Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-08-01
PRISCOIS BIG STRIKE ON
Traffic at a Standstill as Result
of Teamsters' Fight.
CITY FRONT Federation OUT

CITY FRONT FEDERATION OUT
i Twelve Thousand Men Join Original
Strikers Ranks-They Claim It Is
a Fight For General Recognition of
the Labor Unions.
San Francisco, July 31-The labor
trouble in this city reached crisis
yesterday. Maratime traffic and labor
Glong shore are nearly at standstill,
and industries are almost totally par
! alyzed.
The order for a general walkout of
the City Front Federation, which COM
prises la unions and organizations, with
full membership of about $4,000, was
made effective yesterday morning.
Three thousand of these men are
employed at sea or in other cities, and
the strike order does not apply to them
until they return to San Francisco.
Twelve thousand men obeyed the or
der yesterday.
The City Front Federation is COM
posed of the following organizations:
Sailors Union of the Pacific, four local
unions Of longshoremen, marine fire.
men, brotherhood of teamsters, ship
and steamboat joiners, porters, pack
ers, warehousemen, ship clerks, pile
drivers and bridge builders, hosting
| engineers, steam and hot water filters,
and coal teamsters.
When the order to walkout went into
effect all the big shipping companies,
with one exception, were left without
a union man. By special agreement,
| entered into some time ago between
| the Pacific Coast Steamship company
and the Firemsn's union, f1remen re-
manned on the vessels of that company.
| 1t is claimed by the officers of all
| the organizations involved that the
| strike is not purely an expression of
sympathy with the union of teamsters,
| or any other body of workers who are
in dispute with their employers, but
| is taking up of the gauntlet thrown
| down by the employers association.
In other words, the City Front Fedora
| ton is determined to defend the prin-
ciple of unionism, which the associat-
ed employers have announced their in
| tention to crash out. Both sides seem
| determined to carry the fight on, and
| all efforts on the part of the mayor
/ and others to bring about concilia-
| tory settlement have this far proved
| unavailing. It is reported, unauthori-
tatively, that several of the larger
| wholesale houses will close down until
| the strike is settled Walter Golf,
president of the labor council, said to-
| day:
! ''This is the greatest strike in the
| history Of the state. It's effects will
be far reaching; the city and state will
| suffer untold damages, but the respon-
sibility for it is all with the employ
| ers. They have discharged men right
and left for adhering to union princi-
| pies and in taking up the battle, the
affiliated trades are merely fighting for
their rights"
| There is every prospect that many
other unions will be drawn into the
| fight, in which case the business of the
city will be completely tied up. The
coal handlers may refuse to handle the
fuel supply of the city, or the drivers
| of oil wagons to deliver oil to manu-
| facturers who use that product for fuel.
The coal supply of the city will last
but two weeks with ordinary consump-
ton, but with economy it may be made
to last a few weeks longer. Should
the coal and oil supply be cut off, the
| lighting company will be compelled to
close down and the city will be left
| in darkness after night fall
Several disturbances occurred yes
| terday, and the first really serious fight
| since the trouble commenced took place
between party of strikers and two
colored drivers imported from the in
terror The colored men state they
were attacked and fired into the strik-
ers in self defense. One man, strik-
er who happened to be crossing the
| street near the scene of the trouble
was slightly injured. The non-union
men were arrested but were released
on bail.