Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-09
EFFECT OF WAR
ON LABOR UNIONS
British Organizations Are Lib
eralized and Join in Ma
tional Defense
By GILBERT VIVIAN SELDES

|
| LONDON. March Is.
DEFoRE the American Federation OF
- Labor pledged its support 10 the Gov
[ ernment In the crisis OF our International
affairs | had been asked many times by
| Englishmen what American labor would do
| IN case the country went to war. a great
| many people over here ire under the I'M
| preston that the labor situation in the
| United states is terribly serious and that
a sort of revolution may break out at any
| time.
The safest answer TO their questions was
| that the American labor unionist would
probably do precisely what the British
| trades unionist did As II matter of fact,
that is what has happened. The trades
unions OF Great Britain gave their support
| To the nation In time of war and asked, IN
return. that their own rights should he
| properly safeguarded.
| There is n small percentage OF the tpolit-
icaD labor party which was pacifst and Is
| now FOR peace by negotiation They are
| influential and their leaders are men OF
| brlliance but they do not express the feel
| ings of the rank and file. Among the
| trades unions the sentiment for prosecuting
| the war to "A victorious finish has actually
| increased within the last year and half.
| The unions are serious bodies. and they
| have intimate connections with study cir
| cles, educational associations and adult
| schools. They have been reading about the
| war and studying its causes. and they are
| stronger for IL today than they were.
| But at the beginning it looked very much
| as If the unions would not sacrifice any
| thing to the needs of the nation. They had
| fought for generations to win certain
| rights. They restricted work to properly
| qualified workers. men who had passed
| through apprenticeship. They denied
| women the right to enter into specified
| trades; they kept wages up. and they had
! methods Of restricting output so that the
| employer was not tempted to cut down the
| rates. They also watched jealousy the
| introduction of labor-savinE devices. In
| some trades tthe steel trades an ex-
| ampe) the workers captured the new ma
| chinery. In others they kept II out. But
| whatever the results have been. they had
| been of benefit to the trade unionst His
| standard of living had been kept up to the
| level which his union had decided the
| least on which man could live decently.
| Frequently he managed to live even better.
A Temporizing Agreement
| Then the war came and there were two
| things to he done Men had to he released
many volunteered At the same time
| production in all the essential trades had
not only to be kept up, but increased ten
| and hundred times. There were not
| enough union men to he had. There was
| supply of labor, hitherto forbidden, in
the young semiskiled, or women workers.
| 1t was up to the unions to decide,
| The decision they took is embodied in the
| agreement made between the Government
| Through the department then in control of
| muntions) and the Amalgamated Society of
| Engineers. tThis Is by far the strongest
| single body.) The agreement made by
| them has been extended to all. union work
| and essentially it promises the workers
| that. when peace comes. everything VIII be
just as it was before the war. The promise,
| II taken literally, means that the new,
| labO wing machinery will be thrown out
| OF the window the semiskiled workers who
have become experts will be denoted to
| the rank of apprentices again the women
will be turned out. II pressed to its logical
| conclusion IL would ro1' that the Won
derfu' new factory bn..dings would be
| abandoned in favor " the dingy, III
adapted shops of former days.
| | have talked to friends of labor and
to some Of labor's responsible leaders, and
| to employers. and everywhere the same
thing is true There isn't the slightest
intention of pressing the A. S. r.. agree
| ment home. What the workers want and
| what the employers generally willing
| to assure them, is a standard of working
and a standard of living not less than that
| of before the war
| The changes which labor has seen taking
place are enormous. as the whole world
knows by this time. But there have been
other changes beside those in the plant and
| buildings and machines. The process of
"diution" has had strange effects. The
| word. to which most people object strenu-
ously, means working in non-union labor
| with the union elements. getting women into
the shops and having them taught by the
union men, and putting boys In the place
| of men ft for the army, or adding all these
elements to the whole working force in order
to increase production. The union man has
seen how capably other people take his
place. He has seen the formation of some
thing like unions among the women who
| have displaced him. The unions fatty de-
| manded at the beginning, that woman
| who takes a mans place should get his
| wages In return for that, the women are
, prepared to play fair and to give up their
| places when the boys come home"
Changed Attitude Toward Labor
| In a few unions there has been trouble
| have been told that there Is great
| deal of resentment at the front against
| few labor leaders who have taken this
| opportunity to keep their hours of work
| down and have hampered the work of the
| soldiers by limiting output My own ex-
| perience has been that everybody IL CRATE
| fully surprised at the generous attitude of
| labor There has been very little holding
| back and many skilled workers have had
| to be snatched from the army, after they
| had volunteered because their efforts were
| more fruitful at home.
| SO that the attitude toward labor after
| the war will probably be a little more
| kindly than that before ,and the trades
| unions will not suffer for the sacrifices they
| have made. There are straws in the wind
| which point to real cooperation between
| employers and employees. short time
ago the first conference between capital
| and labor called without the suggestion
| or the interference of the Government, was
held and came to amicable decisions. All
the federations of industry are putting out
| their best efforts TO discover a basis on
which labor and capital can live and one
| which will Tecompense labor for the things
| which they will have TO give up after the
| war. 1t is certain that restriction of out
put will go by the board Tor many years
| after the war because the nation will not
| be able to afford IT,
There are indications Of fight. well.
| Certain employers feel that this is the great
/ for sInifinR the nnlnns nd