United labor bulletin., 1912-08-15
LabelLeague Department
EDW j. HINES, Sec'y-Treas. P. o. Box 75o
meets month Building


tenement house work, woman labor
child labor and Chinese Cooley labor
being very largely used in the produc
tion OF cigars, and in some of the strug
giles which various local unions of cigar
makers had, they tried the method OF
presenting their case to the consuming
public, and were met with the condition
that there were no means by which the
consumer could distinguish between the
fair and the unfair product, or rather
the union and non-union product, SO two
local unions adopted the trademark OF
label system by affxing to the box {
printed slip informing the purchaser thai
the cigars in that box were made in 6
union shop by members of the local ci
garmakers' union.
Wherever this was tried it proved very
successful, and at the convention of the
Cigarmakers' International Union held il
Chicago in 1880, this label proposition
was brought before the delegates and
met with instant favor, and it was readi
ly seen that in order to become effective
it must be uniform throughout the coun
try, and have some striking character
istic that would enable the purchaser to
distinguish it at glance, and after con
siderable discussion, one of the unions
having used a red label and another of
the unions white label, each contend
ing tor the adoption of its style of label
by the international union; when hap
py thought occurred to one of the dele
gates, who said, Some of us use white
label and some of Us use a red label,
why not all of us take the other color of
the American flag and make our label
blue?"
Such was the birth of the Blue Label
of the Cigarmakers Union, which is
now known throughout the length and
breadth of the North American CONT
nent. 1t was but short time before
other unions seeing the benefit of the
label, adopted one for the product of
their craft, until now there is hardly a
product of union labor that does not have
a union of that craft, this union having
a union label, which they affix to the
product of their members.
If the two million members of union
labor in this country were to use their
purchasing power as they should use II.
and buy nothing that did not bear the
union label wherever it were possible, it
would only be a question of a snort time
until it would be possible to get every
thing with a union label; and the best
feature of this method of fighting our
cause, is that 1t doesn't cost anything.
We sacrifice nothing, and can accom-
backbone that nature intended men to
have. and demanded the union label and
didn't back down or accept an excuse,
why we would get it. uta
A half dozen insistent customers Of
a store, each and every one of them con-
tinually asking and demanding for a
certain article and refusing to accept a
substitute can have but one result, that
is, that the proprietor of that store is
going to get that article because he
wants to satisfy his customers. If the
demand were insistent and continued, 1t
would not be long before the merchant,
and this is true of all merchants, would
have a complete line Of goods to satisfy
the demands of those customers who had
a backbone, knew what they wanted
and wouldn't take anything else. This
would mean demand upon the factories,
who if they desired to retain their trade
would have to supply union label to
their customers, and to do this would
neon the unionizing of their establish
mean the unionizing of their establish
ent union man to spend nearly, If not
all. of his money with union men, and If
he were a little more determined and
consistent it would only be short time
until he could spend all of his money
with union men.
The consistent union man wears hat
with a union label under the sweat-band; :;
he wears shoes having the union label
of the boot and shoe union in the sole,
and every article of clothing between his
hat and shoes (coat, vest, shirt, under
wear, collar, tie, suspenders, trousers,
socks, and even the jewelry that adorns
his person. has the union label.
The only triuble Is that there is not
enough union men who are consistent.
We, most of us, are careless, II not
worse, and get few things that are
union made and think then that we have
done all that is necessary for us to do,
and the result of this inconsistency is
that there is obtanable few standard
articles that are union made. and are on
sale more or less generally. but the
greater number of articles that are con
sumed by union men are not generally
distributed, that is the union made ones
AS rule the class of labor that needs
assistance the most, can the most easily
be assisted by demanding the label, that
is, labor engaged in factories and mills
where they have no capital invested
and nothing but the labor of their hands
to sell, and the tendency Is to divide up
the labor SO that one operative does but
a portion of the work on the finished
article. Sometimes as many as hun
dred operations with as many operatives
work upon single article, consequently
the worker knows but one single form OF
work, and cannot by himself or herself
produce finished article, and are almost
at the mercy of the employer in the mat.
ter of hours and wages. and would be
absolutely at his mercy II it were not
for the trades union; and to make the
trades union effective, to make 1t liv.
ing, vital, uplifting force In working for
the advancement of this class of labor
1t is absolutely essential to utilize all the
methods, all the powers, and all the re
sources at the command Of the members
of the movement, and the union. label is
not the least of these methods.
CLARENCE J. MOORHOUSE.