Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-02-20
Akron Rubber
Workers Strike
TBk &F. cSrroll.)

:
o.
's(Bk b. =. GARRETT.
Akron, O., Feb. 19 (Special) -
The strike of f4,0ea rubber workers
is on here, with the entire forces Of
the city and county against them. We
are refused the privilege of holding
street meetings or Of properly pick
citing the struck works. The chief of
police and the sheriff are, using the
whole powers OF their office to help
the robber companies starve and beat
the workers into Submission! 4
Before they made the last two cuts
1t was possible to make out, working
ct fair speed, that Is when stock was
/ furnished, but il so often happened
when they were not needing tires, no
stock would be furnished asfd We could
stand around waiting One day In par
ticular made "a eeslts In i've hours.
frequently it would ke Just this way.
This always happened - their dull
season. Then in-their busy aseason
they employed 80 many that we were.
always short of stock and tires. Oc-
sasionally when we were supplied, it
was simply "root hog or de-" in order
| to gain some OF the time lost. If we
always had tires and stock we could
make out under the old price Of 3
years ago. Under conditions as they
are now, it is almost impossible to
make out, unless yoH work with such
speed that an ordinary man couldn' t
stand it long. 1t is simply beyond hu-
man endurance to- work with such
speed day after day which you are
Obliged to- do in order to earn q living
wage.
The GiSlss
The girls working ONT flaps had to
start to cement their stock before Z
O'Clock in order to a1IoW for the wait
ing of our stock to be- cut. Girls
We're threatened with discharge if they
left their tables for more than ten
minutes at time. IT takes the girls
between three and four minutes to get
up to the dressing room, as 1t is on
the floor above. More than one OF
the girls have. been followed by the
forelady and ordered to our room by
telling us our foreman was timeing us.
Whenever a girl was seen; sitting
down a minute the forelady Is heard
to pass a few remarks Like this: Are
you girls Aon q vacation. or are you
holding a meeting
The girls have comblained about the
Estock cutters not sting the stock
right width. when they complained
they said we had to trim, it down our
selves. Girls cutting burlap into sacks
and strips that was taken from ma
chinery shipped in, that was greasy
and very dirty. These were sewed
on a sewing machine by girls; for
saks they get soc per hundred, and
you cannot possibly make out The
Igrease and dirt and refuse of the
material caused the girls hands and
arms to be chapped and very sore.
Lowest paid In World.
Through the speeding up process
the rubber workers Of Akron produce
more than do the w0rHngman any
| where else. But compared to what he
j produces he is the poorest paid work
ingman in the world. The great prob
/ lem of the working people is not one
Eof production but one OF distributor.
EThic in word, constitutes the labor
kQuestion here 1t is all a matter OF
kgiving man square deal.
4 The cost of living during the past
lis years has been rapidly increasing.
In 10 years it has gone up 40 per cent.
With his rent increasing and the cost
Of living going up and with inadequate
| wages, the rubber worker is facing a
situation which cannot but produce a
feeling of social interest. This condi-
| ton in many cases has degenerated
| into what is merely a struggle for ex-
] istence. :.
|. II the rubber industry of Akron will
not pay to its workers aw age sum
tcieut to enable them to find whole
some homes, without sacrificing dlvl,
dends, then it is up to us to organize
and strike for that which belongs to
us.
Are We Free?
There are young girls working II
| these factories who learn as low -
80 cents a day in this speeding VI
process. Is America really the land
Eof the free and the home OF the
lAbrave? Are we a free people wheT
I our brave are overworked? Are We
a brave people when we allow such
= conditions to exist? Isn't it true tt
| end the rule of the boss and begiI
1.-THE rule of Justice and human rights
lido we appeal to the workingmen o.
the world to let them know the condi
lions at present in Akron.
Il Those who come here to grapple
7 with the problem of making living
soon find that Akron is not the OpeI
SESAME to lucrative positions many
persons, not acquainted with condi
ltious supposed to be. To come to this
1 city with no definite work assured
however, is madness. Every maj
IWho contemplates it should thinl
Hong and earnestly upon it and theI
lremain at home.
IL Gill;