The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-18
SAN FRANCISCO TERRORIzED.
IRON GRIP OF THE LABOR UNIONS
AT ITS THROAT.
probably the one City In tho World whr-e
RIght 10 work Is Denied TO Man .. ,th-
out a Card-LabOr Organizations Have
nuIt chinese Wall Around Municipality

gAN Francisco. Nov. 17.-If any man
,rishes an object lesson showing what
union labor. given over to corrupt md
unprinciplod leadership. can do to an
American city. let him consider the case OF
SIN Francisco.
In no city in the world has union labor
ever risen TO such supreme heights Of
doninat' on. In no city in the world has
.he riGnt Of a man 10 work under such
condlti as suited him and his employer
alone been so completely and successfully
denied. Let us see what has resulted.
To-Day san Francisco has on her hands
the tas< Of REBUILDING over four square
mile. o. ruins, OF more than 500 acres.
There is not labor enough in the city stimuli
tanecusly to prosecute the twentieth part
Of this great enterprise. Wages were never
So high for skilled mechanics and all artisans
employed in building construction, either
here or in any other city. Yet scores OF
cont acts are unprosecuted and scores
more are not even let. though the banks are
burst nS with cash. because labor cannot
be ma mt any price.
And WY can't labor be had2 In the
Asst plaoe, because the local unions are
doing everything in their power to keep
union men from coming here. Only last
week the Building Trades Council directed
81 secreta'y TO answer nearly $50 letters
Of inquiry to the effect that there was too
much labor here at present for the work
that was To be done. Thelocal labor leaders
are. moreover. utilizing the various labor
publications all over the country to dis
s~eiulpate the same false impression.
IS 70 int orting non-union men. il simply
cannot ne lone unless emT loyers are ready
10 face an outbreak of union wrath and dis
order tbs will throw the city into a tumult
ior months on end. They ara not ready for
tlat-not yet. But the fact that they have
fsl' ed of forming al association, back ed by
millions, to do that very thing shows thai
they are getting desr crate and that If the
unions Vress them much closer to the wall
they will reciT itate a contest for the avow ed
object Of deciding this thing once for all.
Some Of the II rev jcst men in San Fran
risco think that a colossal struggle be-
iw een ! redatory labor and dow ntrodden
ca ital cannot be Tut of much longer.
san Francisco is the closest shop that ever
vas. IL is impossible for a non-union man
70 get q Job al any emr loymcnt in which
'he workers are organized and that in
Guides every Lind of emf loyment that
utilizes more than a handful of men. The
Unions dominate practically every wage
Gamer in the city. sk lied and unskilled
mechanics, all shipr ing work ers on the rail-
roads and the docks, all emT loyees in every
department of transr CREATION. EXP ress COM
fanies, street car lines, carriages, stables,
retail stores. barber shops, restaurants.
Tie trial Of the union is over them all.
Eight hours is the slogan in all the build
ing trades. and it goes.
The power of the unions has blinded them
10 every consideration Of decency OF bust
ness morality. whats a promise when a
union max es it," arrears to them to tit the
case. The Building Trades Council after
the great fire Tledgod itself not to raise
wages or alter conditions Of labor, so hat
tie work Of rebuilding tie city might Fro
ceed the faster. Scarcely one of the many
Unions conn osing the counci has lived up
70 that promise. On every hand EN-
ployers are bullied and black mailed with the
calmest ~effrontery. Demands for increases
are made without the slightest excuse. II
a contractor asks a reason all he gets is:
You raise wi wages or We quit. That's
reason enough"
Take the case of Garments Union No .205.
They had an agreement with the United
Railroads for a wage scale and working
hours that was TO run until next May. 1t
ODnDdll6Q a Cldurc sJlDuidLlnR IndJ any
differences should be arbitrated. Yet in
defiance OF that agreement the car men
all vent out On a strike early last month,
despite the fact that W. d. Mahon, presi-
dent Of their own national organization,
telegraphed them not to do so. Richard
Cornelius, head of the local car men, ex-
cused this by saying that Mahon's de-
spatch vas in cipher and he had lost the
key.
The electrical workers employed by
the United Railroads struck for less hours
and more pay. The company offered a
compromise. pending a decision by arbitra-
ron, and the men wanted TO accept this
offer. They were not allowed to do il.
The Electrical Workers Union to which
they belonged outvoted them and forced
them to cult.
Occasionally one or two men will in
Rugurate strikelets on their own account.
Two hosting engineers employed or a
new building one morning decided that
they wanred more money. Rather than
tie up every workman employed on the
lob the contractor c~apitulated. Within
two days every other hosting engineer
N town had heard the news and demanded
that his pay be hoisted. II was, of course.
for the penalty was a strike that would
have stopped work OF every new building
N the city.
The same spirit prevails everywhere in
every branch of labor. The workingman
n more than awake 20 his opportunities
and the Golden Gate is 10 him something
more than a fanciful name. An examina-
ton of the wage scale Is enough to make
many a sedentary worker regret that he
does not earn his living by manual labor,
According 10 the minimum wage scale
adopted by the Building Trades Council,
carpenters must get not less than s. a day.
As a matter of fact none of them gets less
than S.. ANY scrub who can drive a nail
and pay his dues gets that much. Few
Of the good ones get less than 81 and many
get s. OF $3.50. The Carpenters Union
IS one OF the most powerful in the city.
It. membership is 5000, but it his now
closed its rolls and will admit no more.
CDnSeuuently. san FTancisCo must get