. He noticed that two separate conventions being held, one for blacks and one for whites. Haywood addressed this problem in an attempt to unite the union, calling for black and white to join in one convention hall.[5] The BTW made a step toward equality for their colored members. The affiliation with the Industrial Workers of the World(IWW) was voted in favor by a vote of 71 ½ to 26 ½. A "Board of Colored Executive Officers" was established to work in conjunction with the White Executive Officers.[6]

The Lumber Operators' Association criticized the BTW as an anarchistic, race-mixing organization, in an attempt to diminish support among white workers.[7] After affiliation with the IWW, the BTW had presented the Lumber operators with a list of demands. Company managers locked out union workers and brought in scab labor. The mills also employed operatives to expose workers who were a part of the union. They hired armed guards, essentially their own private police or militia, to keep organizers out. Many of these guards were deputized by the local sheriff, providing an impression of legal sanction and creating a militarized environment.[8] This set the stage for the incident at the Grabow mill.

On July 7, 1912, A.L. Emerson led a group of strikers toward the King-Ryder mill. Upon hearing the news that H.G. Creel was almost assassinated, they changed course toward the Galloway mill in Grabow, Louisiana. After arriving Emerson began to talk to the crowd, when gunshots were fired from the company office.[9] This sparked a gun battle between the company gunmen and the armed union participants. According to a news article in the Dawson Daily News, four men were killed and four other men were seriously wounded as a result of the battle.[10] There were also 37 men who were wounded.

Following the incident, 49 union men and officials were arrested and facing charges of conspiracy and murder. After two months all 49 men, including A.L. Emerson were acquitted at trial of all charges and were set free.[11] This victory was a key point in the history of the BTW, but the trial had drained most of the BTW's resources.

In Merryville, Louisiana was an American sawmill that was owned and managed by Sam Park. What set Merryville apart from the rest of the mills operating during that time, was that the owner Sam Park "tolerated" the BTW. Most of his workforce was composed of union members.[12] This made Merryville an important piece in the Brotherhood's financial plans. With other mills locking out workers and blacklisting union members, and the Grabow Trial draining the BTW's funds, Merryville became a source of income for the BTW.

Park was strongly disliked by SLOA and they criticized him for "treachery" for his refusal to shut down his mills during lockouts, and for tolerating the BTW.[1] ^:196 Park became a target for SLOA in their attempts to crush the BTW. They were successful and Park was removed from Merryville.

The new management made clear their feelings towards the BTW by firing 15 employees that played a part in the Grabow Trial.[1] This instigated a strike that the BTW knew that they didn't have the funds to support following the Grabow Trial. Although funds were depleted the BTW started a strike against the Merryville Mill with 1,200 men.[1] This strike although was partially successful in the beginning, but the BTW in shutting down the mill began to lose its strength as the mill began to fully operate with nonunion workers. The end of the strike was signaled when a group of people called "The Good Citizens League" attacked the headquarters of the strike and essentially ran the BTW out of Merryville.[13]

The loss of the Merryville strike resulted in the decline of the BTW. Their resources had been depleted and membership had fallen since the Grabow Trial. SLOA has successfully defeated the BTW and crushed the union following the loss of the Merryville strikes. While the union continued to exist until 1916, the union was "effectively destroyed" by Merryville strike. [3]

• "Clash between Strikers Fatal". Dawson Daily News, 23 July 1912: 2+. Google News. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2014.
• Fannin, Mark. Labor's Promised Land: Radical Visions of Gender, Race, and Religion in the South. N.p.: U of Tennessee, 2003. Print.
• “Grabow Rioters Are Acquitted.” Tulsa Daily World (Tulsa, Ok.). November 3, 1912. (Accessed November, 2014).
• Green, James R. "The Brotherhood of Timber Workers 1910-1913: A Radical Response to Industrial Capitalism in the Southern U. S. A.", Past & Present No. 60 (1973): 161-200, via JSTOR. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2014.
• Green, James R. Grass-roots Socialism: Radical Movements in the Southwest, 1895-1943. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1978. Print.
• Haynes, John Earl. Unrest in the Piney Woods: Southern Lumber and the Brotherhood of Timber Workers in the Early Twentieth Century. PhD Diss. Florida State U, 1966. Unrest in the Piney Woods: Southern Lumber and the Brotherhood of Timber Workers in the Early Twentieth Century. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2014.
• Marquis, David, The Brotherhood of Timber Workers Struggle for Recognition in the Deep South: A Time When the Law Should Be Broken. PhD Diss. U of North Carolina at Asheville, 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.