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Locomotive engineers were then being paid at the rate of $60 a month on the condition that they ran at least 2,500 miles each month, regardless of the time consumed. Because of complaints about this low rate of pay and inequitable way of doing it, the Michigan Central agreed in 1862 to advance the pay of first class engineers to $85 a month. These and other concessions by the road, however, proved to be of short duration. Runs were changed in such a way that the engineers experienced reductions in pay rather than increases.
A. S. Sweet, who occupied the post of superintendent of machinery with the Michigan Central at that time, had been given that job on the promise that he would reduce costs. He was responsible for cutting the men's pay. The men carried a pointed protest to Sweet, who, as a result, fired a number of them.
J. C. Thompson, one of the original organizers of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, declared that Sweet became so incensed at having been challenged in this way that he laid off a number of firemen who had been longest in service and gave their places to others who knew nothing of the work required of them. This brought an immediate clash, for the engineers refused to go out on their runs where regular firemen had been dismissed. This attitude was an initial open display on the part of locomotive engineers to protect firemen.
Men all over the system were discouraged. Angered by the situation, a group of 13 Michigan Central engineers, failing to find privacy for a meeting on company property, gathered at the home of William D. Robinson of Marshall, Michigan, to discuss conditions and map out a plan of action.
Home of J.C. Thompson in Marshall, Michigan.
They agreed that if any one of them were discharged by Sweet, the rest would quit on the spot. A circular was prepared and they all signed it. Then they carried further their plan, which they called a Protective Association. If other engineers affiliated with the group, they, too, would be required to promise to quit the service if any member were fired.
Copies of this were circulated over the Michigan Central and other engineers, subscribing to the oath, joined the movement with enthusiasm. A committee was formed and went to Sweet's office. Sweet refused to see them at first, refusing even to speak to them. But through patiently explaining their mission, the group finally got his permission for an interview. He is said to have called out to the waiting members of the committee as he entered his office: "Well, boys, what do you propose to do, shut up the road?"
Sam Hill, one of the committee replied, "We are here as gentlemen, representing gentlemen, and desire to be treated as such." Hill went on to say that the committee was acting as a unit and that they were speaking for all the engineers from Detroit to Chicago that they had grievances that they wished to adjust. The committee discussed all of the points at issue very thoroughly and it ended by Sweet granting the whole of their requests.
When the success of this conference became known, it gave a tremendous impetus to the Protective Association and it was decided to extend the movement to all railroads. A call for a general meeting was then issued, to be held in Detroit on May 5, 1863.
MAY 8, 1863: A LABOR UNION IS FOUNDED
The Detroit convention marked a new epoch in the organization of American railroad employees. It brought together engineers from the Michigan Central, Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, Detroit & Milwaukee, Grand Trunk, and Michigan Southern. Together, the 12 delegates present drafted a constitution which combined democratic control with efficient central administration, thus solving the fundamental problem that had wrecked many previous labor organizations. After three days of deliberations and plans for the future, the delegates on May 8 joined hands and obligated themselves to abide by the constitution, forming the pioneer division of the "Brotherhood of the Footboard," with W. D. Robinson as chief engineer. This division No. 1 in Detroit still maintains its proud position as first on the roster of over 800 divisions of the BLE.
By August 1, 1863, 10 divisions had been formed. Now the constitution of the new organization provided that when five divisions were organized a delegate from each should be chosen to come together to create a grand division, so on August 18th, at Detroit, the Grand National Division of the Brotherhood of the Footboard was formed. W. D. Robinson was elected grand chief engineer.
The first year of the Brotherhood of the Footboard was anything but peaceful. A number of unauthorized strikes took place, all of which failed because of a lack of unity of interest and effort. The membership had yet to realize that the problem of one engineer was the problem of all. Many of the men were overanxious to get even with the roads on which they worked. They wanted to strike without consulting officials or considering what effect it would have on the future of the Brotherhood itself.
In the meeting room upstairs in the Old Firemen's Hall in Detroit the Brotherhood of the Footboard was organized May 8, 1863.
Rightly or wrongly, animosity was directed toward the grand officers as a result of these failures. This was encouraged by the enemies of Grand Chief Robinson, and at the 1864 convention, a resolution was passed that required all grand chief engineers to be working engineers. Robinson, who at that time was not in active service, was thus eliminated as a candidate.
Charles Wilson of the New York Central became the new grand chief engineer. A desire for change was in the air. The constitution and bylaws were amended so that no longer could machinists, firemen, and other crafts become affiliated with the organization. And, at the same time, the name of the organization was changed to Grand International Division of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
It is interesting to note that during this August 17, 1864 convention in Indianapolis, there was fear among the residents in the area of a breakout at a nearby prisonerofwar camp. Rumor had been current that these prisoners might be set free by a force coming from an outside point. When the engineers began to arrive in Indianapolis, excitement was stirred up. Reports began to circulate that the engineers were coming in disguise to free the Confederates. So a squad of Union soldiers was dispatched to march at the heels of the
delegates wherever they went. Even the hall was kept under guard while the convention was in session.
Despite its troubles, the Brotherhood grew because it offered representation and unity toward the common cause of betterment of very poor working conditions. By the time of the 1864 convention there were 54 divisions represented.
As the foundation was laid for the sturdy organization of the future, important building blocks were put into place in the next few years.
THE BROTHERHOOD MOVES FORWARD
In 1865 the first Canadian unit, Division 70 at Toronto was chartered December 5. The 1866 convention at Boston established an Orphans and Widows Fund. Still another important forward step was the establishment of the LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS MONTHLY JOURNAL. The first issue of the Journal appeared in January, 1867. This first issue carried reports from several divisions, and it was indicated at the time that there were 84 in existence.
Page 1 of the inaugural issue.
The conduct and personal habits of engineers were always of importance to the Brotherhood. The 1866 Constitution and ByLaws provided for expulsion of a member after a proper trial, if a member were found guilty by his local division of having "conducted himself in a manner unbecoming to a man . . ." Discipline, it should be emphasized, was and always has been the prerogative of the local division. Among the offenses listed as "unbecoming to a man" were: improper language, dishonesty in not paying debts, violation of obligation, drunkenness, insolence to superior officers, fraud, deserting families, moral offenses, and general misconduct. Sobriety was of particular concern to the Brotherhood. The 1864 Constitution stated: "Occasional intoxication shall subject a brother to censure of the division, and habitual intoxication shall be considered sufficient cause for the expulsion of any member." Later it was ruled that any member keeping a saloon or engaged in the sale or traffic of intoxicants would cease to be a member of the Brotherhood.
INSURANCE ASSOCIATION ANSWERS A REAL NEED
A most important milestone in the history of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was reached on December 3, 1867 when the Locomotive Engineers Mutual Life Insurance Association was established at Port Jervis, New York. It was patterned after the Insurance Association of the Metropolitan Police of New York City. Beyond the requirement that all policyholders be members of the BLE, the Association remained entirely independent of the Brotherhood. It had its own constitution and bylaws, its own staff, and its own separate meetings. Of the approximately 8,000 members of the Brotherhood in 1867, about 3,000 carried insurance policies. The need for such insurance for the protection of the engineers' families was obvious when it is recalled that a locomotive engineer in those days was classified as engaged in a hazardous occupation.
This Locomotive Engineers Mutual Life Insurance Association certificate was issued to Emery O. Tyler, Div. 132, in November of 1871. He worked on the old Canada Southern which was taken over by the Michigan Central and his terminal and home were in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Grand Chief Engineer Wilson noted in his annual address in 1873: "The frequent deaths that are occurring among our members, many of them sudden and without warning, should remind us all of the uncertainty of life . . . Engineers above all other classes of workmen are liable to sudden death." An engineer writing in the June, 1868 Journal, recalls that in 1867 he made application for insurance to an old and reliable insurance company. He stated: "I did not receive a policy, simply because I was a Locomotive Engineer, which they classified as 'extra hazardous.' "
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