Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1903-09-10
TO LABOR UNIONS
THE EDITOR OF GUNTON'S MAG.
AZlNE GIVES GOOD ADVICE.
A Friend OF Labor Unionism Gives Some
Good Advice. To Be . Member Of .
Trade Union Should Be q Guarantee That
the Man Is 4 Competent Workman.

unions, the editor Of Gunton's Magazine,
speaks out unreservedly, in the August
number of that publication. against the
policy Of "unionizing" shops and INDUS
tries as now carried out. He asks:
us 'unionizing shop consistent with
the rights of the employer to conduct
that part OF his business which directly
relates to him, and fer which ne alone is
responsible? In theory, it is. Theoreti.
cally. the union says to the employer !:
You can employ and discharge wllomso.
ever you choose you can use such tools
and machinery as YOU choose. All we
contend for is that the laborers shall be.
long to unions To be member of a
trade.union should, and presumably
does, guarantee that the man is compe-
tent workman. But in fact is this the
case? When q chop is unionized, does
the employer have the rights that belong
ITO him as the investor Of capital and the
responsible director OF the industry? The
fact is that the effect OF unionizing shop
| in most cases is that the management,
as we'll as the laborers, is under a jstem
OF coercion"
Again, speaking Of the long-drawn-out
contest between the employers and the
unions in the New York building trade 8,
he says:
"Laborers have no more right to perse-
cute employers or trifle with their inter
ests and with the public convenience
than ca pitalists have to persecute labor
ers, and until Il e unions resolutely set
their faces against this kind of thing they
are not fit to be intru ted with the union
ization of employment. Despots should
not be intrusted with absolute authority,
in politics, industry, or ethics. 1t is this
very conduct Of abusing power (and not
in the interest of labor or to better con-
dition, but in the mere destruction Of
property and wantonly or carelessly in
conveniencing the public that has led to
the present revolt among employers"
The editor proceeds to state what, in
his opinion, should be the positive pro-
gramme OF the unions:
'In order thoroughly to unionize in.
dustry, the unions should make them.
selves OF real service both to the employer
and the community. In the first place
membership in union should be a
guarantee OF the workmanship and char
actei OF the mechanic, SO that it would be
to the economic interest of employers tC
turn to the unions for laborers rather
than to the street corners. Next. the
unions should represent the honor OF the
craft in fidelity to work and the carrying
out of contracts, as we'll as in the eco.
be the power that stands between the
employer and the individual workman
to insist that the employer shall not he
injured or swindled, but that he shall
have faithful service, and, on the other
hand, that the interests Of the laborel
shall be protected. If the unions would
make this their policy, they would be-
come strong without coercion. The EN-
ployers would prefer them, the public
would encourage them, and the non-union
men would lose by being on the outside
1t would then be discredit, not only ir
the eyes Of laborers, but in the eyes o.
employers and the community, not to be
long to the union. But so long as unions
use their power to ipjure employers
waste material, and make intolerablt
demands, they will remain under thu
ban, and will tend to put non-union mer
at a premium.
"Until unions fill their function a.
economic organizations which not onl.
make bargains but assume the RESPONSE
bility for honorably carrying out con
tracts, the open shop will be a necessit.
in the community. The non-union la
borer (not the 'scab) does, indeed, hinde
the growth of exclusive power in tn
union; but this is wholesome function
Unions are doing much good, but the.
are far from fit to be trusted with tn
|, monopoly of the labor market and condi
tons. So long as it is necessary to US
coercion and physical methods to bull
up unions, it is safe to cay that union
are not fit to be intrusted with exclusiv
power.
. "The open shop is the place Of natura
selection; it is the free field for the pla
of economic forces. If employers genel
: ally will in good faith adopt the opel
} shop,-that is to say, employ either unio
, or non-union labor, and treat with tn
union men through their Representative
J if they so elect, and the non-union me-
} through their committees, or individually
as they elect then the union can grov
ION its merits. If by furnishing benefit