Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-05-28

ed in that city has fallen in rut and
lost the confidence of great many
members Of the organized labor of the
state, and has been used by ward
healing trade unionists, and would-be
labor leaders who are aspirants for
every political job in sight, for the
purpose of attacking every trade I'M
ion, and prominent laboring man Of
the state who will not form in line
with the views Of this gang. 1t will re-
quire no statement from the labor
leaders in this portion of the state
who have been personally attacked by
this gang through their official organ,
1.-THE Unionist,' to prove the unrelia.
bility, Of the slanderous articles that
have been published So far as the
trade unionists of Ottumwa are con-
cerned, they have no confidence in the
political trades unionists of Des
Moines, nor in their official organ. ID.
II. Caldwell, the editor and manager
of "The Unionist," although not actu.
ally engaged as retail clerk, repre-
sented the local Retail Clerks Union
of Des Moines at the recent conven,
ton of the state federation of labor,
which was held at Sioux City.
Wouldn't this kind of work jar your
mothers preserves?"
The Maohinists' Strike.
From present indications the ma
chinists of the country have won their
strike for the nine hour day. Re-
ports sent out by President O'Connell,
of Washington, D. g., show that dou-
BILE the amount Of men nave returned
to work under the nine hour day, and
gained the recognition of the union.
than had been dreamed Of in the per-
iod of the time of the strike. BY the end
Of the week practically all the firms
Of the country will have acceded to
| the demands of the machinists. There
| is possibly no national organization
that has grown with the rapidity of
the machinists, which has in the last
two months doubled its membership,
The local organization is progressing
| finely and has practically every COM
petent machinist within its hold.
| The Carpenters Union.
Among the organizations of Ottum-
wa, there are none that have made any
more progress than the carpenters.
Wise and conservative in their deliber-
ations and actions, they have grown
steadily and are today, one of the best
organizations of that craft in the state.
Eighty per cent of the carpenters of
this city are members of the organiza-
ton and they all realize the great ben
eft that their union has been to them
it having reduced the hours and in
creased the pay, and brought a better
feeling among the craftsmen and mas
| ter carpenters in the city, and general.
ly has improved the condition of the
carpenters.
/ Strikes in Iowa.
The summary of the strike statistics
for Iowa in the years 1899 and 1900
has been prepared in the Office of State
Labor Commissioner Wennerstrum
The facts have been obtained from in
| yestigations both by the state bureau
of labor statistics and by the national
bureau, which had representative in
4 the state recently. 1t is shown the
total number of strikes in 1899 and
4 1900 was sixty-eight. The number OF
strikers was 1900. The total cost oil
4 strikes was 100000.
4 An interesting part of the summary
j relates to the success and failure Of
strikes. The number of union strikes
4 in the two years period was forty
seven. OF these forty were success
full and seven failed In other words
about six succeeded where one was VOID
/ of results. The number of non-unior
strikes was twenty-one. Ofthese but two
were successful while nineteen failed
the ratio of successful to unsuccess
full non-union strikes being, one to nine
and one-half. 1t is pointed
out from these figures thai
the matter of organization
enters in most important degree in
to movements for increased wages
, shorter hours or otherwise betteret
: conditions among workingmen. II
is claimed as a further benefit of or
ganization that in hundreds of cases
in which there were no strikes, con
cessions We're obtained by negotia
! tions. For instance, several advances
4 have been granted the employees of the
Milwaukee road and the Northwestern
and there have been several instance.
tof increases granted to printers BIZ
reason OF the lack Of agitation accom-