The Labor enquirer., 1884-05-10
DYNAMITE is strong to-day at 47c.
.PANoLAsrrrE; demand increasing anc
supply unsettled; steady call. at 63c.
IRIS LESSONS.

=
accustomed manner on the Union Pa
cifc and in its shops it may not be out
of order to review tie circumstances of
the attempted cut in wages, the. strike
which followed. the issuance of the order
and the subsequent victory of the men,
and then see tile lesson to be learned.
There have been oloinions and counter
opinions expressed by the capitalistic
press on the affair, and nearly every
citizen who was at all familiar with 1t
has drawn a conclusion; and now, as all
is serene and progressing as before the
attempted cut, The ENQUIRER desires to
call your attention to few features of
the cut and the resistance, from the
student workiagman's standpoint, and
endeaver to induce It's readers to care
fully consider the lessons to be learned.
All are agreed thst the company in
ordering the cut to take effect upon all
its employees made a grave error, an
error which to the shrewd manager ap-
pears inexcusatole. The critics say that
any man with ordinary intelligence
should never have made such blunder
They say the cut should have been
ordered in one or two departments at a
time, so that tn ere would not have been
the natural inclination for the whole
force to resist. This is true, so far as it
goes, but it must be remembered that
the departments of labor on the road
which were organized (the engineers
and fremen) were not included in the
reduction. Outside of those two branches
there was no organization, and the COM
pany did not look for concentrated action
in opposition to the reduction. And the
position was justified. The almost unani-
nous action Of the .unorganized and
scattered employees was as much sur
prise to their friends and some of them
selves as it was to the management of
the road, 1t was phenomenal, and might
never occur in such successful manner
again once in twenty times.
There is another point which may be
cited in vindication of the apparently
foolish course pursued by the directory
of the road, and that is that the Union
Pacific company was paying wages in all
its departments far in excess of what is
paid by competing lines. The company
has superior class OF mechanics and
pays them better wages than other lines
running into the state from the east.
The directory lost sight of the fact that
the acknowledged superiority of ma
jority of its employees would naturally
tend to make them more independent
and reckless of being thrown for time
out Of work.
During the past ten days the writer
has conversed a great deal with the
prominent men of the Union Pacific
force, and he has found that while they
had no organization, there was general
understanding CT the wages question, and
all were agreed that, although other
roads were not paying as much as the
Union Pacific, yet they were fully aware
that they were not receiving any too
much. Some were so we'll informed upon
the subject that they knew they were
not receiving one-half of what they
should have. as the men who produce
the entire income of the road.
Let the error made by the directory
be due to what causes it may one thing
is certain, it was not intentional. And
herein lies the principal food for thought
for the employees.
Understand in considering this ques-
ton, the wishes and intentions of de-
partment foreInen and subordinate
managers are not taken account of. To
properly sift the matter two parties alone
must be recognized as interested-the
workers who keep the road going, and
the owners who reap the profits. ~This
should be clear TO everyone: The mana
gers, superintendents and department
foremen are only hired men, like me-
chanics and laborers, and in many in
stances, very reluctantly disseminate the
unfeeling orders of the men who control
their destinies, rs well as those of the
laborers.
Now, reader, worklngman, having re-
allied the truth of that statement, l de-
sire to make another, which to my mind,
settles the whole question of the rela-
tions between employer and employe,
and is the only safe basis upon which
the workingme1.. of the Union Pacific or
any other corporation can treat it. 1t is
this: The men who reap the rewards of
your toll, the men who own the railroads
and every other large productive or dis
tributiye enterprise in the world, own
and operate them solely for the purpose
of making money out of them and they
will make every cent they can, no mat
ter who falls or suffers. If the Union
Pacific directory could not get its work
done without paying its employees so per
cent more wages than it now pays, it
would pay it, and make money. Ii the
employees could be crowded down 10 one
half of what they new receive and the
road still be operated as at present, there
would be no delay in crowding them