The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1914-11-20
LAbOR'S bull WARK
Trade Unions Defend the Inter-
ests of Workers.
BENEFITS ARE CUMULATIVE.

Organizations Are of Greatest Value
to the ToiIer-Hods Fast Better
ments Already Secured.
Many people have the impression that
unions of labor are wholly for offensive
purposes and that their success is to be
measured by the extent of the aggres-
sions they can make upon capital or to
the increased wages they can secure as
result Of militant strike policy. says
the Shoe Workers Journal.
Among those who take this view of
the matter there may be found con-
siderable number Of wage earners and
labor But, making due allowance for
the difference in environments that
may distinguish one trade from an
other, in that one trade is obliged to
be more militant than another because
of peculiar trade circumstances and
surroundings, there Is plenty of basis
for the opinion that those who look
upon labor unions only for their value
on the offensive and regard them as
failures when they cease, even tempo
rarily, to be aggressive, are woefully
mistaken in thir premises.
Much as we abhor militarism and
war. the present situation in Europe
prompts us to use a military illustra-
ton. Suppose an army does not know
how to fight except upon the aggres-
sive. 1t must always advance and can
never retreat. Then imagine that army
meeting an overwhelmingly superior
force and. having no knowledge what
ever of defensive tactics. there can
only be one result-na the entire
humiliation Of the army that has no
knowledge of the tactics of retreat or
defense.
This is precisely the situation with
trade unions. and the art of defense is
just as essential to the success of the
trade union MS the knowledge and APP
plication of successful aggressive tao
tics
1t is just as important for the wage
Garner to hold the benefits secured
through trade union effort as it is to
secure them and more so, in fact. A
benefit secured and held is perpetual.
while one that is secured and lost is
ephemeral.
Moreover when benefit is secured
and lost the chances are something
else is lost with it. The employer has
perhaps recouped himself for whatever
expense the benefit was to him while
it was enjoyed by his employees by ap-
propriating some other of their earn
ings or privileges to himself
On the other hand the betterment
that is gained and held is cumulative
Others are added on from time to time,
so that the wage of today and the con
ditions of today are the wage and con-
dition of ten years ago plus every bet
torment and Improvement secured.
added and held during the ten years
that have elapsed.
This is progress. 1t may not be as
rapid as some vapor minded dreamers
would like to have. but it is enduring
and substantial. and moreover it adds
strength to the trade union movement
which gives the promise Of better
things for the future.
In holding the betterments that have
been secured and in defending them
against attack. in placing the workers
in a position to benefit by the cumula-
tive benefits that have been secured in
the onward march of the years. the
trade unions are the bulwark of labor
They are labor's defense in times of
trial. In time of need, and nothing
more clearly demonstrates this than
when the wheels of industry begin to
turn slowly and men are out of work
or when war occurs. with its paralyz-
ing effect upon industry and employ
ment
1t is in time of stress that the union
is of the greatest value to the worker
1t is then when the union becomes the
bulwark behind which and through
which, and only through which, the
wage Garner will have an opportunity
to defend his every interest. to hold
that which he has secured and to pre-
serve a position OF readiness to secure
further advances and improvements
upon the return of normal conditions.
In general way, the broader the
recognition of the union by the en-
ployers and the more fully the princi
pie of collective bargaining has become
established between the union upon
the one hand and the employers upon
the other the stronger bulwark of labor
the union becomes. When employers
and employees have established rela-
lions that are at least peaceful, if not
friendly. a feeling of mutual respect
grows that has tendency to prevent
them from going to war with each 9th
er simply because business is not good
ORGANIZER Given Power.