Commercial Telegraphers Union of America
The first practical telegraph system in the United States was put into operation by Samuel F. B. Morse and Alfred Vail between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC, in 1844.By 1846, telegraph lines extended along the entire eastern seaboard and were rapidly being built westward into the interior of the country.[2] The Telegraphers' Protective League (TPL), founded in 1868, took a more activist stance in demanding pay increases and better working conditions for its members.Western Union's principal competitor, the Postal Telegraph Company, also granted its operators a fifteen percent wage increase at this time.The telegraphers' strike came to the attention of the Women's Trade Union League and its president, Margaret Dreier Robins.Some of the WTUL's leaders, including Rose Pastor Stokes, Rose Schneiderman, and Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch addressed meetings of the striking telegraphers; they spoke in support of the CTUA's demand for equal pay for equal work, and emphasized the importance of getting the vote for women.Ola Delight Smith, who was blacklisted by Western Union for her role in the strike, later became a journalist and labor organizer for the CTUA.The CTUA protested the action to the NWLB, which requested the companies to take back the discharged workers in June.One of her first accomplishments was to set up a defense fund to aid the strikers arrested in Oklahoma City; eventually charges against them were dropped.By 1939, the ACA had succeeded in negotiating a "closed shop" agreement with the Postal Telegraph Company, effectively shutting out the CTUA.The NLRB required the company to disenfranchise the AWUE and hold elections in each local district to determine which union should represent telegraph workers.[14] Like many unions of the era, the CTUA practiced racial discrimination and opposed admitting large numbers of immigrants to the U.S."[15] Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor (1897-1973), Alabama politician and notorious segregationist, was a telegraph operator and CTUA member before entering politics.
United Stateslabor uniontelegraphSamuel F. B. MorseAlfred VailBaltimore, MarylandWashington, DCAmerican Civil WarWestern UnionKnights of Laboreight-hour workdayequal pay for womenOrder of Railroad TelegraphersAmerican Federation of Labor1906 San Francisco earthquakeCharles P. NeillWomen's Trade Union LeagueMargaret Dreier RobinsRose Pastor StokesRose SchneidermanHarriot Eaton Stanton BlatchMary MacaulayOla Delight SmithAmerican Telephone and Telegraph CompanySherman Anti-Trust ActWorld War INational War Labor BoardSeattleWashingtonAlbert S. BurlesonMary J. MacaulayTeletypeCongress of Industrial OrganizationsTheophilus Eugene "Bull" ConnorCommunications Workers of AmericaNorwood, Stephen H.Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor ArchivesNew York University