Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-09-14

of the British Transport Workers ana
militant Socialist. reviews the results
OF the recent great strike in London
Justice as follows
The strike is over; the victory well
merited. and an epoch created.
Months and years Of agitation led to'
revolutionary week week SO preg-
nant with possibilities that same Of
US old campaigners almost had our
nerves shaken But for the enthns
siasm and the veterans experience,
We might have lost q grip Of the big
gest mass Of men ever brought to-
gether IN one place. That the men
maintained discipline IS TO their eteras
al credit; that we were able to keep
command Of them was 70 their bene-
ut.
What did the lockers fight for?
Fifty per cent Of them would not
average more than three days per
week, and the other 5o-per cent would
average from four to i've and half
days. They would be waiting, under
the most humiliating conditions, day
or night, at any time Or place chosen
by the bosses; regular times Of elm
ployment and calling on ignored. Men
kept waiting for wages. robbed of
wages; extra work imposed Without
extra payments, no matter what the
weather or season or class of goods
to be handled.
Car men working from 100 to 40
hours per week, receiving no over
time and as little as is shillings or
81 per week upwards. The fate that
the demand has been made for a
seventy-two hour week need no conf
ment.
Two Hours Cut OH.
The lighter men were called upon
to work twelve hours per day; they
have reduced that number to ten.
And when all the other conditions are
considered, it viii be quite evident
that a serious outbreak was inevi-
table. Right through the summer
splendid work has been done by the
Dockers' Union, helped by Tom Mann,
Havelock Wilson, Harry Orbell. Jack
Jones, and many others.
The 1911 strike is elementary
movement to the 1889 strike. We
lifted the wages from 4d. to Sd. in
1889; we have now raised them from
Cd. to 3d., and in ratio have lifted
the overtime rate to Is, and obtained
payment for meal times.
Apart altogether from the mere
monetary consideration, the sense Of
the economic Importance of wages has
suddenly been realized by the men.
This is extraordinary, and one can
hardly account for it; and also one is
almost egotistical in claiming that we
have done good deal Of propaganda.
Yet when all is considered I,still won;
der why the movement came into ex-
istence
We have prayed for it, and what is
more have worked for It: have given
the years and the toll and the energy
Of our being to the contamination; but.
that it has happened Is a greater mar
vel to US, and almost as great a sur
prise sa it is to the employers. There
are many things to think about; but
probably the one great reason for the
development has been the failure of
sectional trade unionisn, and the in
evitable development which has
brought about the sense of oneness.
There is, of course, a lacking of the
revolutionary. if not the really prog
ressive spirit, inasmuch as some Of
the unions, acknowledging the weak
ness of sectional unionism, have not
the courage to grasp their thistle and
go in for the one union. When it is
realized that in this country we have
], 800 unions, and that In Germany
there are only SO, one can understand
the inevitable numerical disputes
which are bound take place in this.
country. But / think we are on the
right road Z
Solidarity, Created.
We have. first of all, the machine
displacing the skilled man as well as
the unskilled. which means, of course,
the throwing Of the two sections into
each Others arms. While the machine
has reduced the economic value Of the
skilled man, it has appreciated com
siderably the economic value of the
unskilled man. The natural Develop
ment is the reapproae hement between
the skilled and the unskilled, with the
consequent solidarity which is bound
to bring about the results which we
anticipate which every s. D. p.
speaker for the last tWentyeight
years has taught.