Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-15
Mitchell on Trade Agreements.


Mitchell on Trade Agreements.
John Mitchell. former president of the
United Mine Workers of America. spoke
as chairman of the trade agreement de-
partment. He said in part:
II is a waste of time TO deplore the
passing OF the individual relationship be-
tween employer and workman which eX-
listed under the old order of production. The
organization Of labor and the combination
of capital is the natural and logical Sc
quence Of cruel, wasteful and ruinous COM
petition.
'rhe proposition. stated candidly and
without equivocattoh, is: Shall these two
powerful forces, each Indispensable to the
other, wage continuous and destructive
warfare, or shall they recognize each
others existence and adopt measures which
will insure on an equitable basis industrial
peace and commercial prosperity, at the
same time. affordiqg to the general public
protection and insurance against the dts
comforts, the cost and the inconvenience
which accompany industrial strife.
Trade agreement is an unmistakable
recognition of the interdependence of labor
of cooperative effort between these two
dominant factors. in our Industrial life.
1t is an acknowledgement of the rights
and obligations of the workmen and the
rights and obligations of the employers; it's
formulation gives the workman a knowl.
edge Of the employers business and It
needs and wants. which it is
essential that each should have, In fairly
conditions On en- employment. Xito ssiss t the
conference which leads up to the consum-
nation of a trade agreement opens the
sioSsa f Sid P 9eieastSfss u BH8 mxisu lsIsS lmRrsys
which of themselves frequently lead to
serious consequences.
The trade agreement ia in substance and
effect the anuthesfs of the strike and the
lockout. 1t will not. of course. prevent all
strikes or obviate all lockouts. but in the
past 1t has reduced and in the future It
will to a greater extent reduce the num-
Der OF industrial disputes and minimize
James O'ConneII Speaks.
James o Connell, president OF the Inter-
national Association Of Machin!sts, In dis
cussing TRADE Agreements said re osni-
ton of the union had become the root prin-
clple Of every trade union.
1T is short-sighted policy, illogical and
unfair he said, when capital denies to
labor the rights that 1t ungrudgingly con-
codes to every other factor In its employ
ment.
1.-The international Association Of aMchin-
lists has been particularly successful IN
making agr ements with railr ads and o,her
corporations. 1t has been fund that these
agreements have been helpful in many
ways, but principally in creatif g a friendly
feeling and a mutual respect between the
two parties to the agreement, working con-
ditions have been improved wonderfully,
while an esprit de corps has been developed
which has done much to create splendid
efficiency and excelIency OF service.
II look forward with pleasure to the day
when employers will, without any hesita-
ton or fear OF results, contract by agree
ment for their labor with the same spirit
Of fairness and justice as their other con-
tracts are now made This, in my OPT ion.
Will do more to prevent str kes and lock-
outs, boycotting and blacklist,ng than any
other force at our hammond today"
Printers' Contracts Have Good Eject.
James NJ. Lynch s eak'ng on THE Trade
Agreement in the Interna -ional Typogrlph-
ical Union" said the principle had been in
effect since 1876. In 1898, he said, the writ
ten agreement became fashionable instead
Of the verbal kind. the growth berg shown
by the returns of the last year during
which AIT contracts were approved.
Mr.. Lynch next spoke Of the revolution
that his branch of the printing trade UNI
derwent from 1880 to 1850 through the Great
ing Of new conditions in the composing
rooms as a result of the introduction Of the
typesetting machines.
This with the quite general adoption of
the written trade agreement made 1t neces-
sary to provide for some method Of deter
mining disputes that might arise. Standing
committees, represent ng employer and en-
ployed were provided for and where they
could not settle disputes such questions
were referred to a board of arbitration.
"ro my MIND" he said, there Is no
question Of the great value of the trade
agreement in establishing stable cond tons
In any industry. l know that II has ac-
complished this in our branch OF the print
ing industry, and our example in support
ing and formulating such agree reDts has
been followed by the other four interna-
tional unions in the printing industry"