The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1898-04-16
A RAISE OF WAGES.
The L0ngshoremen's Union and
the Lumber Carriers Ass0-
citation Combine.
The L0ngshoromen Ask a Raise
of 10 Per Cent and
Get 1t.

The longshoremen and the
lumber carriers have made a
treaty a little more binding
than ever the copper riveted
longshoremen's union have
had heretofore-and the long
shoremen have had about the
strongest organization at the
head of the lakes for years
The lumber carriers associa-
tion is comparatively new and
includes the owners of most of
the lumber carrying vessels.
TO maintain rates the carriers
wanted the lumber showers to
agree not to load for boats not
in the association. And the
1ongshoremen voted last Sat-
urday to make the compact on
condition of an increase in
their scale.
This method of working is
not entirely new, though it is
unusual. The plumbers sew
eral years ago made an alliance
between the working plumbers
and the bosses, with the prin-
cipa1 object of maintaining
prices on one side and wages
on the other. In the coal
strikes. last year there was
some tendency to make
mutual arrangement between
the. operators and the strikers,
and in the great strike Of the
gairn1ent workers there. was
the same disposition to make
common cause of the workers
and the small contractors. But
such a trades union, or combin-
alton of trades unions, is COM
paratively new, and nobody
knows how it will come out.
When the plumbers first told
about their federation with the
bosses, it provoked heated
discussion in the trades as
sembly, many delegates insist
ing that it was not trades
unionism and was contrary to
the spirit of unionism, involv-
ing the men in their employ,
ers' quarrels. The plumbers
insisted as strongly that it was
recognition of the trades union
idea. The men wouldn't work.
for a non-union employer and
the employers wouldn't hire
non-union man. The men
ought to protect the bosses
who paid the scale against the
competition of men who didn't
pay the scale. Experience so
far sustains the arguments of
the men who made the double
jointed union.
Of course there are lots of
puzzles in such an organiza-
ton. It replaces "the solidar-
ity of labor" with solidarity of
allied labor and capital. It
contains hint that the strug-
gle is not so much between
labor and capital as it is be-
tween labor and capital COM
bined against monopoly, and
to make the struggle effective
the combination of labor and
capital must be a counter mon
opoly.
But that is getting a long
ways from the present pur-
poses of the longshoremen.
Their main idea was to get
higher scale, and they got it.
Last year they got forty cents
an hours, this year they would
like fifty cents. The carriers
association have raised their
price 1912 cents a thousand
over last year and the advance
in wages will absorb the big
end of that.
To enforce the compact it is
proposed that the longshore-
men shall fine boats not mem
bers of the association-which
would have an obvious effect
to bring them into line. The
longshoremen on their part
can be depended on to get an
iron bound contract with the
vesselmen and keep it in force
They have been able to look
out for. themselves as far as
they have gone.