New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
TOB|N WON'T ALLOW A
SYMPATHETIC STRIKE
TeIegraphs Ashton Teamsters
Must Respect Agreements
"SuCh Strikes Failures"
MORE WAGONS GIVE SERVICE
Adams Strikers Criticise Mayor
Gaynor's Statement, and Call
Mayor Wittpenn "Whitest
Man That Ever Lived"

Ihcre was sudden change Yesterday in
the air at tn" different headquarters OF the
teamstcrs in Manhattan. owing to tele-
gram received by William H. Ashton. gen
cral organizer of the tcamsters from Dan
it, j. Tobin. president of the International
brotherhood of Transfers declaring against
" sympathetic strike of the drivers In his
telegram President Tobin said that all
agreements made with employers must bc
respected by the local unions. and directed
Ashton to declare against any sympathetic
strike. sa%ing sympathetic strikes were fail
ures.
The telegram was made public by Ash
ton. who supplemented il by statement of
his own. in which he repudiated the gen
cral strike idea. and said the American
Federation Of Labor would not counte-
nance it,
In short space Of time the contents Of
the telegram and Ashtons statement were
known AT all headquarters Of the team
stcrs. There was talk of holding meet
ing Of the Greater New York District Coun-
ell of the Teamsters AT Chelsea Hall last
evening 10 vote on the question of "A SYM
pathetic strike. but no meeting was called
Several delegations, including Michael J.
Cashcl. from the coal Transfers Union,
said there had never been any thought of
= strike of all teamstcrs.
Ashton gave out the telegram from Presi-
dcnt Tobin and his own statement at the
city Hail He went thee To see Mayor
Gaynor. who was not there
Tobin and Ashton Statements.
President Tobin's telegram dated in In
dianapolis. read
The international organization will not
indorse general strike under any circum-
stances. Local unions having contracts
with employers must resr.c; those con
tracts in conference OF executive board Of
local union. | instruct yTu to declare
against general strike or sympathetic
striE" for any reason. The history Of sym
pathetic strikes has demonstrated that
they have always been failures
Ashtons statement was as follows:
The persistent rumor Of general strike
of tcamStcrs is both prcposterous and
absurd. The idea Of a general strike
originated In the fertile brain OF pominick
Jennings. who Is president Of the Teams
ter's Council i'm Jersey city. II Was this
nan that accepted the motion that called
out the United States Express drivers and
the Wells-Fargo Express drivers IN SYM
iiOnal and should not be recognized by the
men. as the only method for tcamsters
20 pursue Is 20 have an aye and no vote.
by two-thirdS majority. at a summoned
meeting. 10y secret ballot
No other method of voting 20 Strik" Is
recognized by the international Brother
hood Of Teamsters
Neither Samuel Gompcrs nor Daniel j.
Tohin has any intention Il coming To take
charge OF the situation. as in my opinion
the atmosphere VIII clear IN few days
The tcamstcrs Of greater New York. mum
hering eighteen thousand drivers and help
crs. have by patient organization for the
last eight years attained = fair wae" scale
and working conditions for their members.
and almost all Of them are working under
trade agreements. which - th" recognized
base 10 work upon. adopted 10y the Ameri-
can Federation OF Labor and international
unions. and desire To say to IN" truck
owners. merchants and ell employers ~
teamsters who are working under a signed
agreement with the tcamstcrs' union az.
Hliatcd with the American Federation or
.abor. that those agreements viii b" Kept
sacred and under n circunstances VIII
they be violated
All the companies reported that they "cr"
giving service Yesterday. and many ~ag-
ons we're on the streets \ large number
or the drivers and helpers Of the United
States Express Company went lack TO
work in Manhattan. in spite Of the risk o'
being attacked 10y sOlk'IS 'I - SSHidill@''S.
Police Help Not Needed.
T. r.. Christie. superintendent Of the
American Express Company whose diy.
,rs and helpers did not strike and were
protection 10y the Mayor when
,reir committee went before him. said ~
a number Of cases police were not needed
and that certain routes wcrs perfectly SAFE
FOR the drivers without d police guard.
In such cases the company asked the Po-
lice Departmrnt TO withdraw the police
men.
ON behalf of the ADAMS Express Com
many. II was said the wagons ~or" belhS
r,,, with strike breakers. and that begin
ring ON Monday IN" company would MI
tbe places Of the strikers. Operations were
innroying. but were not yet normal