The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1917-03-22
OkanOgan Wash
DETROIT LABOR MAN
IS EXPELLED FROM
UNION AS TRAITOR

DETROIT, Mich.-Suspected and
found guilty Of being a traitor to or
gained labor, William Earl Under
wood, one of the most active labor
men in Detroit, has been expelled
from his local Of the international
Association Of Machinists. The fact
of Underwood's expulsion will be
made known all over the United
States and Canada,
Underwood, who was a member of
the executive board Of the Detroit
Federation Of Labor, had been under
suspicion in his own union and mem
bers of many other unions could not
understand what he did. Underwood
always dressed well, had his touring
car and was a good mixer" He had
not worked in shop for a consider
able time. Action was determined on
when Charles T. Nicholson, of the
general executive board Of the Inter
national Association of Machinists.
who was sent to Detroit to investigate
he situation in the ranks Of the ma
chlnists, found that when he BEGAN
organizing work the mems names
were turned in to the employers and
they were discharged because they
belonged to the union.
Charges against Underwood were
presented to a committee of Lodge
No. 80, to which the accused man be-
Ionged. The committee was convinc-
ed of Underwood's guilt and after
trial recommended that he be expell-
ed. The report Of the committee was
accepted by unanimous vote Of the
.odge, which found him guilty on six
charges.
AS a result Of the investigation of
the charges against Underwood, Mich
olson and other machinists officials
who conducted the inquiry became
possessed of 1876 pages of most dam
aging evidence against organizations
which make business of breaking up
labor unions by placing spies in their
midst. 1t is strongly suspected that
Underwood was in the employ of one
of these "secret service" organiza-
tions.
Damaging testimony against I'm
derwood was given by union machin-
lists IN jackson, Mich, and Toledo, O.,
where he formerly worked. Testi-
mony given by Toledo union men
tended to show that Underwood Join
ed Toledo Lodge No. 105, I. A. NJ,
and clipped off" an employer that his
men were about to make a demand
for shorter hours. The men were
locked out before they made their de-
mands.
The expulsion of Underwood has
resulted in much publicity here on the
tricks Of the private detective agen-
cies. In telling how they operate to
break up unions, Organizer Nicholson
said:
1.-THE advance agent Of the detective
agencies is a member of the union
and is invariably a hard and appar-
emily conscientious agitator. He ac
companies me or some other speaker
to the shop gates and sees that good
live organizing campaign is carried
on.
'Then the second class of operators
are put to work in the shop. They
are also members of our organization
and there they do some real constuc-
tive work along the line of organiz-
ing. Then he, the inside worker, nat
urally being in possession of the
names of the men whom he and other
inside operators organized, turns The
names over to the next class of oper-
ator, commonly called the mixer
"The mixer then goes to the en-
ployer and shows him there is a great
organizing campaign going on and
lies and tells the employer that he
is ready to put his men in the shop
to keep down agitation and organiza-
ton and strikes. He intimidates Jhe
employers by his malicious tricks in
to employing his operators to work
in the shop and keep down organiza-
ton. The detective agencies some
times get is high as $40 a day for
each of these so-called operatives"