The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-02-02
EMPLOYERS To- BLAME
FOR MOST OF STRIKES
Troubles Would be Less if En-
ployers Were Closer to
Their Men,
Heads of Great Concerns
Leave Too Much in Care
of Managers and Bosses.


of Managers and Bosses.
If employers would keep in closer
touch with their employees there would
be fewer strikes.
This is more fortunate way Of ex-
pressing the situation than that which
seemed, to predominant at the Civic
Federation conference at Mrs. Potter
Palmer's residence. The speakers
there without exception expressed this
sentiment:
IF employers and employees would
keep in touch with each other there
would be less industrial strife"
The utter impossibility Of this is ap-
parent. 1t devolves upon the en-
ployer to determine whether or not he
will respect such a policy. 1t is in his
province to say whether he will meet
the ernploye on equal ground so that
each can keep in touch with the
other. The heads Of great manufac-
turing establishments often forget
the men who by their loyalty aided
them to get to the top. They leave
the treatment Of the employees to sup
erintendents and straw bosses. This
causes 80 per cent of the industrial
disputes.
How Neglect Starts.
The manager Of great business
probably does not have the time to
recognize employees who perhaps were
his fellow workmen years ago. He
gets into new environment and does
not see any necessity Of keeping up
his acquaintance with the workmen.
1t was the loyalty Of these men that
helped him to become great manu-
facturer or head of trust His was
the brain, Of course, that made his
| own destiny. But the workmen who
stuck to him while he was fighting
for position and who were just as
anxious as himself to see him prosper
| were generally forgotten.
Some straw boss who thinks he can
| make his job more secure by cutting
! wages and making arbitrary rules is
given the right to say what shall or
shall not be given the employees. The
! man who has kind word for an
employe gets more work. and better
| work out of the latter than he who
passesS him by without even "a look
| Of recognition. = .. p. p -, ! III
- ! s-.. Rsainsat. Rnttona.. s-ss.. 4
The man who starts N at the bot
| tom Of the ladder and reaches the top
without losing sight Of the men who
helped him become great is the man
xuy11 vry{11 H~,
employees. The man who forgets his
friends who helped him up the ladder
and throws all responsibilities Of run
ming a great establishment upon some
! understrapper, who thinks he is the
real boss, is the man who gets into
trouble.
Just now the workingmen as we'll
! as the great public are interested in
the contracts being made by the rail-
| roads with several organizations of
employees. Nearly all the general
managers worked up from the bottom
Of the ladder. They know the en-
ployes and the employees know them.
Therefore it is not surprising that a
wage scale for $1,000 engineers could
be agreed upon between the employees
and the officials without the interven-
ton OF outsiders.
Vice President Gardner Popular.
One Of the railroad officials who has
not lost the good will Of his old fellow
| employees is w. A. Gardner of the Chi
cago & Northwestern railroad. He Is
| now vice president, but for many years
was general manager. To the old
timers he is still BILLY" Gardner, and
he likes 1t when they call him that
He knows nearly every man on the
| road, and the majority Of them by
their first names. But he has not for
gotten the old-timers, who, he states
helped him climb the ladder of respon-
sibility to his present position. His
private secretary has a standing order
| to permit not one Of his old friends
| who may visit his office to leave with
out first seeing him.
"You boys worked hard to carry out
! my ORDERS" he once said to an old
time engineer. ITO you I am indebt-
ed for reaching my present position"
The boys will not believe this, as
they say he won his spurs by hard and
Intelligent work. At the same time
they are pleased that their work is
appreciated and they work all the
| harder.
Labor Disputes Rare.
| ED" Lane is engineer Of the st.
| Paul Limited. He runs to Enjoy, Wis.,,
from Chicago: The run IL 204 miles,
but he gets pay for the Ave miles he
covers In bringing the engine, from
the roundhouse to the depot and re-
turning 1t. He has run an engine for
the company twenty-six years, and
thinks there is no one like "Billy'
Gardner. When Gardner had no idea
! Of being general manager he and Lane
| were. great friends. -, -. =.
Billy knows every man on the
road" said Lane. Sometimes he will
drop into roundhouse to inspect the
engines. AS he passes alongside the
two-score engines he will meet fifty
engineers and other employees. He
WI oo1& oH&