The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1913-08-30

Message to sawmi WORKERS and to Form
" Trade Union That Will Bring Higher Wages Shorter
Hours Better Conditions and INDUSTRIAL Independence
Has Interest in Welfare of Laborers- Join it, Szz

The Labor World has a message
this week for every saw mill worker,
shingle weaver and woodsman in
northern Minnesota. The message
comes from the executive board Of
the International Union Of Single
Weavers, Sawmill Workers and
Woodsmen, a bona fide trade union
affiliated with the American Fedora
ton Of Labor, with headquarters in
Seattle, WASH.
This union is an industrial organi-
cation in the 3broadest sense of the
word, and it has a record for achieve
ments in the western country. of
which any trade union might be
proud. 1t is an organization that
gets results, and it is anxious to ex-
tend its membership throughout the
United States< and Canada. The
woodsmen and mill workers~of Min
nesota have been beseiged in recent
times by organizers of the I. w. w.
with their loud boasts and, :extraya-
giant promises; >: but about -allsthey
have been: able to: do is*to collect dues
from their members : to be used by
the soap box sorganizers in creating
sensations about the country. -sr =
The international Union Of Single
Weavers,~, Sawmill; Workers = and
Woodsmen,: is, an actual but bonafide
One Big Union that is formed on
sane and constructive lines; with. a
decided business policy :: that brings
more wages, horter: hours, better
working !: conditions and a greater
measure of independence to timber
workers.
=. An Invitation to All.
- Every. woodsman and mill worker
in Minnesota is urged to join this
union. Full particulars about the or
ganization may be secured at the Of
flee of The Labor World. The or
ganizers of the American Federation
of Labor and the officers of the State
Federation Of Labor will be at the
service Of the Woodsmen and mill
workers in helping them to organize.
|! President J. G. Brown and Secre-
tary William H. Reid of the Interna-
tional Union of Single Weavers,
| both Of Seattle; in this issue make
the following appeal to timber work.
| ers:: through out the country to join
the union. It is directed personally
| to timber workers, and after review
! ing the conditions of labor in the
| lumber industry they say:
/ In addition to these small wages,
| you have not the slightest indepen-
dence. Only when there. is the great
est scarcity of men can you be even
roY n a in. ff1nlI n r
or speech. Every winter sees the cities
| crowded with, sawmill workers, who
are forced into these centers in an ef-
fort:'to find work. When you are out
! face; to face: with .hardships, and the
pinch Of hunger is felt.
| Why You Change Jobs.
Some people wonder why you
J. this is, perhaps, because there is an
| Understanding between the man you
work for and some grating employ
! ment shark 1t may sbe that there is
! you work for at they are to. "handle:'
a given number of new men each
| month. To make room for the new
men some changes occur. If your turn
arrives, possibly you walk the; plank
| and another new man takes your place.
flee for the :job" is divided accorded
| to q previous agreement: He works
tn his time comes to make sa room for
Yours is hard lot. You work long
hours. The pay is small, too small to
! permit of decent living, If you have a
fannily; Living many Of you in towns
benefits of advanced civilization. With
! the miserable wages you receive in
! exchange for the labor you perform,
it lis impossible for you to more than
you about laying by a tidy sum for
the rainy day. period of your life Is
| the rankest irony. ."::'.
But aside: from this potent reason
| be any satisfaction felt by the worker
who can but barely exist when work.
| ing steadily, and to whom starvation
| is a constant companion as soon as
circumstances is always: discontented--
as he sould be--and in the constant eff
fort to find something better the work
] er makes frequent changes in his jobs.
| That this method does little good, since
/ not seem to lessen the endless search.
+ :. Must Use Your Heads.
| You. know,"or ought to know, that
! following your impulses, as a rule
gets you nowhere. You must use your
! heads. Some say that is what heads
are for-to be used: At any rate, sup
pose you stop: for moment and think
over, the situation that confronts you.
Surely its seriousness to. you ought to
justly a little thought.
Some say that your wages are small
| because there is little skill required in
most Of the brenches of sawmill work
Do you think this is the. reason? II
you do, then how is it the unskilled
men who work around coal mines get
SO much better wages than you do?
| How is 1t. they work only eight hours
and still: get more Than three dollars
a day?s There must be some reason
for this. Did you ever try to find out
| the. .reason?. Did 1t ever occur to you
! that this state of affairs might be due
to- the fact that they are organized
with. the other workers in and around
mines in a local union Of the United
Mine workers? g.: = '.'",
.: Did you ever know that the men who
" ork> in the sawmills ond planning mills
| in San Francisco get four dollars a
! day? Do you know that the work
these men do Is no more skilled than
that done around the sawmills. in this
part Of the. country? How Is it they
get more pay ana have to work less
/ hours than you do? Let us: tell you
They are organized. They are backed
up by the building trades unions II
l San Francisco. - 81 ''' ~ :
| The union label is not put on any O,
the lumber you handle, is it? No, MOI
is the lumber you handle used on an,
| of the buildings that are going UP al
the time in the prosperous California