The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1910-06-30
Trade Ur1ionisrn
Clearly Defined
Able and Instructive Address by John Nit
chel1, End Vice President of A. F. of
l. at Cathedral College, NJ Y.

, bargain, which initiates against the well
fare and happiness of the whole working
| people, trade unions We're formed The
fundamental reason for the existence of
the trade union is, that by it and through
it the workmen are enabled to deal col
lectively with their employers.
The difference between the individual
and the collective bargain is simply this
that in the individual bargain one
workman of hundred refuses to accent
reduction in wages and the employer
retains the services of ninety and nine:
whereas IN the collective bargain the EN-.
ployes act in body, and the employer
retains or discharges all simultaneously
upon the same terms. There can be no
permanent prosperity to the wage Garner,
no real and lasting progress, no con-
secutlve Improvement in conditions until
the principle is fully and firmly estab-
hshed that in industrial life--especially
IN enterprises on large scale-the set
tlement of wages, hours of labor and
all conditions of work must be made
between employers and workingmen col
lectively and not between employers and
workingmen individually
Were it not for the influence of trade
unionIsm, the work which women and
girls are compelled to do would prove
even more demoralizing. The trade un,
ION seeks to protect the women morally.
physically and industrially. It demands,
that she shall not be employed amidst
surroundings that are destructive of her
moral and physical health. 1t demands
that she shall not be employed at night
work or for excessively long hours. 1t
demands and insists that women shall
receive equal pay with men for eaual
work. In demanding equal pay and
heaithful surroundings for women, the
union not only protects the women and
the home, but it also protects the stan
dard of living of all wage earners.
Even more important than the benefits
conferred by trade unionism upon women
workers have been its efforts in behalf
OF the tolling children. Since the birth
OF the factory system, children have been
mustered by thousands into factories.
and on account of their nimbleness, their
docility, their powerlessncss to resist op-
pression, and the low wages they are
ioiScu " accept, nave been permitted to
displacc men and to ruin themselves by
work unsuited to their age and strength.
The trade union movement is neither
revolutionary nor destructive Every man
who becomes a member of trade union
subscribes, substantially to the following
declaration:
We are pledged to the emancipation
OF our class from poverty, ignorance and
seihshness; to be respectful in word and
action to every woman; to be considerate
OF the widow and the orphan, the weak
and the defenseless, and never to dis
crimlnate against a fellow worker on ac.
count of creed, color or nationality: to
defend freedom of thought, whether ex-
pressed by tongue or pen; to educate
ourselves and our fellow-workers in the
history of the labor movement. We prom.
Use that we will never knowingly wrong a
brother or see him wronged if in our
power to prevent it. We will endeayor
to subordinate every selfish impulse to
the task of elevating the material, intel
lectual and moral conditions of the en-
tire laboring Glass;