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Why are we the Golden Lodge
The building at 1234 Harrison is named the Golden Lodge to honor Clinton Strong Golden one of the 12 founding fathers of the S.W.O.C. (Steel Workers Organizing Committee). The following is a brief history.
1936: Timken employees were dissatisfied with working conditions and talked of organizing into a union. Some of the more outspoken employees contacted the S.W.O.C. The Timken Roller Bearing Company was opposed to an international union and, in an attempt to quell the organizing drive, fired Frank Hardesty of the Gambrinus Mill and Claude Cooley of the Canton Mill. These two men were put to work by S.W.O.C. Regional Director Clint Golden to sign people to the organizing drive. In October of that year a meeting was held in a basement at the home of Howard Davis. Weeks later another meeting was held in the old German Hall on East Tuscarawas where Clint Golden was the principal speaker. Subsequent meetings were held in the Slovak Hall on Henry Avenue. The members named the lodge after the regional director and applied for a charter. In December a charter was issued for Local 1123 S.W.O.C. Golden Lodge.
1937: Negotiations between the union and the company led to significant gains for union members. The first agreement signed in April established seniority, provided a 12 ½ cent raise, an 8 hour day, time and a half for overtime and a vacation of one day for each year worked with a maximum of 6 days. After the signing of the agreement the union opened an office in a gas station at the corner of Navarre Road and Harrison Avenue.
1939: The members adopted blue and gold as the lodge colors and expressed a desire to own a building for meetings and office space.
1940: The union trustees and officers began to search for a building site. In August the membership approved the purchase of lots on the corner of Harrison and Fremont Avenues. A building fund was established and construction began. The first meeting was held in the new building on December 4th. The Golden Lodge was the first C.I.O. (Congress of Industrial Organizations) union to build it own home.
Clint Golden was born November 16th, 1884 in Pennsylvania. He began working in the mines at the age of 12. He became a locomotive fireman and was a member and officer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers. In 1915 he gave up railroading and became a machinist. His interest in labor led to him becoming district representative of the International Association of Machinists in Philadelphia. From 1921 to 1923 he was on the staff of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Golden’s interest in labor education led him to become founder and president of the Philadelphia Labor College. .
In 1935 Mr. Golden was appointed director of the National Labor Relations Board in Pittsburgh. From there he began his involvement with the S.W.O.C. At the first constitutional convention of the S.WO.C. Clint was elected vice president of the newly formed United Steelworkers of America. During World War II he served the nation in various memberships in Labor, Labor Management and Labor Production committees.
After his resignation as USWA vice president Clint Golden was a sought after expert in the fields of automation and technology changes in the steel industry. Mr. Golden maintained close ties with the union. In April 1961 he suffered a stroke while addressing a USWA district conference. He died the following June.
Clinton Strong Golden was a labor advocate, organizer, educator and statesman. A grass roots man and true labor intellectual. We are proud to honor his memory. We are proud to be members of the Golden Lodge.