St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-28
TELECRAPnIC CRISIS.
The Western Union Dis
charges Three More Broth
erhood Operators,
Whereupon Twenty-Four Men
Quietly Walk Out on a
Strike.
By Calling on the Day Force
the Company Keeps UP
With Business.
The Company Does the Oyster
Act and the Men Give
Their Views.

ing when twenty-four men unceremo-
niously quit their work.
There is reasonable side to the story
given by the men for this action.
The Western Union authorities Sat.
urday dismissed six operators. No spe-
ciflc reason was given the men for this
summary treatment. They were able
operators, and some of them had been
many years In the employ of the COM
pany.
Why were they dismissed, then?
Because they were officially con-
nected with the recently organized
brotherhood of telegraph operators.
The Western Union is waging war
fare in all its Offices against this broth
erho0d. St. Paul operators have not
alone been dismissed. Scores of men i'm
other cities have come under the ban of
the telegraph authorities. Employees of
the Western Union must eSchew the
brotherhood. Why? No one appears
to know. IAe officers of the company
play the oyster act admirably and-if
they know-refuse to say anything. On
the other hand the members of the
brotherhood declare that the OrganIZa-
ton is i'll loWise inimical 10 their en-
pIoyerS. 1t is merely social and benev-
olent society. Members are Insured for
$1,000 i'll case OF death and 81 per week
benefit during sickness.
This is the association the Western
Union company is opposed to any of its
employees icing member Of.
The st. Paul branch of the brother
hood was organized three weeks. When
the officers were dismissed Saturday the
other members employed by the-West-
Union naturally became indignant, but
made no formal complaint to the
officers. Matters. however, assumed a
more serious phase when, yester-
day afternoon, three more men were
dismissed, members of the brother
hood-Potts, beebe and Taylor. The
officers again did not intimate why
these men were. cast off in this Off
hand style. Nothing was done in pro-
test by the day force, many of whom
are ladies, but the night force did not at
all relish this treatment of their fellow
employees and fellow members Of the
brotherhood. The night men go on at
$50. There are thirty of them and a
chief. Mr.. Mcconnell. Some of the
operators mad been working extra dur
ing the afternoon, and when the night
fo-ce turned in, all the men were aware
that three more operators had been dis
missed. AS one of the men said:
1--WE feel very sore at this action on the
part of our employers. 1t was pretty evident
that all the members of the brotherhood
were going 10 be cleaned out of the Office
and that it was the intention of the company
to do it gradually so that men could be OBJ
tanned to fill the vacancies as they occurred.
The members of the brotherhood felt that it
was only question of time when their turn
would go, and So rather than wait for the
inevitable, we decided to walk out right
away and, Micawber-like. wait for some
thing to turn up"
This was the spirit in which the men
went to work at $50 O'clock. Every
thing proceeded smoothly UP to few
minutes to o'clock. There were then
large number of messages IN the
office to send, and many of the men
were busiiy engaged in "taking off,
lengthy and important press messages.
Without a word of warning, without
any prearranged signal. the men rose
from their seats and filed out of the
office. There was no word spoken.
Every man acted in accordance with
his own wishes. Chief Mcconnell sat
back in his chair dumfounded at this
action on the part of the men. and when
they had disappeared, looked round and
found but six operators left.
After the striking operators had left
the offices the Western Union men at
the GLOBE and Pioneer offices were Wis
tied. These men were not asked to
''cone out;" they were merely informed
of what had been done and allowed
full privilege to do as they considered
best. In either case the men decided
to remain at work and were quickly
summoned to assist at the head Office
When Chief Mcconnell had recovered
from the shock he had received at the
INnl al md hall 81
OF his SubordinateS he sent out meSSen-
gers for Acting Superintendent Levin
and as many of the day men as were
obtainable. By $3.50 O'clock he had Oh
tanned eight men, making total of six
teen. Mr.. Levin had now arrived, but
when seen by reporter he was in such
an excited state that it was impossible
to get any information from him.
My dear sir; he gasped, Il cannot tell
you anything iustnow. Come in later
The striking operators. after visiting
the GLOBE and Pioneer. assembled out
side the Western Union Office. and
awaited results. They wanted to see
how many day men would respond TO the
call of the assistant superintendent.
10 their credit be it said, whenever a
! man found it incumbent upon him to go
to work no offensive remarks were lev
eled at him. AS one of the strikers
said:
We propose to let every man decide for
himself. If he will come out with US we will
give him good welcome. but if not, we do
not blame him or say anything against him.
Many of the men who remained at
work last evening are married men.
and some of them are men who partiei-
pated In the Western Union strike of
1888. Some men who took part in that
| strike could not get back again until
| they had signed paper pledging them
| selves to keep aloOf from similar pro-
tests against any action the company
| might take.
And what do the men expect to gain
! by striking?
| for the strikers is not hopeful one,
| The future for them is not of roseate
| hue.
| The men themselves are, however.
| very confident. According to their
| story the Western Union has for some
| time been short-handed in st. Paul,
| and the company will not be able to OBJ
| tain men enough to keep up with the
| work. 1t has been necessary for weeks
| to call upon many of the night men to
work extra time. By calling upon the
| day staff, the strikers freely admitted
that the company would be able to meet
dill uelIldiiuS Lldue upon III ldSC night.
but the test would come this evening.
1t was utterly impossible to work the
operators day and night, and how was
the work to be done unless such a
course was adopted? Again, the strik-
ers are not without hopes that many of
the day operators, and some of the
ladies, too, will join their ranks.
| The men out on strike are not very
clear Ill expressing what were their de-
mands. Their position seemed to be
| this:
| The Brotherhood of Telegraph Operators
| is not oppo ed to the Western Onion com.
| pany. Its members are employed by the
| S0rtn American company and the various
| railroads. We claim the right to say how we
| shall employ our leisure hours, and to what
| social and benevolent organization we shall
| belong The action of the Western Union
! com any to the six officers and three mem
/ bers of the brotherhood is Unfair ana un-
| called for. We walked out this evening as a
| protest against such action. as well as pro-
| lection for ourselves. A committee waited
| upon Supt McMichael. at Minneapolis
to-day, but he refused to say anything or do