Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-09-17

dsplore the publicity. we cannot shoulder
the responsibility"
what the Men Ask.
Mr.. Kline enumerated the "extravagant"
demands Of the men as being the eight
hour day, regulation of the apprentice
system, abolition of the personal record
system, the physical examination and the
premium system of piece work, and an
increase of wages to the extent of cents
an hour. This latter demand, he said,
might have been modified had a conference
been permitted. The shorter work day, he
argued, is in accordance with the general
economic trend Of the times. The ap-
prentice system the men ask to have so
regulated that a boy can learn the trade
he enters upon, that he will eb protected
from the foremans whims and that he
will be made a mechanic and not a special
list The personal record is considered an
imposition. The men do not object to
giving the company sufficient information
to be Of service In case Of accident, but
DO not consider that 1t adds any TO their
efficiency to have their family history
card indexed in the office of the company.
The physical examination, they allege, is
not such as men Of decent pride care to
submit to, and they point out that it is
only exacted of regular employees and
never of strikebreakers.
Object to Piece Work.
The piece work or premium system tends
to fix wages on the basis of the strongest
and swiftest, and leads to the establish
raent of an age limit, under which the
older men soon fade. The hospital fee OF
80 cents per month Is not objected to. save
that the men insist they do not get proper
care at the hospital. They would rather
pay more and be better treated. The pen
sion system is not attractive, for Mr..
Kline cited recent experience on the Penn
sylvania lines, where many of the older
employees, nearing the time to go on the
pension list. were dismissed from the COM
panys service because they would not sub
nit to conditions they thought unbearable.
The men fear this may be repeated
AS to wages, the Hartman lines do not
pay the highest. In the northwest, says
Mr. Kline, the Hill lines pay more, and in
the southwest the Gould lines pay higher
in some instances than the Hartman
lines. He concluded his address thus:
The management has appealed 10 the
business mems associations in various
states and through them have warned the
public of a great calamity that would come
about in case OF a strike Of the federated
crafts. This is a bugagoo and can be
avoided IL the management will treat fairly.
It is not club held over the management
by any means II a club at ALL it is one
that will keep down petty grievances in
our own ranks and minimize the troubles
that usually go to the managers office.
In other words, under the system OF feder-
atoms strikes will be less frequent and
harmony will prevail in the shops Of the
company. For instance, in case of one craft
having a grievance IL must be submitted
to the other five, and l am sure that five
crafts will not allow themselves to become
involved If the grievance is not Justifiable
one. Therefore IL Is in the interests Of
harmony and loyalty to the management
that this federation has been organized on
the Hartman lines. IL is true. also. that
we intend to protect our craft and not al
low determinations as has been practiced
in the past, and even now is being prac-
tieed in the reduction of force They have
appealed 10 big business. We appeal to the
public in the Interests # fair play ana a
cbapca ~ h. hAari"