The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1917-08-17
FAILURE TO END BIG LUMBER
STRIKE RESTS SQUARELY UPON
THE SHOULDERS OF EMPLOYERS


Lefty man employed by the lumber
men was using space in all the daily
newspapers of Western Washington
IN an attempt to influence and pref
udice the minds of the public and the
strikers, using in their advertisements
the very propositions which were I'M
der consideration at the conference.
The operators sought to show the
granting of an eight-hour day at ten
hours pay would utterly ruin the
industry. The men, while not sat
isfied that this was entirely true,
nevertheless countered by offering to
waive the entire question of wages,
union recognition and other demands
if the eight-hour day by itself would
be granted. They went further. They
offered to work ten hours without
additional overtime pay on all gov
eminent contracts.
The operators endeavored to show
that the men were unpatriotic in that
they "Were demanding a new condi-
ton of employment" therefore going
contrary to the policy of the national
defense council, which declared for
"no change in existing working stand
ards during the period of the war
without first having the approval
of the council to such change" This
ground was cut from under their
feet when Samuel Gompers, who
may in fairness be said to represent
the national labor viewpoint of the
national council, telegraphed that
"the eight-hour day in industry WAS
labor standard and the men entire
ly right in demanding that it be cs-
tablished where it had not hitherto
obtained" To clinch the whole mat
ter, the secretary of war, chairman
of the National Council of Defense,
telegraphed that eight hours day
and time and one-half for overtime
was the government standard, and
urged the lumbermen in the name
of patriotism to establish that stand
ard and end the strike. And still
the lumbermen refused. Good God,
would they rather see Germany win
than sacrifice their profits if need
be in this hour of national stress?
Behind all the specious argument
against the granting of an eight-hour
day was deep seated hostility to
ward any form of organization among
the employees which would give them
the real power of collective bargaining.
Some of the lumbermen voiced a pa
ternalistfC sentiment towards their
men. They wanted the men to be
contended and satisfied, oh yes, but
they demanded the right to say what
was best for the men. The trouble
with that viewpoint is that the aver
age man has his own ideas as to what
constitutes satisfaction" and econ
tentment," and wants to achieve that
happy condition in his own way. The
paternalistic employer and the ambi
tious employee can never meet on
the same plane unless one or the 9th
err abandons his own deep seated con-
victions Other employers view their
men as they view their machinery, as
being voiceless, functionless, scarcely
to be considered at all. | overheard
one lumberman say to another while
riding down in the elevator one day:
"They ought to be made to work II
hours day." n
One of the strangest things in mod
ern industrial life is the refusal of
certain type of employer to recog-
nize phases of industrial relationship
which are patent to the rest of So
ciety. There are men with KEEN
analytical business minds, minds at
tuned to every advanced step in the
evolution of their particular industry
save the one important factor of their
industrial duty and relationship to-
ward their employees. These en-
ployers deny to their men the right
of collective bargaining, fail utterly
to grasp the idea that within the
minds of the men are ideas, ideals and
ambitions struggling for expression
which might be capitalized into the
most valuable business asset an en-
ployer might have. These men in
their dealings with labor, either sin
gly or in group, employ the methods
of feudal days, show pitiful ignor-
ance of social responsibilities. When
this type of employer dominates the
labor policy of great basic indus
try such as numbering, it makes men
stop and think whether after all pri-
vate interests have any moral right
to ownership and operation of such
an industry. | could understand the
arrogant attitude of the lumbermen