The true northerner., 1886-10-28
REVIEWING THE STRIKE.
a Short History of Its Causes and Com
parison with Former Strikes.
Tlrro,,, tI,a rb;oago noiiv


From the Chicago Daily News
Regarding the great stock yards strike
which has just terminated, short review
of its history and the causes which led to 1t
may not prove uninteres.ing, because IT
occupies peculiar position in the history
of great labor troubles. 1t may be said to
be the first occasion on which large body
of organized men retreated in GOOD order,
with ranks unbroken. In this respect 1t is
entirely different from its great predecessor
OF lS79-S0.
In the early months of 1879 number Of
men met and organized the Butchers
Union. Previous TO the organization of
this union there had been no combined
action on the part of the men employed in
the packing industry. This union was a
success from the start. 1t rapidly drew
into its circles the lnrge majority of the
10, 600 men employed in the yards. Con-
fiding in its strength. the union demand d
and obtained from the pickers an increase
OF % cents a day. This was in August
The union grew in power and began to
arogate TO itself supreme control OF the
whole packing industry. Jack Hart, a
butcher In the employ of Armour, was
asked To join the union and refused. Sew
eral others declined TO join, and the union
demanded their discharge, laying down
the rule that non-union men should not
work with union men. The packers
called halt. and refused 10 accede to
demand they considered fl ,grantly unjust.
They had foreseen trouble, and ha per-
fected an organization similar to the one
now existing. They resolved not TO recog-
nize the union as a body, and prep red for
the strike which was inevitable. The men
struck on December Is, 1879. No body of
8
The same arguments and statements were
made by both sides as were advanced in
the last strike. The mon claimed that they
were Indispensable, and that it was impos
sible TO I'LL their places. The packers
claimed that they were paying bigger wag s
than any Others in the country. They
cllled attention to the advantages of West
ern packing points, and threatened to move
their business to these, the natural loca-
tons of the packing industry. The news
papers deplored the situation, aad predict
ed the decadence of Chicago as packing
center.
The fight was long and bitter one. The
men exhausted all the weapons used in
former strikes and invented new ones. As
fast as experts were obtained they were in
duced TO quit, the union paying them their
wages in full. The packers advertised all
green hands poured in from al directions
Tney were put to work as last as they ap-
piled. All the packers were not involved
in the struggle, several of the smaller
firms acceding to the demand of
the union. The following firms were
directly interested: Armour & Co., Kicker
Provision Company. Fowler Brothers,
Chaplin IL Cudahy, Allerton Packing Com
pany, Jones Il Stiles. and Baldwin.
The Butchers Union was rapidly becom-
ing denoralized. Their funds vanished,
and the families of the strikers were in
want of food. One bv one they joined the
ranks of the o-called "scabs," a word
which had just entered the vocabulary of
labor nomenclature. AS the cause waned,
the remnant of the strikers grew more
desperate. Assaults and overt acts in
creased. Several men were shot at; 9TH
ers We're stabbed and cut. The whole
town of Lake was permeated with
| laWlessnes. Meanwhile the packers were
| having things all their own way.
| House after house joined the non
union movement. The strikers WHO
returned were requested to sign an obliga-
| ton binding themselves to Join no society
| inimical to the interests of the packers. The
union was on the point of dissolution. On
Jan. IA, 1880, the great strike made its last
| desperate struggle and expired, and with
it the Butchers Union, which gave it birth
The rush to secure positions became n
stampede. On that day thousands made
application for work. Many were refused.
lnfuriated by sense of overwhelming de :
feat, and maddened by rage and hunger,
they made an onslaught on the houses.
Armed with clubs and "gam-s icks, " they
forced their way into TIA houses, their
ranks swelled by hundreds of thugs and
roughs. The men in the houses fed for
their lives. Many were beaten. some Sc
verify, and for a day the mob reigned. 1t
was the last of the strike. Order was soon
secured and maintained. Hundreds of the
strikers never regained those situations
they imperiled when they struck. The
strikers lost S350,0O0 in wages, besides
their time. They gained an experience,
however, which may have been worth the
price paid.
No local organization ever superseded
the Butchers' Union. The Knights of La
Dor obtained footing in the stock Yards.
and to-day include fully $4,000 stock
yard employees. The eight-hour day was
carried last spring after a nominal strike
last ng but two days. The Coopers' AS
sembly of the Knights Of Labor appointed
a commit e, which waited on the lckers.
Mr.. Kent offered ten hours pay for nine
hours work, or nine hours paw for eight
hours work. The men accepted the latter
proposition The same day the men through
out the yards struck for ten hours pay
for eight hours work. The second day
of the strike the superintend mt of G..
w. Swift, by a misapprehension, 1t is
claimed, put up q uoti e granting the de-
mand. The news spread through the yards,
AID before night the same surrender was
made by nearly every house in Packing
town. Ken soon gave The same terms and
the strike came TO as .dy and bloodless
termination. The eight-hour system has
been in operation since. and the packers
claim that for them it has proven failure
All offers made BY them to the employees fol
compromise having failed, they decided
to return TO the ten-hour day, and the strike
now terminated is the result.