The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1918-03-29

Washington State Federation OF
Labor. Bro. Call has the faculty
of saying tensely and clearly what
he has to say, and that takes well
with any audience, especially with
an audience of tired workingmen
Bro Call said to his fellow Timber
workers:
Organized labor in the state of
Washington is progressing every
where. Not only are the men be-
coming better organized, but the wo-
men are also getting lined up, either
in mixed organizations or in local
unions of their own. 1t is very
gratifying to me to note that in Ev-
erett, where there has long been a
feeling of bitterness and a general
disruption of industry, men and wo-
men are now organizing on sound
basis and that there is already an
evidence of cooperation and good
will among all classes of its citizens.
1t is too much to expect that
needed changes could be brought
about quickly. Some times pref
udice becomes deeply seated and it
requires great effort to eliminate it..
But this is being done here. In my
own organization, the Timberwork-
ers, there is returning a good feeling
and confidence is renewed in the
hearts of the men who toll in the
great lumber industry of the city.
Our organization has joined the
Commercial Club and will do all
shat can be done for the general
good in Everett.
Grievious mistakes have been made.
Sometimes heads get hot and eyes
see visions. Long years of low
wages, long hours, and hard work
are not conducive to the betterment
of wage earners. By the imposi-
Ion of those conditions there was
no opportunity for labor to educate
itself and advance along with the
rest.
There are men in this state today,
some working men, who are support
ing the program of the Hindenburg
bayonets. There are obstructionists
n both the ranks of the employers
and employees and when these are
found, in either case, they should be
sent to the German front line
trenches where they belong. But
no one can successfully question the
loyalty of the American Federation
of Labor. Some men in Congress
are today asking for bayonets to
suppress the l. w. w. in the West.
1t is not bayonets that are needed,
but some people do need some good,
common horse sense. AS long as
the lumber industry refuses to deal
with legitimate labor organizations
just so long will they have their
"wobbly" workmen to deal with.
l despise the tactics of the I.W.W.
as much as l despise the tactics of
some of the employers, they are
equally responsible for the choatic
condition that has long existed in
this section. At our recent conven-
ton held in the city of Seattle we
made our position very plain, there
can be no doubt as to where the
Timberworkers' Union stands. At
that convention we unanimously
adopted the following declarations.
Resolution No. 4-Statements of
Principles
This convention, realizing the need
for industrial unity among the work.
ers in the timber industry, hereby
announces an amalgamation of the
International Union of Timberwork-
ers and the International Single
Weavers' Union of America, the Or
eanization to be known in the fu-
ture by the name Of the former
body.
No class of citizens are more
vitality interested in the war pro-
gramme of the country than the
workers, and no class of workers
are more vitality concerned than those
employed in the lumber industry.
There is a crying need for spruce
for airplanes and timbers for ships.
The lives of our soldiers at the
front and the early termination of
the worlds bloodiest war can only
be brought to speedy and sue
cessful end by the immediate CO.
operation of all the different ele-
ments engaged in producing these
needed and necessary supplies.
1t is in the interests of democracy
that these elements be brought into
close and effective coordination by
mutual agreement and voluntary &C.
ton. CONSUMPTION of labor or any
movement savoring of CONSUMPTION
is repugnant to our highest ma
tional ideals and in opposition to
the principles of the organized labor