The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-04-15
STRIKE IS
NOW OVER
Four Months Struggle of
Switchmen is Termi-
mated by General Vote.

By majority vote of the switch
men of the Northwest the strike wa;
officially terminated at 1870 last
Tuesday night and the most stubbornly
contested railroad conflict of modern
times passed into history. And what
a magnificent struggle it was. Fb1
four months and half the switchmen
| from st. Paul to the coast have stood
firm as rock for the principle OF
justice which called them out. From
beginning to end the officials have had
the men we'll in hand and the disorder
ly scenes sometimes attending railroad
strikes have been absent The EN-
ployment of strike breakers, thugs, de-
tectives and all the scum and driftwood
of the cities failed to provoke the strik-
ers to any violent outbreaks, and there
by give the railroad companies a chance
to work on public sympathy. The men
quietly left their posts when the strike
order came and remained away from the
railroad yards. The strike speedily de-
velopa1 into an endurance contest be-
tween the switchmen on one hand a1l
the combined resources of the railroads
on the ether.
In this endurance contest the rail
roads proved the stronger, but they
have paid heavy toll for their vic
tory. Wrecked equipment through the
ignorance and carelessness of incompe-
tent men, loss of traffic, demoriliza-
ton of their working force-these are
the prices the railroads have had to
pay.
The switchmen of the northwest have
paid the price in lost time and the mer-
ciless blacklist which will pursue those
whom the railroads on account of "per-
nicious activity" have marked for
slaughter
Many of the men will be compelled
to quit the railroad service-the only
occupation they know--and seek other
employment. And yet they won for
Others through their struggle. The
small increase granted by the compan-
les was forced by these striking switch.
men of the northwest That fact is
incontrovertible. Then again the sym
pathy and aid extended by organized Ia
Dor in the various cities in the strike
zone has taught the railroad men the
significance of united action. The
switchmen in defeat are better union
men than ever.
We came to know these boys init.
mately during their long struggle to
appreciate the absolute justice of their
demands, and as we watched them
stand out solidly during the long
strike period we learned that they We're
pure gold The switchmen, with few
exceptions, fought a good fight and de-
served to win.
The significance of this strike should
not be lost upon other railroad ora
CARNATIONS. Ii the switchmen present
ing solid front could not win. then no
other single railroad organization can
hope to win like struggle. One or
ganization goes out and the other con
tinue to man the trains. Strike break
ers-the pity of it that they are always
to- be found-are imported, and with
]
the aid of strike breakers and the rest
of the railroad brotherhoods the strik-
ing union is starved into submission.
The same tactics used against the
switchmen yesterday may be used
against the firemen or engineers tomor-
row and with the same result. The
brotherhodds cannot afford to ignore
the result of the late strike. The eff
fectiveness of their own organizations
has been lessened and will be lessened
still more as long as the present sys-
TEN continues. Joint action is the only
remedy. The railroads act together now
why should the brotherhoods pull in
single harness? Every organization on
railroad system should present their
joint demands and sign contracts to ex-
pire on the same date. Then if the
railroads should refuse to treat with
one organization the entire power of the
united brotherhoods could be brought
to compel a settlement and failing that
the railroads would be brought face to
face with a general strike. This is a
hard dose for some of the more con.
servative brotherhoods, but they ought
to face the situation. They are com
pelled, whether they viii or no, to fac,
the fact that the old system of every
organization for itself and the Devi
take the hindmost" is powerless against
modern combination of capital.
We are no more anxious to see strike
than the general public is, but we rea
lie that there are times when they ar
an economic necessity and we believ
in concentrating the forces of labo
when those times come.
If the strike Of the switchmen vii
carry a lesson home to the other OF
carnations that solidarity of the work
ers is the one thing to be desired. ds