The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-16
NEW YORK
TOPOGRAPHIC
UNION NO. e

Horace Greeley was the first presi-
dent Of New York Typographical Union
No. 6. which was instituted on January
|, 1850. In the broad Industrial world
this great trade union is Familiarity
known as big Six" 1t being the larg-
est local labor organization In the
United States. Starting with a MEM
bership of IS journeymen printers, 1t
has grown in sixty-fve years to 7.45s
members in good standing.
Big Six" enjoys the confidence and
respect # the employing printers of
New York, and the most prominent
concerns in the city make 1t a rule TO
engage members Of this union y
c~iusiyely to man their composing
rooms.
Long ago Typographical Union No.
s advocated collective bargaining.
tavoring Cancellation or arbitration in
preference to the crude and harsh
strike measure in the settlement of
trade differences. Many years since
Il entered into contractual relations
with the Newspaper Publishers Asso-
citation and the Printers League, be-
sides numerous individual p~roprietors
Il book and job printing establish
ments, Through these trade agree
ments permanent peace II assured IN
the printing industry, to the mutual
advantage Of Capital and Labor.
Big Six co-operates with employ
ers in maintaining a school for ap-
pren,iccs at the Hudson Guild. 1856
West Twcnty-sevcnth Street. M3nhat-
tan Borough. No less than ISL en-
ploycrs have pledged time off for their
APPRENTICES ~ enable them to attend
he school during the day. and his
ear the classes started with an enroll
rlent Of 256 pupils. The school takes
me youthful apprentice and accom-
panies him on his. way upward. The
work he does In the shop gives him
knowledge that he takes to the school,
and that which he learns in the school
Is given useful application in the shop.
The beneficent works of big Six"
nave been carried on almost from the
moment that II became an entity in
he Ldb,r movement. Not only has
Inc union obtained living wages and
shorter working time for printers
within It's pale, but it spends thou
sands Of dollars yearly to relieve its
Unemployed. pensions its superannu-
ated members, provides beds in hes
pitals for its sick, also aiding them
through special subscriptions, con-
tributes literally to the support of the
Union Printers Home at Colorado
Springs, where disabled, inf1rm and
aged typographers are cared for,
strives zealously to improve sanitary
Conditions in workshops, thereby les
sening the ravages Of the white plague,
buries its dead, renders financial as
sistance to the beneficiaries OF its de-
ceased members, and succors the
widow II orphan.
A recapitulation OF the unions be-
nevolences for the past eighteen years
reveals the interesting fact that the
large sum of s1,372.24S.52 has been
d!sbursed in various kinds of henef1ts
10 those entitled To its bounty.
While Union No. 6 does not require
printing houses under its jurisdiction
% impress the union label upon their
products, ii nevertheless contends thai
the label on printing Is a guarantee
mat the employer pays fair wages to
MS w0rkinen and that their working
hours are reasonable. So great is the
demand for the union label in these
days that it has been introduced in
nearly all the book and job printing
esta bl.shments in Greater New York.
The present elective officers OF the
union are: James II. Dahm, president;
Leon II. Rouse, vice-president; John
3, OCvnnell, secretary-treasurer.