Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-30


man can work on the docks without he
has card from the union. We won't have
non-union men, and II they are put on we
strike"
What are your wages and hours Of
work.
"The lowest wage is So per day Of eight
hours. We have been steadily raising
wages since we organized and the mill
nonaires have come to respect us.
What do you mean by the million
aires?"
II mean our employers. the big con-
tractors. Oh! they are rare birds. When
l was first elected secretary of the union
they talked nice to me. They called me Mr..
DAILY and said that they hoped we would
have no trouble and that they would make
1t worth my while not to have any. / told
them that l must be for the union and that
I could not be anything but honest for the
men would soon find me out. Said /: I
will do what l can for you, but 1 am for
my men all the time"
How do you so about raising wages7" /
asked.
That's an easy job" replied Secretary
Daily. but you want to know how to do IL.
The way We do is to say that we will de-
mand bigger wages six months from now
Suppose II is January, we notify the capt.
talists that We must have more money after
the LIST of June. They think the matter
over and conclude to stop il. They fix II
so that they will have but little work on
hand June 1 and arrange their contracts so
that 1t would not hurt them If we struck.
we know all about their contracts as well
as they do and when the time comes we
say nothing about wages. We just lay low
and wait until there is a big Job on hand
worth several hundred thousand dollars
to the contractors. then we come I'D with
our old demand for extra wages OF no
work"
But don't the contractors object?'
They squeal. of course. but l tell them
we notified them In January and they
thought they could fool us. They now see
that We have the upper hand and they
come down. Oh, it Is dead easy IL YOU
know how to work IL.
Unionists Who Overreach Themselves.
There is no doubt but that many Of the
demands of organized labor are extrava-
CANT. They may not come from the unions
as such, but from union men, so foolish
that they overreach themselves to their
own hurt.
heard the other night of two instances
In connection with the National Cash Regis
ter Company of Dayton, Ohio. That COM
pany has been noted for its kindness TO its
men and for the sanitary condition and con-
veniences of its factories. Among other
things 1t has free bath houses for its EN-
ployes, and 1t had furnished not only soap
and towels but a certain amount of time
off. when a man could take bath
during working hours If he wanted to. as
the union grew strong IN the shops It's
members began to object TO trlfilhg thihks
as contrary to union rules, ana one Gay II
complaint was made as to the bath house
The union complainer said that the men
could not use the baths because the towels
were not washed by union labor.
But" said the manager, don't you
know that those towels are washed by the
widow of one of our old employees we
pay her just as much as we Would nave W
pay at any union laundry. She Is poor ana
needs the work, and We thought We should
like to help her" .
THAT makes no difference. said me
unionist, 1.-The woman don't belong to inc
union and we are bound to dry ourselves cIi
urfon- washed towels
To this the boss did not reply, and the
rnen went away. The next morning theiS
were no towels, and when the emplo!e'
asked for them they were told that ING
company preferred that every man shouio
furnish his own towel so that he couid
have ii washed where he pleased.
A somewhat similar trouble arose iater
on in regard to a swinging door pelWteh
two rooms In one of the rooms the work
demanded processes which produced certain
ill-smelling fumes and the door was put III
for the comfort of the workmen IN tne
room adjoining One day a union mechanic
employed in this second room in passing
through to the ill-smelling place happeneo
to notice that the hinges on the ooor WEI
made by non-union labor. A protest was
at once filed and the men said that the
hinges must come down.
All right" said the manager. I'VE can
take them down. We don't need the door
anyhow, and we can just take IL away
And so they did.
"A few actions of this kind showed the
company that sooner or later there mus. ue
a strike and they prepared for 1t. They
said nothing but pushed the work ana iaio
up a large amount of extra stock. Iheh
when an extravagant demand was mace
with the threat of a strike they refused 10
submit and the strike came.
The company said nothing. put smut
down the works and supplied the trade
with the stock on hand. Two weeks went
by and nothing was said. month passed
and there was no sign of opening the shops
Then the workmen began to be worr1eo-
Many of them had little homes which they
had partly paid for. They needed money
for interest on their mortgages and other
things, and when they heard that the com
pany was considering the moving OF the
shops from Dayton to a place OF petteF'
labor conditions they asked to go BACK 10
work They did go back. and from th1t
time to this l understand. there has been
M complaint about petty matters In that'
factory. tRANh VI. SfAtNE IA> = ASA~'