The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-01-11
Open. LETTER TO
-. :. CIVIC COMMITTEE.
Paramount Issue Id Present Lock
ont struggie: is Not the
= "0pen-shop.'

+ VpVA~SAAOHs y
But Shall Men live Up to Their
Contracts or Cruelty Vio-
late Them.
The following letter was addressed
by w. e. McEwen, Observation-Disclosures
of the State Federation Of Labor. to
the SELF constituted committee of 100
citizens;> calling the committees atten-
ton to the evil principle involved in
wilfully violating. a solemn contract,
as was done by. the contractors, and
asking the members Of the committee
If they individually upheld such con-
duct The letter is as:ffollows:
,Gentlemen: This, lettervis is addressed
to YOU because of our knowledge Of
your splendid standing In this COM
munity ,,and your record as gentlemen
who enjoy the reputation of standing
by any agreement you might make.
Because of your high ideas Of honor,
we believe that you would ,das readily
condemn the reputation of an agree
ment, as you would support those who
stick by their contracts.
The question of the union or non-
union shop can not be made an issue
in the lockout in the building indus
try without first disposing Of the con-
tracts made and entered into between
the employers of labor and the unions
involved These contracts do not ex-
pire until May /, 1908. =
Under the terms Of the. .existing con-
tracts, the employers agreed to employ
none but members in good standing in
the several unions, the members Of
which were engaged in, the con struc-
tion of buildings in this city. 49,.
The controversy on the Sellwood
building arose from the sinsistence by
the Structural Building Trades alli-
ance to the adherence Of the letter and
spirit Of the existing trade agreement.
| The trade contracts between the en-
ployers and the unions are simply
gentlemen's agreements, and a faithful
adherence to their terms depends en-
ktirely upon the honor Of the parties.
Neither can sue nor be sued for tteff
tween unincorporated Organizations. t.
In spite Of these contracts, Duluth is
now in the midst Of ars< Industrial con-
fifct.: Labor did not Violate its agree
ment.. .Tne members OF the Builders
exchange did. Should the tables be
turned we would be Fdeservedly re-
EBuked forynelpa1dia ting our contract. =
tn til HE OF the ore dock work
ers, last summer, ttllis steel Il corpo-
alton. laid particular stress upon the
fact that the strikers had violated
their oral agreement. The. ,newspa~
pers made much Of the existence of
the contract, and because. of its al
legged violation, public sympathy was
against the strikers. So soon as, we
were able to exercise control over the
men, we insisted upon them accepting
the old scale OF wages, and return to
work, for no other reason than that
they had violated their alleged oral
agreement.
Union labor in Duluth has a reputa-
ton for carrying out its contract in
every instance, and we have right to
expect the support of all fair-minded
ers abide by their agreement also.
With men who live honor, their pre-
JUDGES or opinions relative to the
"open" or CLOSED" shop would have no
place in this contest until they were
satisfied that in forcing the issue there
was no violation Of contract.
The employers might have made a
mistake when they made union shop
agreement with labor, but neVerthe-
less they made such a one, and they
are no more justified in repudiating it
than we would be If we had made a
bad contract with our employers.
There are often many objectional pro-
visions in our agreements which we
are obliged to tolerate in silence until
their expiration.
The paramount issue in this strug-
gle is not the "open shop" as the en-
ployers and their allies would like to
have us believe. The all-important
question ist the inviolability Of con-
tract With so clear an understanding
Of the situation, will you persist in
continuing as the alleys of men VINO
repudiate their most sacred of agree
ments? "
Employers of labor have a perfect
right to contest the question from the
standpoint of their interests; the
unions have similar. right, but none
have the moral right to wage strike,
or force a lockout, for the alteration
of the existing contracts until their
expiration. It would seem needless to
argue such point with gentlemen Of
honor. =
). Inasmuch as we believe tnat you
misapprehend the situation, we now
respectfully request that you use your
good offices to prevail upon the en-
ployers to live up to all their solemn
agreements. f@@~ - ~.
Yours very truly, =
.~* W.. e. M'EWEN.
; = i