The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-11-19


The 4yantage5p osit ions IL ~ occupied
by labor was not bro ought ito it on Sill
l yer platter, but was contended for and
won by the unity Of the workers. byt]
the burdens which they have borne and
| the sacrifices they: have made. More
thorough organization. greater will
! ingness to accumulate funds in the
unions, the spirit of fraternity and SOL
| ldar1ty,' will bring their own reward
ana the recognition not only of en-
| ployers, but Of the world. 1t may be
| safely asserted that as a rule, in our
! time, those who have no power to in
have no rights to maintain
! Union Shop-Trade Agreement Versus
| "Open Shop"
IN many cities employers, Antagonists
! tic Of labor, have formed themselves
into so-called citizens alliances, and
nave undertaken to propagate the pol
| icy Of the destruction of organized la
Dor, their first effort being directed to
what they are pleased to term the
| open shop" and to attack the union
| shop under the false assertion that it
| Is CLOSED shop" In my last report
! had occasion to give this subject con-
| siderable attention. Since then some
have pretended that the entering into
an agreement of an employer with
union by which exclusively union men
are to be employed by him, is in viola
ton Of law; that it denies the right to
employment of workmen who are not
| members of the unions
In the first instance the claim is alb
surd when 1t is known that the union
! not only opens wide it's doors, inviting
! all to Join, but sends out Its organiz-
| ers and missionaries to induce by every
honorable means within their power
the non-un1on1sts to share in the ad
vantases that come from united and
associated effort. But quite apart
from this consideration is this fact,
| that an employer may give a contract
to dealer to furnish him with his
raw material, or to erect a plant, or
to furnish him with machines the con-
| tractor to have the exclusive right to
furnish and provide these things. Such
a contract implies and provides the ex-
| cluston of all other dealers, builders,
or machinery manufacturers Is such
a contract held to be improper or I'M
lawful? Are not hundreds of thous-
ands OF contracts of this character
made daily? The agreement between
an employer and union is for the
members OF the union to furnish that
employer with labor Of certain qualifi-
cations for specific period of time,
| the consideration being the payment of
| stipulated wages as a minimum. The
| others are by their own short-sighted
policy or indifference excluded from
the provision and benefits of such an
agreement is their own fault and
against which they have neither the
legal nor the moral right to contend
The organized labor movement is the
associated effort of more than two
million of adult wealth producers. 1t
is the unselfish action of the most in
teIngent, and the earnest manifesto
ton of the most enlightened self-in-
terest which sees that interest best
served by helping to protect and pro-
mote the interests of others.
The open-shop cant and hypocrisy
aim at organized labor with the full
knowledge that it, and it alone, stands
| between the toilers with those depen-
dent upon them and the greed and
| avar1ce that would force down the con-
! ditions Of labor to a bare subsistence
1engthen the hours Of daily toll, and
make the home wretched and desolate
The division and subdivision of labor
and its specialization, brought about
by inventions of machines and new
tools OF labor, have robbed workmen
of their power Of individual freedom Of
i contract with their employers. Their
only opportunity for anything like fair
| or advantageous terms under which to
| seM-their labor Is In associat ting them
Izselves with their fellow workmen In
making collective bargain, a. work.
ing agreement; in other words, a. union
and contract by the union with en-
ployers for their labor and the condi-
tons under which it shall be sold.
The union ship in no sense involves
a denial of the right Of every man to
sell his labor as he may see fit, nor
the employer to hire such labor In
fact, it is an affirmation OF that right
| Employers have the lawful right to
hire any labor they may choose, but it
does not give them the right to i'm
press workmen or to enslave them. or
to drag them into a factory on any
terms the employer may choose to
! grant as an expression Of his "kindli-
| ness"
Employers have the right to make
| contracts for labor. The right carries
| with 1t. also, the same rights OF the
workmen. It, therefore, follows, that
IT the workers have the right to sell
their labor as they see fit, they have
also the right not to sell it to en-
ployers, unless it be through the col
lective bargain of the union shop AS
an illustration, I recently asserted that
| every man has the right to say, II will
| not work for you unless you made
contract with the union to which I be-
long and agree to employ none but
members of that union" To claim
| that he may not say this is equivalent
to saying that he must sell his labor,
not as he sees fit, but as the employer
sees fit. Can any reasonable answer
be made, criticism INDUCED in, when
employers find it to their advantage
to make a contract with a reputable
body Of men to employ union labor ex-
clusively and thus eliminate the pos
sibility of strikes, disputes, factions,
and losses? To this our opponents, the
so-called citizens, alliances, can make
no answer. Their policy consists of
evasion and wilful misrepresentation
Of the aims and purposes of organized
labor Of the collective bargain, of the
working agreement, of the union shop.
THE WREN BUSH.