Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-03-08
Strike Statistics.

t.e,,ordIng To BrddSt, eeFS, the number OF
srkcs aud lockouts in the United States dur
ing the calendar year 1887 was SSi, against 70
In 1856, an increase OF 53i, or $50 per cent.
The number Of employees involved in the strikes
Of 1887 was $40 S5I.. as compared with AS, 900
IN those Of 1886 a decrease OF l01, li6, or %
per cent. The number of strikes reported TO
Brddst1ect's last year was only about one-quar-
ter the number reported TO the national labOur
bureau at Washington, and the number re-
ported for 1856 was considerably below the
official total. 1t is to be said, however, that
the strikes noted by the labor bureau and not
by BrddStreetS were comparatively unimport-
ant in respect TO numbers involved. For the
purpose Of comparison Brddsireet.S returns are
more valuable than those of the bureau.
According to the former, 5i2 OF last YEARS.
strikes, 63 per cent. Of all, involving 2ll, $50
strikers, or 63 per cent. of all, were for higher
wages or few er hours' work without reduction
OF wages. or the remainder, 225 strikes, or
90 per cent involving 7,21S employees, or %
per cent, arose out OF union demands other
than wages and hours There were Is "sym.
patheticn strikes, strikes In support Of other
strikes, involving AZ, 0l0 employees, or II per
cent. of all. The remaining 23 strikes, involv
ing only per cent. OF the strikers, were from
Thus far ocllouts have been included In
strikes. To separate them, I'm 1856 there
were reported 10 lockouts, affecting $1,000
employees, and in 1887 20 locbouts were report
ed, affecting, however, only 46024 hands.
In 1856 1 lOckouts succeeded, compelling So
900 employees to come to terms, and failed.
bringing success to 81 400 hands In 1887 IL
lockouts, involving So S4 hands, were sue
cessful; 3, affecting $50 hands, failed, and
was not ended at the close OF the year. In
,fs Ion La
useful to know how many strikes, with the
number affected were In reality engineered
by employers. 1t is more than suspected that
monopoly rlngsters, who want to relieve them
selves from the odium Of eXacting eXtortion-
ate prices and monopoly common carriers,
who can not indulge in locbouts without fall.
Ing into the clutches Of the law, often find
means Of provoking strikes, aud thus accom-
p.ish their purposes i'm such way as TO bring
odlum upon innocent men. Unfortunately,
statistics DO not shed much light upon this
subject.
or the large successful strikes last year,
the longest was that of the Philadelphia cloth
ing-cutters, which lasted 20 DAYS, aud involv-
ed |, 900 persons. The strikes of the rubber
works hands ut Preston, Rhode Island, and OF
the coal-mlncrs at Springfield, Illinois, lasted
90 days each, and involved 1900
hands each. The largest number
involved in successful strikes were
$500 carpenters i'm Chicago and 1000 coal
HlueIs III lne MbnOnEAueld Nalicy
OF the unsuccessful strikes, two lasted 100
days each-that OF the shoe hands Of Spen-
Ger, Massachusetts, (2,OO0), and that Of the
shoe hands Of WOrchester county, Massachu-
sets (50l0) A strike Of 1900 col<e-workers
failed at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after 10
DAYS, as did a strike of $1,000 builders in
Chicago after g. days
Strikes involving 34,s33 hands We're stlll
in progress at the close OF the year. The most
important Of these were the strikes of 5000
Lchigh valley cOal-m ners which has already
lasted 10 days ut the end OF the year, and
that Of $500 shoe hands at Rochester New
York. which had Leen in progress 80 days at
the end OF the year.
IL should he said that these bare figures do
not in all cases represent the exact state Of
facts. For instance, IL IL not quite true that
the II, 900 Chicago strikers in the building
trades were completely defeated, nor is It
true that the strikes reported as successful
were completely so or that the success was
substantial or permanent The figures simply
supply skeleton OF fact which requires much
OF the flesh and blood OF explanation to
make it a living body of truth. Chicago