The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1910-09-02

unionists would be by that amount
diminished and they thereby weakened
in their contest with employers, whose
sole object as to them is to get as much
product for as little wages as pos
sible
AS that is the employers object, it
is to be presumed that the non -unionist
is getting less than the man he dis
less than the unionist he displaced, an
attack has been made upon wages. Yet
the unionists cannot complain. AS the
establishment is an "open shop they
cannot object to lower wages for
the nonunionist, so long as their own
wages are not reduced.
After awhile the shop which employs
the non unionist finds it expedient to
reduce it's force. Whom will it dis
charge? Certainly not the cheaper pro-
other idle member during the period of
the unionist. This is not discrimina-
ton against unionism; it is discrimina-
ton in favor of economy of production.
And now the union must support an
other idle member during the priod of
stagnation (when jobs are temporarily
: less than 81, or have him leace the
union and underbid them. In due time,
however, demand for labor rises again
to g. But will the employer who re-
deed his force offer to pay the old
wages? Why should he? What object
could he have in paying more to the
unionist seeking a job than to the
non-unionist who is already at work ?
He will not pay more unless coerced
and the union, with two idle members
on its hands, is in no trim for coercive
action. So the union strains a point
and consents to the return of the union
man to work at non-union wages
But now this employer has an adj
vantage over the others; he can under
sell them in the market. So they de
mand a downward revision of the wages
scale. They are good natured about it
: for they offer to arbitrate; but as they
really are at a disadvantage under the
old wages scale, they win in the arbi
tration, and the whole level of wages
is reduced.
| The ratio of workingmen to jobs
however, remains unchanged. There
are still 10 men and only 9 jobs. If
5 then, the "open shop policy con
tinues, what is there to prevent fur
!, ther reduction of wages through the
: same process, and then another and an
other, until the union collapses, and al
| the 10 men are in continuous un
: organized, helterskelter, cut-throat
struggle for these jobs9 Nothing
: And what of the employers? A.
$ wages fall, general purchasing power
4 declines, for workingmen are great con
Y sumers, and by the time the work lin g
h men are reduced to pauperism thu
8 employers, with an abundance of pro
t duets spelling on their hands, ar,
e ruined by sluggish trade.
= The tendency thus briefly and candid
0 ly illustrated, is the inevitable tend
ency under prevailing industrial cir
o If the illustration is imperfect in any
t determinative respect, we should b,
II glad to have the defect pointed out.
: But would not the result of strictly
:. maintained "closed shop policy
! under conditions similar to those of tn
= above illstration, be the very reverse
). Inc sntestably.
o In those circumstances the "close,
4 shop policy, generally and strictl.
maintained. would raise the wages o
n the workingmen and maintain an activ
= market for the employers, and thi
e without lessening opportunities TO
f employment of the non-unionist
= Since the non=unionist would b.
locked out of every job by the "close'
f shop policy, he would have to joil
n the union. This might be an infringe
v ment of his rights. it is true but tn
4 concrete economic result to him, and j
:. we are now considering, would be infn
g itely better than under the "opel
h shop system. When he had joined tn
e union the jobs would by trade unio
). principles, be distributed so that i
> effect nine tenths of each job would b
l., done by one of the 9 men and one-tentl
e of each job by the 10th man. Thi
8 would reduce wages below the natura
: standard, if every man wanted to worl
full time; but the reduction below tina
r. standard would be only tenth
a whereas under the "open shop
J. would be down to the lowest limit 0
subsistence.
Of course the 9 men might exclud
l. the 10th man from membership. Blu
| ;r1-olxol