The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1910-01-06
UNION PRINCIPLE.
Should Not Be Sacrificed For
Temporary Benefit.
COLLECTIVE BARGAIN VITAL.
The Only Basis Upon Which a Com
mon etandard o. Wages Can Be Sc
eursd by workers-labor Orsaniza-
ton Must 6s Recognized.


The Dallas Morning News takes the
view that 1t Is not surprising that the
striking express drivers OF New York
rejected an overture that conceded ev-
7eEythfng but the demand for the recog-
milton Of the union. This is the only
common sense opinion to hold, for
without some orga nization Of the work
ers who Is to see that the terms of
even the more favorable agreement
would be enforced and thus lasting
peace fnsured7 The News says fur
Their that the occasion for surprise Is
rather In the making of the overture
and continues as follows:
Even fit did not involve renun-
citation OF the vital principle of union
Ism Itself the Transfers would have
good reason to question whether the
advantages thus purchased would be
enduring. Concessions, made to indi-
Vtduals are easily withdrawn after
strikers return to work and are re-
stored to a pacific mood. Gradually
the men dnd themselves being dis
charged, always for cause but ac-
tuaiiy as punishment for having
struck and as q means of substituting
other men willing to work for wages
and under conditions which provoked
the strike. Thus the price offered for
the sacrifice Of the union principle Of
ten. If not in a majority Of cases. turns
out to he dead sea fruit. The men dis
play only ordinary prudence in refus-
Ing such an overture.
I'VE suppose the legal right of a cor
poratlon to decline to enter into n col
lective bargain with its employees Is
Indisputable: But II ethical principles
impose the duty Of conceding the same
privilege which one himself exercises
then corporations have no moral right
to decline making n collective bargain
Every net OF q corporation Is itself
collective. Five or six officers of the
United States Steel corporation act for
10000 OF more stockholders. The cor
poration Is endowed and exercises all
the Immense advantages of collective
bargaining. and yet when 1t refuses to
recognize a union 1t denies that same
privilege to laborers. The adage that
what Is sauce for the goose is sauce
for the gunder expresses a pretty
sound ethical proposition. and it Is this
proposition that the express companies
reject when they define to recognize
the union Of their striking employees.
There is distinction. always over
financially responsible for breaches of
its agreements. whereas the union Is
not. The distinction is more theoret-
ical than practical. If the unions are
not financially responsible they are
every day getting n better sense Of
moral responsibility that In most cases
Ia as good a bond for abidance by
their agreements as IS the financial
solvency Of a corporation. A great
many unions. notably those Of railway
employees and miners. make wage and
working agreements with corporation
employers. and the Instances Of the
breaking Of these contracts are ex-
ceedinCly rare. and in the few cases
when they are broken It fs not always
clear that the fault has really lain
with the unions. There have been
cases when It was the employer who
In reality broke the contract by pur-
posely giving an intolerable provoca-
ton. and In these cases the unions
have virtually no legal redress against
their employers. SO that In point Of
financial responsibility employer and
employee are pretty much on parity.
1.-THE demand for recognition IS one
which a union cannot compromise II it
Is to be anything more than a society
for the exchange of Individual COM
miseration. The legal right Of cor
poration to refuse to recognize n union
is likewise fnviolable But the men
who exercise that right show little re-
gard for consistency or moral obliga-
ton.
We are pleased to know that the
Dallas News. one of the really great
and influential newspapers Of the
country. holds such decided views In
favor of collective bargaining. the
only possible basis upon which any
common standard of wages. hours or
conditions could be arranged with the
monopolistic express trust. 1t has
been notorious for years that the en-
ployees of the great express compa-
MES have had numerous and genuine
grievances. and the conclusion was In
evitably reached that without orcnni-
cation nothing could be done to re-
dress those grievances. Union recog-
milton prevailed in the great strike in
the cloakmaking Industry In New
York and Philadelphia. and It will
finally win in the garment workers
strike in Chicago 4 settlement on
any other basis would prove Of no
lasting benefit to the workers-Typo-
graphical Journal
Britons Want Shorter Day.
The printing trades OF the United