The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1907-09-06

force a demand for recognition of the
union. The Daily Tribune, a part of
the Hammond Printing Co., and the
mouthpiece thereof, endeavors to be-
fiddle the issue in so-called explain
alton of the strike.
The Tribune says that when the
union voted mo strike" and sur
rendered IT'S charter the employees of
the company, who constituted a ma
jority of the union, paid the highest
possible compliment to the company
The Tribune further says that of
the eleven union men employed all
struck except one union man who
remained"
The Tribune further says that it
has always paid the union scale of
wages, and it points with pride to
the hitherto cordial relations existing
between it and the employees.
The Tribune declares that the strike
, was a result of it's refusal to submit
! to the union debating the companys
business.
1t concludes its ''eXplanation'' by
endeavoring to liken a trades union
to corporation in restraint of trade
The explanation is labored in the
extreme, and is cunningly worded to
deceive public that may not be ac-
quainted with the actual facts. 1t is
to set the exact facts before the
public that this statement is made:
| 10 hoe ~, ~l~:
to making contract with the Typo
graphical Union on the ground that
they do not want the union to run
their business This objection may
appear reasonable to those who have
been deluded into believing that
union endeavors to manage the bus1-
ness of employers of union labor. The
facts are that it is the stock argu-
ment of those who are opposed to
allowing the wage-earner to have any
voice in the disposition of his only
product-his labor-while arrogating
to themselves the right to have the
final say in the disposition of their
product which is the goods they
manufacture. Labor is peculiar
commodity. 1t cannot be kept on the
shelf until there is a demand for it.
This days work must be sold today or it
is forever lost In order to prevent
the employers of labor from taking
advantage of this fact unions are or
ganiZed, and the union seeks to sell
today's labor today, giving the owner
IOf hot lob w, h.
of it's disposition.
The Tribunes statement that there
were several union men in the Ham
mond Printing company's plant is
true, but not in the sense the Tribune
would have the statement understood.
The facts are that every journeyman
printer in the plant was "a union man.
While they were there the company
experienced no trouble because these
union men tried to run the COM
pany's business 1t was only when
these men sought to sell their labor
collectively instead of individually
that the Hammonds objected.
When the Fremont union was or
ganized an effort was made to secure
recognition of the union from the
the strike vote was taken the mo
strike idea prevailed. But this was
not compliment to the company, as
the Tribune would have it appear
Quite the contrary. The local labored
under the impression that union
| .&,.:J,1 G.
a year old. Therefore the men de
cided to vote mo strike" and return
the charter, thus putting the matter
up to the International and forcing the
ISSUE The surrender of the charter
was really to make the record straight
preparatory to taking drastic action,
and the effort to make it. appear as a
compliment to the HammOnds is
ludicrous to union men who under
stand the facts. The further state
ment that 1.-THE men were not allowed
to exercise their preference" is like
wise a misstatement of the facts. The
men preferred a closed shop. and they
took what they deemed to be the
right procedure to obtain it. The or
der to strike, given by the Interna
tional, was in response to the wishes
of the local union printers, else the
order never would have been given.
The statement that "only one union
man remained in the Office is abso
lutely untrue. The man who re
NAMED ceased to be a union man the
moment he refused to respond to the
strike call, and became at once a
| rat"
The Tribune declares that it has
always paid the union scale of wages
and more, statement that is utterly
at variance with the facts. Not only