The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-01


 one can blame us for this action. The employer has declared his determina- ton to protect his end of the business, and will demonstrate to the world that he is a very unreasonable fellow if he refuses to grant the same right to the employed.
 1T do not favor strikes. They are costly for the employer, the employed and the general public. Of course, I do not intend to surrender the right of labor to strike if a strike should be- come necessary, but this do not: There will be no strike in Bridgeport unless the employers force it, and if they do we will have one of the mer- riest fights ever seen in any part of the country. I feel assured, however, that the conservative employers of Bridgeport will not permit the radi7 calls to drag them into a sense1ess,- un+ necessary struggle.
 Much has been said about the closed shop, and some ou our estimable Bridgeport manufacturers got hysteri- cal and made a public declaration of war against the unions before they. knew just what kind of Q move they intended to make on May l. If the union men had been as hot-headed as the manufacturers they would have accepted the challenge and Bridgeport would have been convulsed with a la Dor war. We do not care much for a closed shop that becomes one by vir- tue of a written agreement G When a shop is solidly organized it is to all intefts and purposes 8 closed shop There are a number of such in Bridge port now, and the number will be in- creased weekly until Bridgeport is a closed shop city. These are the. kind of closed shops we are going to have, and all the manufacturers in Bridge port may issue published statements seven days a. week, but they cannot stop the movement.
 There are 700 men in this audtto- rum this moment If every one of them realizes his responsibility, to the extent of getting one new member this week, and another one next week, and If we can impress the new members thus gained, we will have 90 per cent of the machinists of Bridgeport organ ized within a month. With such an organizat tion we willzb able to inn press the honest nanufacturer and compel the dishonest che to grant req sonable and honest demands.
 We are determined to have a straight eight hour days and that does mean more tha height hours in any one do- even if Saturday afternoon off makes the week one of 48 hours If the manufacturers want a Satur- day half holiday we are willing, but it will mean a A hour week. Do not become foozled on this point. I like to see a game of Nbaseball, but am not willing to sacrifice the straight eight hour day in order that I may be able to. attend games of a shop league
 stFor 30 years I have been a union man, and although it has not been all sunshine, although there have been tears, and sorrows and heartaches, I am glad that I have been privileged to do battle for my fe11owmen. This is Sunday, and all over our land the Gospel of Christ has been preached. I reverence the name of the Saviour, and am trying to preach the message He gave to the world. He gave the people something to thank God for He fed the hungry, and snccored the unfortunate. He realized the futility 1 of preaching to a hungry people and on two occasions fed them in a 1nirac- uIous manner. The unions are follow l ing in His footsteps today. They are giving the people something to thank l God for. They have taken the chiI- dren from the factory, the mill and the mine and have given them an op- portunity to be kids for little while and a chance to develop into strong men and women. The unions have made it possible for thousands of | women to live virtuous lives, when in | days past their honor and virtue were sacrificed to the green of unscrupu- lous employers. The unions have given strong men clearer vision of their T1S11lS anu dS consequence bright homes, contented wives and merry ] children have taken the places of novels, hopeless wives and children who never knew 8 childhood
 | Eve propose to bui1d up a strong, conservative organization in Bridge port, and we are going to do it. We reached the 5000 mark today In anoth- CT month we will have 10000 members. and will then keep at it until Bridge port is thoroughly organized. We pro- 1 pose to respect the rights of the em- ployer and we intend to see that he respects ours in return. If this is done the employer and the employed will prosper and Bridgeport will four tsh."
 The Machinists' union now has about 5000 members. In June, 1914 there were 517 members and it was de- cided that there should be a business agent. MT. Bowen was appointed. The work of his job has grown so much that another business agent, Stillman BenWay, has been appointed l to take charge of the Remington union