The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1901-07-18
THE BIG STRIKE.


Hoop company, the American Til
Plate company and the American
Sheet Steel company on the one
hand and the executive board OF the
Amalgamated associations Of stee
trade workers having adjourned
Saturday without coming to al
agreement, general strike in all Of
the mills of the companies named
went into effect yesterday by order
of President Shaffer of the associa
ton. All of the "a, 900 union en-
ployes of the companies are affected
by this order, ard the employees Of
some mills not supposed to be under
union influence joined in the strike.
While the published reports of the
differences between the com
panies and their men are somewhat
obscure, it seems that the crux OF
the difficulty was not wages, but
unionization of all the mills desired
by the association. The employers
take the position that the unioniza-
tion was to be compulsory. On the
other hand statements issued by the
men say that they demand in addi-
tion to the acceptance of the union
scale of wages, merely permission to
pursue without molestation or OBJ
struction the work of voluntarily
unionizing all of the plants. The
employers in their public statements
give no indication that the wage
scale presented by the association
was Objectionable. They assume
that the only vital question at issue
is that of compulsory unionization,
and that as they have some men in
some of their mills who are opposed
to joining the association, they do
not feel that they can discharge such
men. On it's face this is high
ground and was commended by The
Journal on Saturday as most ten
able position.
But later developments indicate
that the companies are uotso firmly
resolved upon protecting the prin-
ciple of individual freedom as they
are in keeping the association from
Incorporating into its membership
the employees of all of their mills, for
before the conference finally adjourn
ed they made a compromise propo-
sition to unionize some of their
mills, which have not heretofore
been in the association, if the men
should vote to enter presumably
the decision to be determined by a
majority vote. If the minority
stuck to its position in opposition
| to the association the companies
would have to discharge the men
composing taking it for granted
that unionization would be favored
by the majority. What then be-
comes of the pretense of standing
for the rights of the individual?
Moreover, at the eleventh hour the
Amalgamated association offered to
modify the scale very considerably
and agrees that in the event that
the work of unionizing the mills of
other companies of the steel trust
outside those represented in the
conference should result in a strike
| it would guarantee that the mills of
the latter should not be affected
This offer was refused.
In reply to the allegation that it is
unreasonable and unjust to insist on
the unionization of the mills, Pres
ident Shaffer asserts that conditions
are such that all the mills must be
either union or non-union, because
the companies at present discrimin-
ate against their union mill in favor
of the non-union mills, as, for in
stance, in closing union mills while
keeping non union mills running. If
this be true, it is not difficult to see
why President Shaffer and his asso-
ciates should seek to unionize all the
mills, unjust as such policy might be
in its effect on employees who did not
wish to join. From the association
standpoint, in appears that it will
becrme Intellectual unless all the
mills can be organized.
It will thus be seen that the situa-
ton has been somewhat altered by
later developments, and that while
compulsory unionization is contrary
to the individual liberty of the citi-
zen, and therefore most Objectionable,
L