48 ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL AND TIN WORKERS [ 1 80 



out regard to nationality, sex, creed or color."-^ In 1880 

 the Knights of Labor admitted negroes, and in 1885 the 

 negroes flocked into the ranks of the order in the South.-* 

 The Knights of Labor was organized by industries, rather 

 tiian by trades, so that an iron and steel local assembly 

 would include in its range all men working in a single mill, 

 both skilled and unskilled. Indeed, the Knights sometimes 

 embraced all sorts of workmen, including common laborers 

 and gas producer men. 



Friction between the local unions of the Knights of Labor 

 and the Amalgamated Association in those places where 

 both organizations had members working in the same mill 

 was constant. In 1883 a Pittsburgh labor paper-" stated 

 that the steel workers of Braddock, Pennsylvania, had had 

 their wages reduced steadily for five years, and declared 

 that this was due to weakness, resulting from a division of 

 the union forces into two separate organizations. In De- 

 cember of the same year, the men of the Edgar Thomson 

 Steel Works at Braddock were notified of a reduction of 

 thirteen per cent, to take effect at the beginning of the next 

 year. A joint committee of the local unions of the Asso- 

 ciation and the Knights of Labor held a conference with 

 the company, and were informed that the reduction was to 

 affect only the tonnage men. This affected every member 

 of the Amalgamated Association, but only a small part of 

 the Knights of Labor. The assemblies of the Knights re- 

 fused to act in any way. This meant, of course, that they 

 would continue work ; and the tonnage men, as they had 

 done the year previous, accepted the reduction. 



The most serious dispute between the Association and 

 the Knights of Labor occurred in 1887 at the Mingo Steel 

 Works.^" After the United Nailers were readmitted to the 

 Amalgamated Association many of the men at this plant 



27 Proceedings, General Assembly, Knights of Labor, 1884, p. 780. 



28 F. E. Wolfe, Admission to American Trade Unions, p. 116. 

 2* National Labor Tribune, December 22, 1883. 



30 Proceedings, 1887, pp. 1935-1945 ; National Labor Tribune, Feb- 

 ruary 26 and March 5, 1887. 



