History of the Finns in Michigan

12. The Rise and Decline of the Labor Movement

12฀ The฀Rise฀and฀Decline฀of฀the฀Labor฀Movement The฀Labor฀Movement฀in฀Finland฀to฀1903 Because฀ of฀the฀ geographical฀ location฀ and฀ the฀historical฀ development ฀ of฀Finland,฀ the฀ economic฀ and฀ political฀ movements฀ of฀ Central and฀ Western฀ Europe฀ arrived฀ there฀ considerably฀ later฀ than฀ elsewhere. When฀ fast-growing฀ industrialism฀ and฀ expanding฀ overseas฀ commerce were฀already฀revolutionizing฀social฀conditions฀in฀England฀ and฀in฀many other฀ European฀ countries,฀ life฀ in฀ Finland฀ was฀ still฀ characterized฀ by quiet,฀ unhurried฀ home฀ industry.฀ But฀ eventually฀ industrialism฀ reached Finland฀too.฀Table฀ 15฀shows฀how฀rapidly฀it฀expanded. Table฀15:฀Industrial฀Growth฀in฀Finland,฀1869-1909 DATE 1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 NUMBER฀OF FACTORIES 339 436 1,123 1,757 2,007 NUMBER฀OF WORKERS 10,114 12,892 39,200 75,900 86,374 This฀ rapid฀ development฀ of฀industry฀ in฀ a฀capital-poor฀ country was฀the฀result฀of฀an฀abundance฀ of฀cheap฀raw฀material,฀namely฀ lumber; an฀abundance฀ of฀cheap฀energy฀in฀ the฀ form฀ of฀waterfalls฀ and฀ firewood; and฀the฀availability฀of฀cheap,฀though฀usually฀unskilled,฀labor.฀The฀ rapidly ฀growing฀labor฀force฀ alone฀created฀new฀and฀temporarily฀ unsolvable 275 214฀ CHAPTER฀12 problems.฀There฀were฀even฀greater฀numbers฀of฀workers฀in฀agriculture, which฀ in฀ 1870฀ employed฀ 358,154฀ hired฀ hands฀ in฀ addition฀ to฀ 88,949 tenants,฀cottagers,฀and฀others฀without฀land฀of฀their฀own,฀making฀a฀total of฀ 447,103฀ persons.1 ฀ The฀ landless฀ population฀ did฀ not฀ increase฀ much during฀the฀following฀decades.฀For฀example,฀in฀ 1930฀it฀was฀only฀ 120,000 greater฀than฀it฀had฀been฀sixty฀years฀before,฀even฀though฀the฀ population of฀the฀country฀had฀doubled.฀There฀were฀many฀reasons฀for฀this฀development .฀ One฀reason฀was฀the฀freedom฀ of฀choice฀of฀occupation฀ realized฀ in 1879,฀which฀gave฀tens฀of฀thousands฀of฀persons฀the฀opportunity฀to฀make use฀ of฀ their฀ initiative฀ and฀ enterprise.฀ Other฀ reasons฀ were฀ emigration overseas,฀migration฀to฀cities,฀mechanization฀of฀agriculture,฀and฀the฀creation ฀of฀new฀independent฀ farms. Nevertheless,฀there฀were฀still฀in฀Finland฀half฀a฀million฀ laborers whose฀workdays฀were฀extremely฀long,฀whose฀wages฀were฀far฀from฀ satisfactory ,฀whose฀living฀conditions,฀especially฀in฀rural฀areas,฀were฀ miserable .฀Up฀ to฀ 1906฀they฀had฀no฀political฀rights.฀In฀ addition฀ to฀ everything else,฀the฀use฀of฀liquor฀was฀so฀heavy,฀especially฀among฀factory฀ workers, that฀the฀week's฀wages฀were฀often฀used฀to฀pay฀the฀liquor฀bill.฀Thus,฀when the฀international฀labor฀movement฀reached฀Finland,฀the฀background฀ for its฀development฀was฀ready. The฀ first฀ labor฀ organizations฀ in฀ Finland฀ were฀ started฀ and฀ directed ฀ by฀ manufacturers฀ and฀ tradesmen฀ as฀ societies฀ for฀ educational work฀among฀laborers,฀but฀they฀remained฀ passive.฀The฀ most฀ important of฀these฀were฀Helsingin฀Tyovaenyhdistys฀ (Helsinki฀Workingmen's฀Association )฀ and฀ Vaasan฀ Suomalainen฀ Tyovaenyhdistys฀ (Finnish฀ Workingmen 's฀ Association฀ of฀ Vaasa).฀ The฀ founder฀ and฀ president฀ of฀ the Helsinki฀ organization฀was฀Viktor฀Julius฀von฀Wright,฀ the฀manager฀ of฀a small฀ furniture฀ business,฀ after฀ whom฀ this฀ phase฀ of฀ the฀ Finnish฀ labor movement฀ is฀ called฀ Wrightism.฀ One฀ of฀ its฀ purposes฀ was฀ to฀ improve living฀conditions;฀another฀was฀to฀prevent฀the฀socialist฀labor฀ movement from฀getting฀a฀foothold฀in฀Finland.฀It฀followed฀closely฀the฀pattern฀of฀the idealistic฀German฀labor฀movement,฀to฀which฀militant฀and฀revolutionary ideas฀were฀completely฀ foreign. Toward฀the฀end฀of฀the฀ 1880s,฀however,฀the฀workers฀in฀Finland began฀ to฀ break฀ away฀ from฀ this฀ kind฀ of฀ guardianship฀ by฀ establishing trade฀unions,฀which฀were฀followed฀ by฀proletarian฀ labor฀ associations฀ in which฀the฀new฀socialistic฀ideas฀from฀ Germany฀soon฀took฀root.฀In฀ 1895 Tybmies฀(Workingman)฀ was฀started.฀ Its฀ editor฀ from฀ 1896฀ to฀ 1899฀was Matti฀ Kurikka,฀ who฀ was฀ soon฀ afterward฀ well฀ known฀ in฀ America฀ for arousing฀ class-consciousness,฀ for฀ advocating฀ the฀ workers'฀ right฀ to strike,฀and฀for฀ demanding฀safer฀working฀conditions,฀higher฀wages,฀and shorter฀ hours.฀At฀ a฀meeting฀ of฀ delegates฀ from฀ labor฀ associations฀ held The฀Rise฀and฀Decline฀of฀the฀Labor฀Movement฀ 275 in฀Turku฀ in฀ 1899,฀the฀ Finnish฀ Labor฀ Party฀was฀ organized.฀ At฀ a฀party convention฀in฀Forsa฀in฀ 1903฀it฀was฀named฀ the฀Social฀Democratic฀ party of฀Finland.฀The฀ party฀ followed฀ the฀ so-called฀ Erfurt฀ Program฀ that฀ the German฀ Socialist฀party฀had฀followed฀ since฀ 1891.2 Early฀Phases฀in฀America The฀ rise฀of฀the฀labor฀ movement฀ among฀the฀ Finns฀in฀America must฀ be฀ studied฀ against฀ this฀ background฀ of฀ developments฀ in฀ Finland. Since฀ 1876฀there฀had฀been฀in฀the฀United฀ States฀a฀labor฀party฀called฀ the Socialist฀ Labor฀ party,฀ but฀ because฀ of฀the฀ language฀ barrier,฀ it฀was฀able no฀ more฀ than฀ were฀ other฀ socialist฀ organizations฀ to฀ reach฀ Finnish Americans.฀ The฀ first฀ independent฀ attempt฀ at฀ organization฀ was...