Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | May 30, 2022 | wbjournal.com W O R C E S T E R ' S 3 0 0 Y E A R S FOCUS BY ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL WBJ Staff Writer D rives for worker unionization seem to be in vogue. In Worcester, new unionization drives can be seen at places that only a few years ago would have been thought untenable, such as the Starbucks located on East Central Street and among physician residents at UMass Medical School. More established unions in the city have made headlines, such as when members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association striked for more than 300 days in 2021 and 2022 against Saint Vincent Hospital. But looking back at the 300 years of Worcester's history, unions have faced an uphill battle. Anti-labor history Despite being a U.S. manufacturing hub during the period of industrialization, union efforts in the city faced stiff opposition from both company leaders and the local press, said James Hanlan, a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute who specializes in urban and labor history. "Worcester manufacturers were particularly anti-labor," said Hanlan. "You had the Worcester County Employment Service, which was run by Donald Tulloch, on a building in Front Street across from city hall, and on the other side you had the Telegram & Gazette, which was run by Harry Stoddard, who was president of Wyman- Gordon. So there were two anti-labor groups, if you will, watching over everything in the city." Tulloch would use his employment agency to ensure anyone affiliated with labor organizing would be denied for the city's largest employers, while Stoddard would use his newspaper to push anti- union views onto the populace, Hanlan said. e result was Worcester having much less union representation than other manufacturing hubs around New England, like Boston and Providence, said Hanlan. It wasn't all bad for the workers of Worcester. Unlike other manufacturing hubs of New England, which specialized in textiles, Worcester focused on parts for machinery, meaning workers had to be more skilled and subsequently were oen paid higher wages. However, without proper union representation, workers were oen powerless to go against demands of their employers. Matthew Whittall, owner of the carpeting mills in the south of Worcester, for example, required all of his employees to attend church services on Sunday. "It was a strictly paternalistic organization," said Hanlan. "Can you imagine a union trying to negotiate rules about having to go to church?" Post-war demands A turning point for workers in Worcester was the outbreak of World War II, which set off a manufacturing craze in the United States in order to support the war effort, as well as help rebuild destroyed nations in its aermath. "It's simple supply and demand," said Nick Anastasopoulos, a labor and employment attorney for law firm Long-fought union battle For much of its 300-year history, Worcester has been anti-labor, making it harder to organize and fight strict company rules, such as requirements that all employees attend church (Above) Employees in the Worcester Labor Bureau in 1903, which was designed to bring workers and employers together. It was the precursor to the MassHire offices. (Left) The 1915 Worcester Machinists Strike made national headlines, including in the New York Times. The strike, which started over pay and hours during the World War I production ramp up, ended after three months once manufacturers used strike-breaking tactics. Nick Anastasopoulos, labor and employment attorney at Worcester law firm Mirick O'Connell PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY

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