He co-founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in 1881 along with Gustav Luebkert[1] and became one of the leading figures in the first three decades of the American Federation of Labor.

McGuire was arrested while occupying the office of the city's Police Commissioner, who had refused to grant them a parade permit.

McGuire founded and edited a paper known as The Toiler, toured the United States lecturing for the party, and worked as a carpenter during the 1870s.

The Carpenters Union proposed to do this by controlling the supply of labor, organizing the entire industry and excluding non-union contractors from the market.

That, along with his conciliatory attitude toward rival unions, gave rise to widespread opposition to his administration at the beginning of the twentieth century.

At the 1902 Carpenters' convention, the last he attended, he addressed the delegates: McGuire died four years later, his death hastened by alcoholism.