United labor bulletin., 1910-01-28

pie of all kinds would walk out, that be-
ing the estimated number of union men
and women in the country affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor. There
are approximately 10000 local unions,
and the lines of occupation involved
cover practically everything in the sphere
of labor. with the exception of agricul-
tural workers. There is no line which
would not be directly or indirectly Grip
pied or seriously hampered should these
widely distributed 100000 cease work
and force thousands not connected with
any organization to do the same.
Disorder probably would begin with the
falling of that first nights darkness. The
police, without the aid of lights would be
helpless. The criminal element, rejoicing
in the hiding cloak, would come out of its
holes and prowl around after what it
could steal. The scene at night, city in
darkness. mastered by the vicious ele-
ment, is terrible to contemplate.
On the third day it is predicted that the
pinch of hunger would be felt, and then
the thing would become tragic. Although
there always is in the coolers at the
stockyards and in the cold storage ware
houses sufficient supply of food to pro-
vide the city for much longer than this,
these great stored quantities of food
would be worth nothing without the
means to distribute them. The packing
the provision dealers men would be on
strike The meat would stay in the cool
ers. the food in the cold storage. for want
of teams to haul it away.
The daily supply of food from the coun-
try. hundreds of carloads a day, would be
cut short Bakeries would stop running
for want of help and flour. The grocer
would have no means of keeping his
stock up to his daily need. and the butch
er likewise would be forced to close up
shop for want of supplies.
Gompers. Mitchell, and Morrison may
go to Jail for insisting on what they con-
slider their rights, or they may not II
they go, and the improbable strike be-
came a fact. they hardly could consider
themselves unfortunate Any nice. COM
Portable Jail ought to be preferable to the
rest of the country if 1000. 900 of its best
working people suddenly quit work for
two weeks.
go
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= r r r
WOMEN TRADES UNIoNIsTs.
What Organization Has Done for Work
ers Of Great Britain.
The extent to which women have en-
tered the trades union movement in
Great Britain has been made subject
of study by the bureau of labor of the
department of commerce and labor. and
the result of the investigation is set forth
in a bulletin written by Mrs. katherine
Graves Busby. Mrs. Busby finds that
from the beginning of the movement, in
1874, what is now known as the Woman's
Trades Union League has been the most
important agency in the development OF
unionism among women in Great Britain.
This organization has more than 100000
members.
In 1896, the first year for which com
parative figures of woman's trades union
membership are available. 149 unions in
cluded women and girls as members of
a total of 1902 unions. the female men,
bership at that time being 117,0So, or IS
per cent. From 1896 to 1904 the male
membership increased from 1,SS6,109 to
l.76S.767. or 27.6 per cent. while the
membership OF women rose from 11HOSo
to 126.2S5, or 10 per cent. In 1907 the
organized women numbered 201 ,7Os,
gain of 59.7 per cent over 1904, while
the increase in male membership, al
though 4S6.27O. represented a relative in
crease of only 24.7 per cent.
As to the result accomplished, the
writer says that the woman's trades
union movement has been directly re-
sbonsible for certain increases of wages.
has added successful pressure to the ini-
tiation and furtherance of protective leg
islation and through the Womans Trades
Union League has accomplished much to-
ward the conservation of health and the
promotion of safety among workers. The
woman trades unionists of Great Britain
seek to secure the betterment OF labor
conditions through protective legislation
rather than by militant action. They re
gard the unions as medium for sugges-
tion and as an aid in enforcing the legal
rights of workers.
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