The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-08-13
NO STRIKES IN BOSTON.

Oregon Daliy kepuoncan.
The methods sf preventing strikes and
leekeu,s. which has been tried for ten
years in Bostoa between The Master
Builders Association and the wcrSmsn,
have been absolutely successful IN every
respect, says William H, Saywari, SEE
retary Of the association. a former men,
Ssr Of the legislature. M system was
adopted ten years ago. The basis Of the
system Is the form OF arbitration
which was proposed by the Master
Builders Association en- the one hand
and the association of workingmen in
the building trades on the other.
The employers take the position that
it is Tor the interest 81 both parties that
the workiagfnen's union should be rec
ognisea. Therefore 1t is preferred that
men join the labor unions With this
known as the policy OF the employers
the union men cannot objec; If nom
union man is found OCCASIONALLY upon
the work. Another fundamental idea is
that the interested side 20 a question
shall settle It for themselves and tha;
no outside interest shall come in 70 draw
men of into strikes There shall be no
sympthe,ic strikes. It is. further, one
Of the essentials that the representatives,
Of the two sides shall have absolute
power 10 settle disputes, and there Is
no appeal from their decisions. All
questions OF mutual concern must be
brought before the join; committee,
which is to be appointed annually by
each side.
The Joint committee mus, consist o;
nor less than six members. equally d.
vided between the associations repre-
sented. and an umpire, who mus; b.
chosen the frs, thing after the COM
mittee completes lis annual organiza-
ton. He must not be a journeyman,
craftsman or an employer Of journey
men. The umpire for the first three
years was John D. Long, bu; he was
never called upon TO ac. Every issue
was sttled by the committee with7u;
referring anything TO the umpire. Then.
for two years. william Lloyd Garrison
was the umpire, aad he was called up
on only once. Charles Francis Adams.
second. Is the presen; umpire. He has
been obliged to settle one question
II any employer refuses 20 abide by
a decision Of the joint committee he may
be thrown out OF the association. In
case the workm N refuse 20 abide by the
decision OF the committee they may b.
disciplined. Either side may refer mat
ters to the joint committee, and, after
the committee reaches a conclusion, it
transmits that conclusion - each $3.50
citation fer its government. The Ma
doral Builders Association is an ad-
visory body Of which Mr.. sayward is
secretary, and it imprssses upon is local
constituents the deslrab.ll,y Of making
advances to the workingmen's unions,
recognizing them a; the outset. and CO.
operate with the employers associations.
One Of the objects Of the association is
to prevent any matter Of mutual con-
cern from reaching the gtags Of griey-
ance.
Doubtful points must be se.tlel before
any work Is done. The Boston people
came home from a convention ten years
ago determined to put the system Of ar
bltrauon upon trial Mr.. sayward ad-
dressed letters 10 the different building
trades-ths masons, the carpenters, The
plumbers and 50 on-urging them to
ccme into ths movement. An immeei-
ate r=sponss was made by the mason
builders, and he urged them 20 sffec, So
that they Immediately addressed the
bricklayers the stone masons and the
building laborers, telling than the plan
for avoiding strikes and lockjuts. They
laid the matter before their unions and
favorable reports were received. The
hosting engineers came In and the ooss
plasterers were able to bring In their
employees. Other trades, such as the
carpenters. have not yet come in as Mr.
sayward believes. because Of their con-
servatism.
But enough have entered into the sys-