The San Francisco call., 1906-11-07

The great body of union printers
| throughout the country regard the
| fight for the eight-hour day as prac-
| tically won. To be sure the Typothetae
! is still conducting sort of guerrilla
warfare necessitating a few pickets,
but the battle has been fought and
| won and is so regarded by most of the
enemy himself Out of $4,000 union
printers in the country about $4,000
are working under the eight-hour day.
International President James Lynch
! has just sent out circular to all locals
notifying them that the executive coun-
| Gil having the eight-hour day fight
so well in hand feels justified in re-
ducing the weekly special assessment
which has been levied for some time
This news will be gratifying to the
printers as indicating that the strike Is
nearly at an end. The enemy has been
whipped to finish, and now the bush
whackers are all that is left to subdue
Los Angeles has been taken off the
strike list.
Grand Chief Warren s. Stone of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
stated the other day that every member
of that organization feels that the
time is now ripe for the railroads of
the country to give better recognition
to their engineers. The wages of en-
gineers and other train employees" said
Mr.. Stone, have not been increased in
comparison with other classes of labor,
and in the meantime the requirements
and duties of railroad men have more
than doubled in the last ten years
The heavy power and increased ton
mage have brought much longer hours
to men engaged in the operation of
trains The hours that many of our
engineers and other train employees are
putting in on slow freight trains are
beyond the limit of human endurance
and the men are a unit in demanding
relief from the excessive hours many
of them are obliged to work in order
to retain their positions. 1t is a COM
mon thing on many of the roads of the
country, East as well as West for
! freight crews to be kept on duty for
from twenty-five to thirty consecutive
hours, and it is nothing unusual for
the men to work forty hours on a
stretch without a chance to get rest.
| This is because they get out on the
are compelled to drag along, keeping
out of the way of all fast freight and
| passenger trains, never daring to start
| from any place until they were sure
that they would have plenty of time
to get to the next station or sidetrack.
The trouble is the trains are so long
and heavy that they cannot get them
over the road on anything like schedule
| time. On majority of the roads the
| men have plenty of rest after they
get in from run, before they are
again ordered for duty, but a man who
starts out on train is supposed to get
| his train to the terminal before he gets
any rest. When 1 take into considera-
ton the long hours that our men are
! compelled to work on freight trains in
many instances, the only wonder to me
is that we do not have many more dis
astrous wrecks than do occur"
The tenth annual convention of the
International Association of Bridge
and Structural Iron Workers was held
recently in Detroit. and the delegates
4 are returning to their homes In
President f. NJ Ryan's report the fol-
/ lowing appears: For year our as
sociation has been passing through
the most trying ordeal in its history.
That we bear few scars need not
be wondered at, when 1t is consid-
cred that we have arrayed against us
the most powerful combination of cap
ital that labor organization has ever
been called upon to combat. The cam
paign that employers have been wag-
ing in the manufacturing trades for
| the so-called open shop for the past
three years they have now transferred
/ TO the building trades. Throughout
| the land associations of employers are
/ increasing in numbers and strength.
| Most of these associations are formed
for the purpose of dealing as a body
with labor unions. If the workers
were thoroughly organized ali these
associations would be forced to treat
with organized labor. Then we would
have what 1 believe is the best con-
dition that is possible under our pres
ent industrial system-that is, thor
ough organization on both sides, mu-
tual recognition and joint trade agree
| ments."
4 ing officers: President. F. NJ. Ryan;
vice president, E. A. Clancy; second
vice president, ]. H. Barry; secretary
and treasurer. j. ]. Mcnamara. 1t
was decided to hold<the next conven-
tion in New Orleans.
No definite conclusion has yet been
reached in the controversy between
the Pittsburg Railways Company and
! Street Carmen's Union No. S5. Both
| sides have rested their case. and neith-
/ er manifests disposition to yield. So
| far as the company is concerned the
/ latest advices are that the situation
is up to the president. The officials
of the union state that owing to the
/ illness of c. o. Pratt, member of the
national executive board, who has
/ participated In the rehearing of the
/ case In dispute, no further steps will
be taken at present. The company is
accused of discharging employees with
out just cause. The affair may ter
inmate in a strike.
President James O'Connell of the
International Association of Machin-
lists. is in Pittsburg this week and 1t is
believed that important news will soon
be forwarded from there to the ma
chinists of the country
|
The annual convention Of the ma
tional Metal Trades Association, COM
posed of manufacturers of the prin-
cipa1 cities of the country, will be held
in Boston. beginning March 20 next
/ The date was decided upon at the last
meeting of the Administration Coun-
ell in Cincinnati at which the labor
j situation of the country was care
4 fully considered. The officers of the
! organization were commended highly
\ for the way in which they had handled
Il the various labor troubles of the mem
i bers and for their success in uphold
/ ing the principles of the association
4 The membership roll shows an in
IL