Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-04-28
ENGLAND AND LABOR

The Employers Industrial Com
mission of the United States Depart
ment of Labor, just returned from
England, makes public these find
ings:
l. Employers in Great Britain
generally recognize the desirability
of bargaining collectively with labor.
2. Employers nearly all agree
that collective bargaining should al
ways be undertaken between asso-
Citations of employers and the regu-
larly established we'll l-organized trade
| unions. While many manufacturers
welcome organizations of workmen
| in their factories (shop or works
committees), they want to limit the
activities of such bodies to purely
local grievances, and decidedly de-
| sire that the committee members
come under the discipline of their
| unions.
| 3. Most employers freely recog
nize the right of labor to organize;
| they regard organization as greatly
contributing to the stability of in
! dustryn Some large manufacturers
declare that they wish to see every
workman within the unions, so that
they must all come under organiza-
| ton control. Others feel that 100
per cent. organization might lead to
dangerous types of universal strikes
and lockouts. The more conserva-
tive employers appear to make no
effort to help along organizations or
labor, merely dealing with such or
ganizations when they appear on the
| scene.
4. Employees in Great Britain are
divided in sentiment shading from
| W n n
trade unions along the regularly es-
tablished so-called constitutional
| lines to ultraradical socialists.
5. Employees are nearly a unit,
however, in expressing opposition to
the use of force. The most radical
who desire now" complete over
turning of the present social struc=
ture, usually admit on close ques-
tioning that now" may mean many
years. They want to start" now.
Practically none appear to approve
of a sudden change as in Russia
6. Employees of the ultraradical
type look askance at collective bar
gaining and organizations of labor
and capital. They freely express the
view that they do not wish harmony
| between employees and employers,
since harmony would help to con-
tinue the present system of society.
| Z. Employees of the more conser-
vative type (and TO your commission
ers they appear to represent the vast
majority of British workmen) are
largely in accord with employers in
the desire CD to head off labor un-
rest at this period; CD to strengthen
the unions by holding members un-
der control; CD to increase produc-
ton for the sake of the Nation
| III ;,,a al, roc rif
ton on output except as it affects
the health of the worker; CD tc
leave control of business policies in
the hands of those managing tho
business.
s. Government officials appear tC
be uniformly of the opinion that the
Government should function in Ia
! Dor unrest only as an absolutely las
unavoidabl resort. On the othel
hand, they maintain the right of the
Government to step in when neces
sary in order to protect public inter
eStS against minoritieS which try tC
force their terms upon the people.
9. In general the Government
and most employers and conserva.
tive employees appear to be agreed:
That the spirit of cooperation be-
tween labor and capital is highly de-
sirable.
That the spirit of conciliation is
important for the benefit of the en-
ploye in preserving his regularly or
ganized unions.
That in collective bargaining the
right-minded employer will not at
tempt to return to the pre-war in
dustrial era, and that the right,
minded employe will not attempt tc
crowd his demands to the point a
which the stimulus for private bust
ness enterprise would disappear.
The spirit of a genuinely better
new (and not noveD era is thus be
ing fostered by widely varied ele
, ments of Great Britains industria
system.