The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1915-04-16
ON PICKET DUTY
(By Jay Fox)
What the Wise Gazaboes Said


Some years ago, when the question
of industrial unionism had become
matter of serious discussion, the
opinion was held by many wise gaza-
boes that the trade unions would
never consent to a change of form.
"As they were made so will they re-
main till the capitalist system or the
new unionism' sweeps them out of
existence" said the guy with the far
seeing eye.
Look" said he, "at the army of
meal ticket artists who are deeply
entrenched in the offices of the old
unions; do you think they are going
to sit idly by and see their fat jobs
slip out from under them? For in
dustrial unionism means fewer UNI
ions, and fewer unions means fewer
officers. Therefore the officers are
going to WELD all the power at their
command to the end that the caft
unions remain craft unions to the end
of time"
Choice Chunks of I. w. W. Wisdom
There were still others who sat in
their wisdom seats and handed out
the following chunks of folly to their
fanatical followers: 1.-THE old unions
are baked hard in their present form
they are crystalized and cannot
change their form no more than the
leopard can change his spots.
'The A. F. of l.. was organized with
the aid of Mark Hanna and other
thieving employers. The craft union
has fulfilled it's mission,-if it ever
had one-and must disappear. Those
who try to prepetuate it are the deep
est reactionaries, even though they
call themselves socialists, anarchists
or syndicalists. The craft union fost-
ers strife and division among the
workers. 1t fails to conform in any
way to the development of produc-
ton and exchange. 1t stands in the
way of progress and forms bulwork
for capitalism. Those who hold that
craft unions will develop into indus
trial unions are ignorant of his
tory. There is no record of an or
ganization that has developed in that
manner"
Creating the One Big Noise
Fed upon that kind of mental alf-
alta for while the radical element
in the labor world was ready to start
real union, which indeed it did
amidst q flourish Of trumpets in Chi
cago, In 1905. There was DeLeon,
Debs, Haywood, st John and bunch
of other theorists, all of one mind
that the A. F. of l.. was q dead one
and only needed some one to come
around and bury it. Indeed many of
those present at the convention
thought that they were really attend
ing the funeral of the A. F. of L.,
After we get this whirlwind allow
ing" they said, meaning the l. w. W.,
'the decrepit old Federation will just
have to go and make a coffin for
ITSELF"
The l. w. w. was born in a storm
of oratory, each speech more fiery
than it's predecessor, and all directed
at the A. F. of L. The I. w. w. was
big noise to start with, and sound
is it's principal ingredient to this day
If the ! Disc is dying down it is only
because the number of its megafones
are getting fewer. AS an organizer
of the working class it has been an
utter failure, and it is my conviction
that the workers as whole are all
the better for that.
Workers Too Wise to Join
In the first place it is dual or
ganiZation and it's success would have
brought about the very evil it's pre-
motors said it was destined to abol-
ish. The strife that would arise be-
tween it and the A. F. of L. did not
succeed in getting any great number
of the workers to join it, would have
been tremendous in its bitterness and
intensity, and would result in the
greatest setback the organized labor
movement has ever had. But the
workers have wisely refused to join
it, and have thus saved their energy
and labor
Have Not Repudiated Industrial
Unionjsno
But, If the workers have repudiated
the l. w. W., that does not mean that
they have put the stamp of disap-
prevail upon industrial unionism. On
the contrary, in every industry the
question of industrial action of all the
unions engaged is being agitated,a and
in some instances plans are in opera
tion which insures joint action ip
demands for improved conditions. The
Water Front and Marine Workers
Federation of the Pacific Coast IL the
latest movement in this direction.
This federation had its birth in San
Francisco, and includes the unions of
sailors, riggers and stevedores, fire
men, marine cooks and stewards, fish
ermen, bay and river steamboat men,
marine gasoline engineers, steamfit-
tiers, piledrivers, longshoremen, team