Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-12-04
A New Form of Strike.


| came conspicuous on the railways of
Italy when they were made to suffer
last March from this form of indus
trial warfare. We referred at that
| time to the geneal features OF this
conflict. Details emphasizing the new
form of strike are presented in the
October bulletin of the international
railway congress. 1t says obstruc-
tionism consists in railway servants
carrying out their duties with per-
sistent ill-will, so as to delay the SER
vice as much as possible, the ill-Will
being disguised under the pretext of
strict and rigorous Application of the
regulations in force" The causes
which led to the Inauguration of OBJ
structionism are reviewed in some de-
TAIL the principal one being opposi-
ton of the railway employees to the
provisions of a proposed bill in the
Italian chamber of deputies, intro
duced with the sanction and support
of the government which was then
about to take over the management Of
the italian railways, and which bill
provided severe punishments for pro-
moters and participants in strikes on
the railways.
Heretofore when the railway en-
ployes of Italy have had recourse to
strikes these have been defeated by
the Intervention of the government.
which resorted to a species of mill
tary mobilization. This consists in
calling to the colors all the railway
employees liable to military service.
but instead of incorporating them in
their respective regiments they are
kept at their posts and at their reg
ular duties as railway employees. This
places them under martial law, and a
refusal to obey orders under such cir
cumstances is extremely serious. leav-
ing ones post being regarded as de-
sertion. This has invariably defeated
strikes on Italian railways, and it was
a knowledge of the governments
power through this military channel
which led the labor leaders last FEB
ruary to resort to obstructionism
This form of industrial warfare
can best be indicated by references to
particular cases in which it mani
tested itself on the italian railways.
The regulations, for instance, state
that shunting operations in sta
tons are to be carried out at reduced
speed: Obstruetionism led to exces-
sive slowness. The regulations pro
hibit, in the interest of the safety of
the employees, getting off or on loco
motives while in motion, coupling up
or uncoupling wagons while they are
moving: By eXaggerating these pre-
cautions, the time generally neces-
sary for shunting operations may be
doubled or trebIed.- The carriage
examiners, etc., must check the cOndi-
ton of a train before it starts I'm
der pretext of making a careful ex-
animation, this is prolonged so that
the train is late in starting; if the
least excuse turns up, it is decided,
at the last moment, that given
vehicle is not to be used, and the
train is made UP differently before it
starts and this increases the delay in
starting. The head conductor of
the train examines the time sheets,
way-bills, etc., which are handed to
him, with such minute care that he
always succeeds in discovering some
| item which is badly written, some
| figures which are not quite clear, and
so on; and this enables him to lose
more time by asking for corrections
and explanations. The engine driver
no longer accepts coal by the basket
| full and briquettes ready counted; he
requires everything to be weighed in
| his presence. Once the locomotive has
| left the sheds, the combined ill-will of
| the driver, of the head shunter and
of the switchmen produces delays such
that double or treble the normal time
| is consumed before the locomotive
is at the head of the train. Other
instances could be given but those al
ready mentioned suffice to show what
is meant by obstructionism and the
misapplication of the regulations
which conceal, or rather do not sue
coed in concealing, the truth, that is
to say, the general ill-will of the. en-
ployes resulting from a general agree
ment. t
+ The first remedy against obstruc-
tfonism, says the writer of the bulletin
article, is active supervision of the
employees, who will not always ven
ture, under the immediate $ eye OF;
their superiors, to make a show of
ill-will. The second remedy is to ex-
| erciSe the greatest StrictneSS AS
the employees shelter themselves be-
hind the regulations in order to-. cloak
| their ill-will, it is only natural to
utilize the same regulations, in order
to inf1ict the penalties provided for
the least faults of conduct, insubordi-
nation, etc. The third remedy con-
sists in transferring the most i'll"
disposed employees away from the
| large stations, where their example is