The record. [volume] (St. Maries, Idaho) 1913-1918, 1917-06-26
Big Strike OF
Woods Workers
A NALKOUT IS ORDERED BY !. W ".
Nearly All Of the Camps on the ST. Maries River
Are Shnt Down.

The big strike of the 1. w. w.
woods workers is now on. The
men walked out Friday night and
Saturday. l. w. w. organizers
have been busy for several
months among the men and prob
ably at least eighty per cent of
the men working in the woods
in this section are members of
that organization. When the or
der came from headquarters TO
strike they all went out, compel
ling all the large camps i'm this
section to shut down.
Three hundred men came down
on the Branch passenger train
Saturday evening and probably
three hundred more ON the freight
train. More came down Sunday
and the logging business on the
st. Maries river is completely tied
up. Most of the men went ON to
Spokane, only a few who make
this city their headquarters stop
ping off here.
Among the camps affected we're
.all the Rutledge Timber Com
.pany's, the Blackwell Lumber
Company's camps, the Milwaukee
Land Company's, Cox Bros, who
are logging for the Milwaukee
Lumber Company near Fernwood.
The men at the Milwaukee Lum-
ber Company's camps ON Alder
Greek did not go out with the
rest, neither did the men at work
in Hopkins camp on Harrison
Flats. Hopkins logs go to the
st. Maries Lumber Company.
Among the demands which the
men are making are an eight hour
day, with no work on Sundays
and holidays, a minimum wage OF
$4,000 per month and free board
food to be served i'm porcelain
dishes, large and we'll Lighted
bunk houses, with single sprine
beds and mattresses and good
clean bedding, tables and readinl
matter, all to be furnished by Tn,
companies free Of charge, eXtr;
laundry and dry room with show
CT baths convenient to sleeping
quarters and free hospital ser
vice.
They also demand that they b.
paid twice a month, that all mel
be hired on the job or else from
the Union hall and that The me-
be furnished with free transpor
tation from where hired to tn
job.
THE wages of the men hav
been increased this spring, man
of the companies paying as hig
as $3.50 per day and every enor
has been made to provide goo
board. Sanitary conditiins of th
camps have been looked after
springs and mattresses have bee
furnished and some of the camp
have gone so far as TO suppl
their camps with hot and col
water baths,' say representative
b Of the companies, "but labor con
ditions this spring have been i'm
tolerable.
Even with the increase
2 wages and the imDrOvpmpnl
about the camps the men won
I work. When they pretend
e work they stall on the job an
g nothing is accomplished. Undc
q the conditions existing before tf
d strike the cost of logging was a
d most prohibitive and it is simp
3 impossible to meet the demand
d Of the /. w. w. organization an
y 10 attempt will be made" The
S demand for shower baths. some
thing that hardly one family i'm
hundred even i'm she cities hav
f is cited as an illustration of q
Y unreasonableness and absurd
# of their demands. The large ol
# orators have decided TO close [
It their camps and make no attem
l. to continue logging.
n They realize that this will wot
n hardship on those men who d
If sire to work but they feel tn
Ie they are powerless. With the
w. w. agitators continually inte