Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-05-27

CONTINUED from page One)
determined that the only qualitica-
| ton asked of employees should be their
ability and willingness to earn their
wages, 80 cents an hour, no altera,
ton being made in the wage scale or
working conditions. At this time, the
Rothschilds Co. of Tacoma was OPP
Grating on Grays Harbor, and about
year later. the two concerns were
one-half the stock of the Grays Har-
Dor Stevedore Co. and the millmen
retaining the other half In selling
this stock. the millmen stipulated that
they should control the labor policy
of the company, so that the matter
of returning to the closed shop advo-
Gated last week by officials of the
International Union was really up to
them, and not to Manager Delhanty.
How Open Shop Worked.
After the consolidation, IS Of the
union men went to work, and, not
withstanding the fact that they la
bored assduously to unionze the en-
tire force, they received the most work
for the simple reason they We're more
experienced The open shop plan
worked well for both employers and
MI tu-0
and until the recent invasion of the
Industrial Workers of the World. How
matters Jared with the company since
then may be told in few words.
The |. w. W. Movement
When the pioneer |. w. W. agita
tors arrived in Aberdeen their first
move was to seek out some dissatis-
fled wOrkingmen, and the lOngshOre-
mems union was singled or IS being
the material with which to initiate
the trouble they came here to start
The union men led to believe the agl.
tatOrs We're about to restore their old
time monopoly. jumped at the olDor-
tunity. and their leaders at once be-
came the apostles of this anarchistic,
trouble breeding organization, and
they proved profitable ones, too
Their acquaintance with the work
ingmen of the city was the means
Of bringing plenty of coin to the
purses of Train, Thorp & Co., in the
way Of initiation fees, and those
leaders were prominent in every /.
w. w. movement until the agitating
grafters were driven from the city.
Some Of the non-union employees
of the stevedOre company were in
duced by these leaders to join the
l. w. W. under various pretexts, and
without word OF notice, or making
any demand they declared strike
and walked out. At this juncture,
the attempt to unionize the force of
the stevedore company was renewed
and, to assist in the plan, the initia-
ton fee was reduced from $50 to 49,
and every possible effort made to
force the employees into the union
About 40 Of the men refused to go
on the strike and stayed by the CON-
pany, and IL positively refused to go
into the union. To return to union
labor, the company would have to
break faith with those men and dis
charge them
The Employers Viewpoint
When the matter of returning to
the closed shop plan is put up to
them, the employers cannot but con-
trast the peaceful manner in which
ships have been loaded under the
open shop system, with the trouble
and harassments that had prevailed
for several years prior to the aban-
dOnment of the union. 1t is not a
matter of COST No reduction has been
made in wages. but there is the utter
absence Of friction. SO pleasant in any
line of work. and the freedom to de-
mand fair days work for fair
days pay, in the doing of which each
man knows that he has only the en-
ployer, who pays the bills, to please
The employers are but human, and
they very naturally desire as little
trouble in the dispatch of vessels as
possible. Again. they have the men
who stood by them Loyalty in times
of trouble to consider. To comply
with the demands of the union would
mean the discharge of those men,
number of whom are veterans of
the Spanish war, and have brought
their families to Aberdeen to make
homes, on the promise Of permanent
positions made by the stevedore COM
pany. The thought of violating such
promise is revolving to any man
with spark of manhood in him, and,
really. this was the worst stumbling