The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-11-03
SYMBOL OF FAIR
WAGES FOR Toll
Union Label a Tangible Asset
In the Labor Movement.
HELPS CAUSE OF WORKERS

Were Made by Skilled Workmen and
Under Clearly and Wholesome Condi-
tions--Need of Constant Endeavor to
PopuIarze the Gospel of Unionism.
One of the speakers at the annual
meeting of the National Association of
Manufacturers was Frederick ]. Kos
ter, president of the San Francisco
chamber of commerce. Roster appar-
emily believes himself divinely appoint
ed to be the Moses who will lead anti
union manufacturers to a promised
land where 'the unions cease from
troubling" and the toilers are content
content to work increasingly and I'M
complainingly,
Strangely enough, Roster wound up
with the admission that the unions so
far had had the best of the battle, and
he paid an unconscious tribute to Or
ganized labor by remarking that Sin
whatever we do we find we are con-
fronted with very strong national
organization. He also petulantly COM
planned that I'VE have not anything as
yet that is fit to cope with such an or
ganiZation as the American Federation
Of Labor Well, Roster is out to per-
feet such an organization.
The resolutions adopted ranged from
a protest against an excess profits tax
to industrial education, but the one
which interested the writer most was
that which dealt with the union label.
A matter of considerable chagrin to
the associated manufacturers and EVIL
IDENTIFY the main reason for the intro
duction of this resolution at their con-
vention is the fact that the American
Federation Of Labor and the label
trades department is carrying the label
campaign to women's organizations and
consumers leagues throughout the coun-
try. The substantial results that are
being obtained in this hitherto unde-
veloped field as the aims and objects of
trade unionism are being brought home
to thinking women no doubt prove a
thorn In the side of the anti-unionist,
and accordingly they are striving hard
to counteract it.
One need scarcely waste time in an
swering the charges preferred. The
main allegation, for instance, that the
demand for the label is based upon
misrepresentation is not only silly, but
simply ludicrous. Organized labor is
now more powerful than ever before
and it's influence more widespread. The
masses Of the people are acquainted
with its aims and objects and are in
sympathy and accord with them.
The market for union labeled goods
has been firmly created, and it is con-
stantly growing. Thousands of fair
manufacturers and merchants can
testify to the effect Furthermore, the
label has become tangible asset in
the trade union movement. Union made
articles are synonym for good and eff
ficient workmanship and guarantee
of sanitariness in contradistinction
from the sweatshop article.
The union label has nothing to fear
from such assaults upon it, and 1t takes
no more than ordinary keenness to de-
tect that the National Association of
Manufacturers is worried by the vogue
Of the label. To paraphrase Shake
speare, the association doth protest too
much" Why, one wonders, If the la
bel is a negligible quantity, if 1t is
moribund and about to sink into in
nocuous desuetude, why, oh, why, do
the associated manufacturers waste val.
liable time planning to combat it?
The labor movement can well afford
to disregard such attacks, but 1t cannot
afford to slacken it's efforts to popular
lie the label The work must go on
and every available ounce Of trade
union energy most be turned into chan
nels which will bring union label goods
and their merits more persistently to
the attention Of the general public
p 7 DOYLE I'm CARPENTER.