Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-07-24
cHIcAGO's LONG AND COSTLY
STRUGGLE ENDS.
UNIONS LOSE UTTERLY
Men Return to Ask Work as lndivId-
uaIs, Not Gaining a Single Point
Demanded-Bega 1o5 Days Ago
and Has Cost 80 Lives IN Riots
and Fights.

Chicago, July 21.-The teamsters
strike that has so greatly disturbed
the business conditions of this city
for the last 1O5 days was at 1880
this morning officially declared off by
the teamsters' Joint council. The
men have been ordered to seek their
old nositions. and it is estimated that
less than one7half of them will be re
emploved. The strikers made com
plete surrender and will apply Tor
work as individuals and without an
agreement of any kind with their
employers.
The action of the transfers Joint
council was taken at the end OF
Gay whose events clearly foreshad-
owed the collapse of the strike. Three
unions having already voted to re-
turn to work as fast as possible, ana
if being certain that the unions which
did not yet vote on the question OF
ending the strike would take similar
action, the council, believing further
effort useless, decided to can off the
strike at once.
The first break in the ranks OF the
strikers came yesterday afternoon
when the lumber teamsters voted to
return to work regardless of what &C
ton might be taken by any other I'M
ion. Last night the department
store drivers and railway express
drivers voted to call off the strike
and seek their old positions in the
morning.
It is expected that about 60 per
cent. of the department store drivers
will be reinstated and the express
drivers declared last night that they
believed about 100 of their number
would be taken back The express
companies have declared all through
the strike, however, that not one OF
those who struck would ever be re-
instated Today the truck drivers
and one or two smaller unions will
vote on the question of calling Off the
strike. but there is no doubt that they
will decide to seek their old places
again.
gained by going back to work is in
the case of the lumber drivers, the
right to wear the union buttons In
case of all the other unions the men,
by seeking their old places, tacitly
agree to the terms of the employers,
which were that only such men would
be taken hack as were needed after
the non-union men had been provid-
ed for, and the question of wearing
the union button should be left to
the decision of the individual en-
ployer.
Long and Costly Struggle.
The strike has been one OF the
most annoying, bitterly fought, and
expensive affairs of its kind Chicago
has ever known. 1t originated last
winter over the demand of the gar
ment workers association that Ward
& Co. refrain from sending out any
work to non-union men, although
there was in the contract between
Ward and the unions no clause pro-
hibiting such action. The garment
workers employed by Ward went on
strike and their places were filled by
non-union men. Four months after
the strike of the garment workers,
the Transfers union called upon
Ward to arbitrate the strike. Re-
fusal was followed by a strike OF all
the transfers in their employ, and
the strike rapidly spread to such 9th
er business houses as attempted to
make deliveries to Ward About
80 lives have been lost during the
strike, and there have been hundreds
of cases of assault in many of which
the victims were seriously injured.
Eorester on Western Trim