Strike bulletin. (Clinton, Ill.) 1913-1915, 1913-06-24
TO THE BUSINESS AND SHIPPING
INTERESTS.

tBy J, +. MoCreery. Pres. /. c. Federation. }
This strike was forced on the men by the
unreasonable and un- American attitude Of the
railroad management. in their refusal to deal
with the men IN making JOINT agreement to
cover the employees Although there are some
20 odd railroad systems IN this country which
have already granted this method of dealing
with their employees and the fact that it has
proven success Is shown by the fact that
these companies continue to renew the joint
contracts from time to time. and At present
several large railroad systems in this country
are conferripg with JOINT committees repre-
sentIng the shop employees. negotiating joint
or Federation contracts for the mutual benefit
ai the railroads and their employees.
The management OF the Hartman lines con-
tended that II they were to deal with the Fed
Grafton OF Railway Employees on its lines, that
they would be surrendering the management
oi the road into the hands of their employees
which III course would not have been the case,
and l. disproved by the fact that numerous
railroads, many oi which are managed by the
brainie>t men IN the railroad world have
granted Federated contracts and have found
II great improvement over the old method
al dealing with the individual organizations
irnm time 10 time aud thereby consuming the
aluabe time ri the railroad managers. The
great t. H. Hartman shortly before his
death, suggested that the men adopt this col
lective plan OF dealing with the railroad man.
ayers and only recently the receivers of the
W dDdsn railroad, whose uuty II Is 10 place tn2t
property ON dividend paying basis, recog-
nized that by promoting harmony between the
railroad company and its employees. they could
more readily accomplish this by dealing with
the men collectively instead OF Individually
and authorized the management OF sign Fed
| Grated agreement with their employees, which
they have done So the statement made by
the Hartman management. that by reoogniH-
ing the Federation, 1t would be placing the
management into the hands of its employees
IS not borne out by these facts.
In their statement to the public in the early
stage OF this strike, the management of the
Hartman lines stated that their irst duty was
To the public We readily agree to this for
the reason that II it were not for the public
no railroad or corporation could exist. We
also call your attention to the fact that the
| railroads which recognized their employees
jointly. also owe their first duty to the public
and are fulfilling that duty to a much greater
extent than the Hartman lines have been. dur
ing the past IL months. Is il not also fact
that the employees that were forced out or
strike IN defense OF their rights. as America
citizens. the right TO be HEARD, are also a
par, OF the public and entitled to considera-
ton.
The railroad managers admit that the strike
has cost the stockholders millions OF dollars
and the stock has steadily declined in the mar
kei and is still on the downward trend be
cause people do not like to invest in 4 property
that has a strike to deal with Would il not
| have been better for all concerned had the