The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1905-05-12
ACapmaker's Story

Continued From Page One.)
for work, l went to this boss, and he
stared at me, and said:
What do you want?'
you asked for a girl"
"You-you-I don't want YOU" said
he. Cant 1 have my choice?"
Certainly" said l, Il could never
work where I'm not wanted"
1 suppose he expected me to revenge
myself by keeping other girls away.
but l sent him others till he filled the
place.
He resented my having served Oh
the committee, and so he did not want
me, but felt honored by the manner
in which 1 was treated. 1t showed that
l had done my duty.
The bosses try to represent this
open shop issue as though they were
fighting battle for the public, but
really it is nothing of the sort. The
open shop is weapon to break the
unions and set men once more cut
ting each others threats by individ-
ual competition.
Why, there was time in the cap
trade when men worked fourteen hours
a day, and then took the heads OF
their machines home in bags and set
ting them up on stands put mattresses
underneath to beaded the sound and
worked away till far into the morn
ing.
We don't want such slavery as that
to come back.
The shops are open now for all
union people, and all non-union peo-
pie can join the union. In order to
take in newcome foreigners we have
for them cut the initiation fees down
to one-half what we Americans have
to pay, and we trust them till they
get work and their wages.
In order to give the newcomers q
chance we have stopped night work,
which doesn't suit the bosses, because
it causes them to pay more rent when
they can't use their buildings night
and day. 1t costs them the price of
another loft instead of costing the
workers their health and lives as i'll
the old days.
Our trade is we'll organized, we have
won two victories and are not going
backward.
other directions. The shop girls GER
tainly need organization and 1 think
that they ought to be easy to organize
as their duties are simple and regular
and they have a regular scale Of
wages.
Many saleswomen on Grand and Di-
vision streets, and, in fact, all over
the East Side, work from 8 a. m. till
p. m. week days, and one-half day on
Sundays for IS and S. week; so they
certainly need organization.
The mattresses also could easily be
organized, and perhaps the domestic
servants. l don't know about stenog-
raphers. have not come in contact
with them.
Women have proved in the late
strike that they can be faithful to an
organization and to each other. The
men give US the credit of winning the
strike.
Certainly our organization constant
ly grows stronger, and the Woman's
Trade Union League makes progress.
The girls and women by their meet
ings and discussions come to under
stand and sympathize with each other,
and more and more easily they act
together.
1t is the only way in which they
can hope to hold what they now have
| or better present conditions.
Certainly there is no hope from the
mercy of the bosses.
Each boss does the best he can for
himself with no thought of the other
bosses, and that compels each to gouge
and squeeze his hands to the last
penny in order to make a profit
So we must stand together to re
sist, for we will get what we can
take-just that and no more-Rose
Schneiderman, in New York Independ
| ent.