Originally conceived as a mutual benefit society, the ILAE rapidly moved into collective bargaining, attempting to use its clout to establish a minimum wage for artistic workers in the industry and to abolish the use of piece work. This agenda lead it into conflict with employers, culminating in a major strike in New York City in 1896 after negotiations with the employers' association of lithographic firms was unsuccessful. The strike was ultimately ended by the use of arbitration, with the final result going far to meet most of the union's demands over wages and working conditions. Since neither LIPBA (transferrers and press operators) nor ILAE (artists and engravers) would admit the lesser skilled press feeders into their organizations, in 1898 there was a third union formed in the lithographic industry, the International Protective Association of Lithographic Apprentices and Press Feeders of the United States and Canada. In addition, no fewer than three other unions were established in the next two years, each a craft union attempting to carve out a specific niche. These included the Poster Artists' Association of America (PAAA, established 1899), the Paper Cutters Union (established 1900), and the International Association of Stone and Plate Preparers of the United States and Canada (established 1900). If the workers in the lithographic industry, largely concentrated in New York City, found themselves splintered into six tiny organizations, the major employers in the industry were not. The Lithographers' Association of the Metropolitan District coordinated wages and working hours among lithographic employers in New York City and attempted to hold down costs to enhance the profitability of its members. On March 15, 1904, this employers' association announced a lock out of all union employees, winning ground for the employers in a compromise settlement reached that April. This battle was extended in 1906 by an even larger organization, the National Association of Employing Lithographers, which eliminated two decades of collective bargaining in the industry by successfully establishing an open shop. The Amalgamated Lithographers of America was the entity formed in response to this growing disparity in power between centrally organized employers and the fragmented and largely impotent small unions of their workers. The Amalgamated Lithographers of America (ALA) was established in 1915 through a merger of 4 of the 6 unions then operating in the lithographic industry — the LIPBA (established 1886), the ILAE (1890), the Paper Cutters (1900), and the Stone and Plate Preparers (1900). The Press Feeders and the Poster Artists' Association initially stood aloof from the new organization, joining only in 1918 and 1942, respectively.