United labor bulletin., 1910-08-18
BATTLE TO DEATH NOW
ON IN LOS ANGELES


read at the meeting of the Denver
Trades Assembly Sunday and $1,000 was
voted. The communication is self-ex-
planatory, and follows:
San Francisco, Cal, July 80, 1910.
To Organized Labor, Greeting:
A battle to the death is now on in Los
Angeles, Cal, between organized labor
and the Merchants and Manufacturers
association. The battle is of vital i'm
portance. A victory for organized labor
will free thousands of workmen in Los
Angeles from system of chattel slavery
that is a disgrace to our American insti-
tutions and menace to you. 1t will en-
trench our movement on the Pacific
coast and will make the position of our
forces in San Francisco impregnable.
Our brothers in Los Angeles are only
the advance guard. The battel is not
theirs alone; it is the concern of the
labor movement of the entire country.
and our united effort must be used in
supporting them in an engagement which
must be won in order that the great Ia
Dor movement may be preserved.
The forces of organized capital have
been and are now at the command of
the Merchants and Manufacturers asso-
citation of Los Angeles. They are boast
ing loudly that they will destroy the
unions, root and branch, and they will
make good their threat unless organized
labor hastens to the support of the men
who are now fighting in Los Angeles
The battle for supremacy was begun
on June 1st, when the Merchants and
Manufacturers association threw down
the gauge of war by daring the men to
fight for their rights. The Brewery
Workers, Bottlers and Drivers were the
first to meet them, and on May 18th, on
being notified that their very reasonable
demands would not be granted, they
struck Immediately this association of
union-busters induced the brewery pro-
prietors to declare "open shop against
the Brewery Workers, Bottlers and
Drivers.
Not only did this association show its
Shiny hand in the brewers fight, but re
peated requests on the part of the Iron
Trades Council for conference at which
conditions governing the employment of
its members might be discussed had
been ignored. and the unionists were
finally informed that their request for
conference HAD BEEN THROWN IN
THE WASTE BASKET" This last in
suit was beyond human endurance and
1000 metal trades mechanics threw down
their tools and walked out of the shops
So grievous were the bonds affecting
the workmen that union and nonunion
men alike walked out side by side, and
they are standing shoulder to shoulder
today, fighting the entrenched enemy OF
organized labor, the Merchants and
Manufacturers association of Los An
geles.
Nonunion men when they walked out
of the shops, they are now members of
the union, but non-beneficiary on account
of the laws of the union that require at
least three months membership before
strike benefits can be paid. These nom
beneficiary members number three
fourths OF the men now on strike Union
men at heart, they had been unable to
Join a union on account of the slavish
conditions imposed by the labor-crushing
aggregation of Los Angeles, but when
the opportunity arrived theiy lined up
with the few union men and they are
now fighting your battles as well as their
own.
San Francisco and California unions
are sending between six and seven thou
sand dollars week into Los Angeles
The California State Federation of La
Dor, California State Building Trades
Council and San Francisco Labor Coun-
ell have assessed themselves 10 win this
fight Nearly four thousand men are in
volved, with more coming out every day.
Surely We can ask you to send something
to assist in this struggle.
The men of Los Angeles will fight the
battle-yours and theirs. The unionists
of the country must provide the ammuni-
ton We will keep up the battle until
General Otis and his unfair LOS An
geles Times" are forced to concede the
right of men and women to organize.
A prompt response to this assessment
will confine the battle to Los Angeles If
you fail to respond We will have to fight
the battle in San Francisco If you fur
nish the ammunition promptly A VIC
TORY FOR LABOR IS SURE.
There must not be a single laggard in
this fight. THE SAN FRANCISCO LA
BOR COUNCIL HOPES EVERY UNION
MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY.
We ask you to help, and We trust you
will donate something to this cause
Send what you can; If you are able to
make a weekly or monthly donation, so
much the better Our committee expects
this fight to cost about 100000. We
have sent nearly $4,000 to Los Angeles
from San Francisco. Nineteen shops
have unionized since we started. Help
us in the good work.