The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1916-07-15
FORMER VICTORIES OF CLOAK
EMPLOYERS RECALLED BY UNl0NlSi71

When working people strike for
better conditions their employers al
ways claim that If they were to &C.
cede to the, demands of their en-
ployes they would have to give up
business, and sooner or later they
would be forced into bankruptcy.
This claim is their strongest plea for
public sympathy, and since their very
existence is at stake, as they say, they
are therefore justified in fighting
stubbornly to secure a victory over
their striking employees
It is interesting therefore to inves-
tigate the facts of. strikes of former
years in the women's clothing indus
try and find out how much truth
there is in the claim of the en-
ployers.
We will 60 back to the year 1894,
when the cloak makers of New York
conducted their great strike; $4,000
cloak makers participated in that
struggle for better conditions; both
parties fought stubbornly. The strike
continued for five months, the manu-
facturers being victorious. The work.
ers were compelled. to give up the
strike and. return to work under
those conditions against which they
struck. :,
The employers succeeded in stop
ping the workers from "undermin-
ing" their. business The workers did
not succeed in forcing the bosses to
apparently the, business of the manu.
e. - To-
lent condition..
Now let us see what happened to
the employers right after that fam
Gus victory. .
believe that some people still re-
| member the. popular cloak firms of
those days, such as Sam Hopenseim,
Louis Graner, Benjamin Caspary,
Rothschild Bros, Goldsmith and
Wurtzberger. These firms represented
the "cream" of the cloak business.
Let us see, then, how the victory at
fected them.
Sam Hopenheim went out of bust
ness shortly after that victory and
later worked for wages as manager
of cloak shop of another concern.
Louis Graner failed right after that
victory and later joined the crowd of
unemployed, walking the streets Of
New York.
Caspary peddled buttons amongst
manufacturers because he couldn't do
anything better. -
Goldsmith is working as sales
man for a small concern in Boston.
Meyer Johnson, who was Cnce the
greatest cloak manufacturer of this
country, failed in business because Of
his many victories over his employees
The aforementioned firms offer
sufficient proof that tn. victories of
the cloak bosses in the past proved
disastrous to themselves. And the
New Workers were not the only ones
who have had such sad experience.
The cloak bosses of other cities who
fought the union successfully also
paid heavily for it.
The cloak manufacturers Of Boston
succeeded in beating the union in 1907
when the workers were compelled: to
give up q strike that lasted four
months. The result Of that strike was
that many manufacturers who were
compelled during the strike to leave
Boston and transfer their business to
New York; had lost all they had. IS.
Mr., Moser, president Of the Bosses
association Of Boston then, is now
working. as a. salesman for a small
concern in. that city. Other "victors''
who remained in the business have
lost their standing in tho ,;s s.s5
+ In New York on the contrary,
during the tive ana 4 hell years since