The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-07-22

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Everett Railway, Light & Water Co.,
and all union employees of the company
are out. Just simple news item-the
foregoing-but full of potentialities.
Significant perhaps of long, desperate
struggle Between the electrical workers
ana the local subsidiary company of the
gigantic Stone & Webster inte, ests. It
appears to be an unequal struggle. On
the one side handful of men, COM
raratively, with nothing but their labor
power; on the other hand a rich. power
ful corporation with unlimited resources.
The unthinking bystander would in
stantly say that the strike could have
but one ending and that would be the
defeat of the strikers. Those who know
the electrical workers and the respect
organized labor by reason of their ag
gressiveness and true blue unionism will
not so hastily arrive at that conclusion.
The electrical workers of the country
have been through many hard fought
struggle in which they have hooked up
with combinations of capital nearly as
powerful as the Stone & Webster peo-
pie and the workers have scored many
victories. A determined organization,
backed by the sympathy and support of
sister unions, has resources not to be
despised, be the opposition ever so pow
erfu in the financial world. The cleo
trica workers possess the logged fight
ing instincts which will fight ON and
on for what they believe to be right.
The causes of this strike? First, a
few figures. The linemen employed by
the local company received 1885 for
day of nine hours. Their work is extra
hazardous and is so classed by insurance
companies. They handle constantly high
voltage wires. Contact with the same
generally means more than injury--'t
means death. Almost any daily paper
tells the story of the lineman's occupa-
ton i'm Il brief death notice of line
man who came in contact with the
death dealing current. The pay, S3.S5 a
day, isn't prncely wages when the ma
ture of the occupation is taken into ac-
count, And it isn't as much as they
receive in other cities from other com
panies for the same work. These fig-
ures furnished by the union Officials, tell
the story of dissatisfaction on the part
of the local workmen.
Telephone lnemen working in fonr
nacific coast states under agreement
with the telephone companies, at Tar
less dangerous work. by the way, re
ceiye S3.75 day for EIGHT HOURS
work. Linemen in the following cities,
working with high voltage wlres-the
same class of work as the men now on
strike-receive the following wages
based on an EIGHT-HOUR DAY;
Spokane, $4.35; Butte, $5, and other
Montana cities. $3.50; Vancouver, Is.
lC $500: San Francisco and the sur
rounding country, $4.25; Ogden and
Salt Lake. $4.25. The Seattle city
lighting department pays its hnemen
$4.2O for eight hours work, while the
Seattle Electric Co., stone X Webster
corporation. pays its lnemen $4 for
nine hours Now what do the linemen
in Everett ask? Four dollars ana
twenty cents for working day of eight
bours ITnrea sonable in the light OF til
wages paid in other western cities! Inc
electrical workers don't think so.
The negotiations which ended abrupt
" in strike this week date back to
last February, state the striking cleo
tncians. At that time the union drew
up a scale and set OF working rules IN
the form of an agreement to submit TO
the local company. They were approved
bv the Pacific District Council to which
their proposed agreements must be SUD
mitted. The boys claim they made sew
eral attmpts to get conference WIN
| local company officials in the weeks
| that followed, but failed. The officials
were ready to treat with the men as
individuals, but not with them as rep
resentatives of their organization. I'm
Ially General Vice-President Sullivan
of San Francisco, was sent Tor. Inc
bovs Law stress on the fact that Mr.
j Sullivan came into the game because
Ihe was asked for-not as professional
aeitator breaking into trouble but as an
accredited official of their organization
whose duty it was to enter any part OF
the United States where his services
} were required. Mr. Sullivan and MI
Norpenthaler the latter is third dis
trict vice president of the Pacific Dis,
trict- visited Mr.. Furth in Seattle and
nresented the new agreement. MI
Furtb sent them To the local managers
hut the electricians say, told them that
Il they were unsuccessful in treating
with the local managers, they might
finally return to him and he would GO
over the situation with them, The
.;on officials thereupOn waited upon