The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-06-06
STRIKES AND ARBITRATION.

STRIKES AND ARBITRATION.
Our attention has recently been called TO
the communication Of q wiseacre, in one Of
the New York journals, in which the state
ment Is gravely made that trades unlonists
are blind to their best interests, because they
have uniformly refused to submit their
grievances to arbitration and that until this
system is universally adopted, strikes viii
continue to be the order of the day, among
the low or uneducated grades Of mechanics.
From what source this important informa-
ton is derived, or what is the nature OF this
newly discovered remedy, We are left to con-
lecture, though we are free 10 confess if the
ignorance Of the writer on the duties and
nature Of an arbitrAting committee. cores
ponds with his ignorance Of Trades Unions,
it is as we'll that the desired information has
been withheld.
Those wis have read the proceedings Of
the Trades Union Commission in Great
Britain, have done % to little purpose, If
they do not know that in nearly every case
referred to, the refusal 10 submit to arbitration
has been the work Of employers that while
deputaIion after deputation have respect
fully urged the benefits and necessity Of
conference committee, the request has been
almost Invariably refused on the ground that
no such right ioGs recognized, and that In
cases where the offer has been accepted, the
hau off ad nd
one-sided that the merits Of the case have
been virtually excluded.
Now, If any opponent of trades unions
will inforn us what alternative is left to 4
body Of men, who, after their grievances have
Oeen presented, are CURLY informed that if
they do not choose to submit to the *rules
Of the establishment" they are at liberty to
60 elsewhere, except to take up the chal-
lenge thrown down, We shall be very happy
to hear from him. We have known Of cases
where committee appointed to confer With
the employers have been summarily dis
charged, because they had the timerity TO
suppose that redress would follow an expo-
even has been insolently denied. What ar
bitration can accomplish under these cir
cumstances, We are unable to comprehend.
While we admit that strikes are more
disastrous in their results to the employed
than the employer, and should therefore be
avoided even at sacrifice, it is equally true
that employers themselves are, in nine cases
out of ten, the strikers. Take for ex-
ample the memorable May strike Of 1867.
Although every pArtzan sheet in the coun-
try contained the announcement that "the
workingmen of Chicago and St. Louis had
struck against their Bosses" the very reverse
Of this was the truth. Suppose, for example,
that the law to which exception was taken,
had provided that tscelue hours should form |
a days work instead of ten, and that the |
workmen had refused 70 comply with the |
spirit of the law, who would have been an |
nounced as the STRIKERS them Why, the |
mechanics Of course, and Justly so. Yet We
heard the law-abidi1g citizens who demand |
ed the enforcement Of just law, denounced
as disturbers Of the peace, while the men
who violated its provisions every hour OF the
day received the sympathy and coincidence
of the public.
But we do not desire our readers to infer
from these remarks that we are opposed in
any manner to arbitration. On the contrary,
we believe that many Of the most disastrous
strikes with which we have been afflicted
could have been remedied through their
agency. What we wish lie, to correct the
general impression that workingmen alone
are responsible for these frequent disagree
ments in the labor market-Ihat thew are
blind to fhe dictates of reason and common
sense. We make bold to say, there 10 not
an organization In the country which viii
not cheerfulIy Cooperate With any move
nent on the part of employers. haEing for
it's object The substitution Of arbitrator for
strikes, when they have reason to believe that
such overtures are made in good faith.
We are well aware there are difficulties I'm
he way, bat none Of an insurmountable
We should like 70 nee this ques- :
= discussed in our National Unions, for
lie no arbitrary rule can be laid down for +,
general observance, such discussioa would /,
V the means Of bringing the matter more
prominently before employers and The pub /
&c at large, and DO . great deal to remove
he suspicious and prsjudics exlstiAg against
ur local organizations. Some enc must
axe The initiative stepa, and We suggest a
J highly proper thai such moysnsntl
hould be i.ausas.ssd ~ thoss mast dseply
Interested In the result 44f
~0~
TIM opsratiyes IN tho spsat iron mauulhe. 4