140 ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL AND TIN WORKERS [^2/2 



modification,® was not terminated until 1874, when the 

 manufacturers forced a strike against a reduction of wages. 

 The strike lasted during the winter of 1874-1875, and ended 

 with the manufacturers individually signing the scale. 



In tihe course of time, the iron trade became specialized 

 and split up into several branches. Nevr methods of manu- 

 facturing soft steel enormously enlarged and changed the 

 industry. Tin mills began to be built more extensively in 

 the early nineties, and the manufacture of tin increased by 

 leaps and bounds. Through all the changes, the Amalga- 

 mated Association clung to the old tradition, and endeav- 

 ored to include all the new branches in the scale and to 

 cover the whole of the country." Its passion for extension 

 and completeness prevented the grmvth of geographically 

 sectional societies such as exist in England and Scotland, 

 or the separation of the steel workers from the iron work- 

 ers. And throughout, the Amalgamated Association has 

 held to its policy of annual conferences and joint agreement 

 to sliding scales. 



The original scale was signed by a committee of the pud- 

 dlers and a like committee which represented the entire 

 group of manufacturers. The strike of 1874 put an end 

 to this practice. Since that date, the union has formulated 

 its scale, and has presented it for signature to individual 



• A slight technical change was made in 1871, cutting up the divi- 

 sions of advance or decline into tenths, instead of quarters, of a 

 cent per pound in the price of pig iron. In 1908 a further change in 

 the system of computation was made. The rate was subdivided into 

 twentieths (Proceedings, 1908, pp. 8246-8247). This modification 

 has continued to date. A copy of the scale of July 23. 1867, may be 

 found in the report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor, 1881, p. 

 12; also in the Vulcan Record, December. 1873, no. 13, p. 36. The 

 scale of April 14, 1875, is printed in the Vulcan Record, 1875, no. 16, 

 PP- 34-35- The first scale in the finishing departments was a scale 

 for guide mill rolling, April, 1872. A copy of the agreement is re- 

 corded by Jos. D. Weeks in the report of the Massachusetts Bureau 

 of I^bor. 1 881, p. 14. 



* The scale of 1881-1882 was a pamphlet of fifteen pages and cov- 

 ered fourteen items. In 1890 there were separate pamphlets for iron 

 and steel, the iron scale having thirty-one pages and the steel thirty- 

 four. The Western Scales of Prices for 1916-1917 contained fifty- 

 four pages. 



