CHAPTER III 

 Jurisdiction 



" The primary aim in the formation of a trade union," 

 according to Professor Bamett/ " is to obtain unity of 

 action among the workmen in that trade. For the attain- 

 ment of effective unity it is indispensable that within a given 

 territory there shall be but one union." Accordingly, it is 

 the custom of each national union to define the territory 

 over which it claims jurisdiction and the class or classes 

 of workmen from which it expects to recruit its member- 

 ship. These claims are called respectively territorial juris- 

 diction and membership jurisdiction. 



The Iron and Steel Workers found no great difficulty in 

 defining the classes of workmen over which each subor- 

 dinate union should have jurisdiction. By reserving to 

 itself the right to determine what classes of employees 

 should be eligible to membership in the local societies, the 

 national union eliminated the question of membership juris- 

 diction so far as the subordinate lodges were concerned. 

 Among the early organizations — the Vulcans, the Heaters 

 and the Roll Hands — only " practical workmen," that is, 

 journeymen, were within the jurisdiction of the union for 

 the purpose of organization and admission to membership. 

 Each local union controlled the regular admission of per- 

 sons at work within its own jurisdiction, and only the more 

 highly skilled workmen gained admittance. Even after 

 the Association had opened its doors to helpers and other 

 classes of semi-skilled workers, local unions not infrequently 

 discriminated against them. 



The union has uniformly refused to allow local unions to 

 be divided on the basis of nationality. Agitation for sepa- 



' Barnett, p. 41. 



39 



