Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-06-27
BRITISH ORGANIZED LABOR.

A'R'NAiNhhiett All luz iAikiiittIlHk NhXdAHO-
The concluding words of the Jubilee
Souvenir Of the Amalgamated Society
Of Engineers, which has been complied
by @. N. Barnes, the general secretary,
run as follows I'VE have endeavoured
in these pages to set. out, without
colouring or comment, q plain and un-
yarnished tale of the society's origin
and subsequent proceedings, hoping
and believing that its perusAl will assist
| the niembers In making straight the
paths lending to the society's greatest
possible usefulness. - 1t is much to be
hoped thnt the members of the society
will TAKE to heart the suggestion thus
conveyed, aud that they themselves add
| the colouring and comment" necessary |
| to make the Souvenir OF real benefit to
themselves and the whole engineering /
world. The little booklet published
/ with the object Just described ~ as
much q serious warning as an encour-
agement though probably little in
tended to play this dual role.
| The AmalgHmate1 Socisty Of Engi- |
neers have certainly reason 10 he proud |
of the success which attended the efforts
of this early pioneers towards unity in |
the engineering industry. Out of the |
! scattered forces of trade unionism, they |
have welded together a federation |
second to none in the world; and their |
! continued growth in numbers, in in
fluence, and in financial value, can |
| only he described as phenomenal.
| Honourable again is their association |
with tho agitation which preceded the
granting of the nine hour day and in |
the NAMES Of liam, Newton, Rowlin-
| son, Burnett, Gouriay, are represented |
successive movements each of which |
contributed TO the prosperity and per
manenoe of their society 1t is also to
the credit of the association that it hos |
continuously avoided the pitfalls which
surround the question of cooperative !
workshops. Although proposal to |
invest their surplus funds in this man
ner was recommended originally by the
leaders of the society and popularised
by an essay from the pen of Vansittart
| Neale, a foil discussion of the question
"killed it" though appearances of its
resurrection afterwards are given in
the Souvenir at recurring intervals. |
These are some Of the things of which
Ethe engineers may be justly proud, but
Nthere, is contra account meriting
special attention.
The record of the society's history
bears TRACES of the struggles which |
| iioNhohbi1 bOOht bbtWtOu
unions over questions of demarcation
work. The sIh!ect is too well known
to require extended treatment in this
article. Sufficient only to POINT out
that the danger of trade dislocation
and loss from this source still remains,
and that II Is high time that authoIita-
tive boards were constituted by the
societies interested to which all such
questions could be referred for settle
| ment. So far as can be cleaned from
the Souvenir the society never appears
to have taken a very strong line re.
speotinR non,union labour. In the |
latter part Of 1896 seventy members
struck work ''against the employment
of a non-union workman who had made
himself obnoxious" but inasmuch as
this action was determined upon with
out the prior knowledge of the executive
committee, they were refused strike
pay and advised to return to their ma
chimes. The trouble ended by the with
drawal of the workman objected to. A
delegate meeting OF that year passed a
rule, however, which provided that
members should he entitled to con-
tingent benetit II they left their work
rather than work with non society
men, AS is already vol known, the
matter was finally settled at the close
of the great engineering dispute in
1898 in the clause OF the agreement
which provides for Freedom of en-
pioyment" In, returning to work I'M
der this, the eng ineers bound themselves
to acknowledge the freedom OF the en-
! ployers ITO employ any man whether
he belong or not to trade union.'
Judging, however. from the history of
the society as,recorded in the pages of
the "Souvenir,' these have always
been considered to be subsidiary ques-
tions. The greatest of the society's
battles have been fought around the
issues raised with respect to overtime,
apprentices, piecework, and control of
machinery and 1t is not without sig
niticance that, after struggles extend
ing over half q century, the Amalga-
mated Society of Engineers has been
compelled to acknowledge defeat with
respect to every one of them.
One OF the movements which d.
rectly contributed to the formation of
3 the analRamation had for its object
. 1.-THE cui tailment OF overtime and the
reduction Of hours in the London dis.
> triot Z" The first clause IN the general
pronUunoement which issued from
Birmingham in 1880 states: 1--WE
= repudiGte systematic overtime" and il
(; threatens airy member OF the amalga-
) nation refusing to comply with the
manufactured policy with liability to
S be excluded from the society,"" On
: submission to the members the vote
: against tsystematic overtime" was
: carried by 300 to 1G; but when the
!, question was tested in battle with the
v employers, the latter, after a lockout
9 OF several months duration, gained the
Q day In the words OF the Souvenir,
''the dispute fizzled OUT Forty five
n years afterwards the Society recon-
;. mended a set Of regulations for over
o time which had previously been &C.
o coded to by Messrs. platt of Oldham.
In these regulations, provision is made
for 'systsmatio overtime" at the fcl-
lowing rates of pay: "Time and "a
quarter for the first two hours, time.
y and q half for the second, double time
y afterwards; and for pieceworkers an
is addition equal to the difference be-
IS tween overtime and ordinary rates. Z"
d The settlement of 1893 recognised
n Systematic overtime to the extent
10 OF no less than 40 hours Ger month,
% and Unrestricted overtime" in certain
n special cases.
n If we turn to the question of ap-
d prentices we are met with a similar
ii picture of struggle resulting in ulti-
10 mate aud even more crushing defeat
t. The amalgamation adopted as its
% initial policy the restriction of APP
II prentices in proportion of one to four
T. journeymen. - The terms of the 1895
3 settlement declare that there shall be
- 1.