The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-09-02
PHILOSOPHY or TRADE ,UNIONIsM.
TO THE ordinary man of affairs, immersed
in his business and the daily routine Of


TO THE ordinary of affairs, immersed
In his business and the daily routine of
i life, trade unionism may seem bewild-
ering maze Of conflicting ideas and doc
trines. Such a man. unless he has q special in
terest in the subject is liable to have his opinions
formed from disjointed scattering and often un-
Trustworthy accounts.
The complexity of trade unionsm, however, is
merely the completely OF human life itself. No
matter how simple and fundamental the princi-
pies and constitution of organization, it's rules
and regulations necessarily become complex as
soon the diverse conditions that characterize
modern life are encountered
In its fundamental principle trade unionism
is plain and clear and simple. 1t starts from the
recognition of the fact that under normal condi-
lions the individual workngmen cannot success
fully bargain advantageousy with the employer
for the sale Of his labor.
Beginning at this point it has carried on
systematic struggle for the abolition OF the in
dvidual contract. and the installing in its place
Of the trade agreement of joint bargain.
1t holds that there can be no permanent pros
perty to the working classes, no real and lasting
progress, no consecutive improvement in condi-
tons, until the principle is firmly and fully
tablshed, that in industrial life, especially in
terpr1ses on a larger SCALE the settlement of
wages hours of labor, and all conditions of work,
must be made between employers and working
men collectively and not between employers and
workingmen individually.
To find substitute for the individual bargain
which destroys the welfare and happiness of the
whole working class, trade unions founded.
trade union, in its usual form. is an association
of workingmen who have agreed among them
selves not to bargain individually with their
ployer or employers, but to agree to the terms of
a collective or joint contract between the employ
er and the union. This is the fundamental rea-
son for the existence of the trade union.
The ideal of trade unionism is to combine in
one organization all Of the men employed, or
capable of being employed at a given trade, and
to demand and secure for each and all of them
a definite minimum wage hours and condition of
work.
Trade unionism thus recognizes that the de-
struction OF the workingman is the individual
bargain, and the salvation of the workingman is
the joint, collective united bargain.
Trade unionism stands for equal pay for equal
work; and while it will permit man to receive
as much as his fellow craftsman, it will not allow
him to do SO by undertaking them in wages or
by working under less favorable conditions or
for longer hours.
Trade unionism does not oppose competition
among unions for positions, although it demands
efficiency and not upon that of reduced wages,
heightened hours or any abatement from the con-
dittons fixed by the collective bargain.
= This principle of trade unionsm will explain
many OF the seeming pecultarities and many of
the numerous rules Of labor organizationsA It
will supply an answer to the question so naively
put by many people, as to why the union will not
allow man to accept two dollars a day, while
all other workers in that trade are receiving three
dollars. The unions hold that the employer
would give all Of the work to the men who were
satisfied with two dollars day. and, consequent
ly, the man who demanded three dollars day
would be thrown out of employment, and there
fore forced to accept lower rate Of remunera-
ton.
The right of the employer to employ or not to
employ whomsoever he wishes is fully and firmly
maintained, and the right of the men, through
their union, to say whether not they will work
for an employer who does not pay to them the
scale they demand is strongly asserted.
1t no case does trade unionism attempt to de-
stroy the individual liberty of any workingman
Let labor's position be fully analysed before any
man attempts to declare the faacy of this state
ment. Membership in the union Is voluntary.
Likewise has every man the same right to with
draw from union. The trouble with most men
who betray their fellowmen is that they do not
take the trouble to do this.
Any man has the right to work for who ever
Will give him employment, and his fellowmen
have the right to say whether or not they will
work with him. Then it is up to the employer
to say which of the two he desires. This is the
whole position in a nut shell. The union that
attempts to over-step this position makes the
mistake, and the person who holds that trade
unionism stands for anything else on this ques-
ton is in error.