Bisbee daily review., 1919-06-27
UNION SUED FOR
 LOSS TO PEOPLE
 STRIKE ENTA|LED
BY E. c. ROGERS, N. E. A. Staff correspondent

PlTTSBURG, Pa, June 26-The worm sometimes turns. For once the innocent bystander" of labor controversies has hit back. The peo- pie want 1t known that they, too. are parties to every labor strike.
 The employer may win or lose by the strike. So may the employe. But in strikes in the past the public, al- ways lost. Never a chance to win Never chance to break even" The public always had to pocket it's loss and hope 1t would be long time be- fore somebody else rocked the boat.
 What is the first suit of its kind ever begun in America, is that filed by Attorney A. E. Anderson on behalf of the people of Pittsburg who sui fered losses during the four-day strike of street railway motormen and con- ductors.
 Losses caused by the strike are estimated by Anderson to be $2,035,. 000.7S. The 7S cents, Anderson says, represents his own strike loss. The rest is to be prorated among the peo- pie who lost in the strike, the tray cling public, owners of stores, street car employees compelled to strike, and others.
 Anderson believes the persons re- sponsible for calling a labor strike are the ones responsible for losses sustained by others. He says hun dreds of thousands of persons had to pay excess fares on railroads and au- tomobiles. He would compel the Street Carmen's union to recompense them. He says merchants lost mon- ey during the strike by reason of the inability of customers to get to their stores; that business firms lost mon- ey because their employees couldn't get to work, or came late; that the stockholders of the street railway stock lost money because of the strike, and that street railway em- ployes who shall show that they were constrained against their will l and wish into voting the said strike" may collect damages for wages lost during the strike.
 People who lost in the strike are asked to file claims for the amount. |
 The street carmen's union, its of i ficers and members and the interna- tional organization, its officers, are made defendants in Anderson's suit. |
 This suit, Anderson believes, will, | if won by the public, result in the filing of similar suits on behalf of the people after strikes in other ci- | ties. and may be directed at either employer or striking employe, or i both.
 Anderson alleges "some one is at fault in permitting or causing the ces- sation of operation of the Pittsburg railway system" and states in his suit that "such action were and are i unlawful and wilful and infringed on and invaded the rights of business, trade and travel by citizens upon the line of the railway company"
 It is understood one of the chief results Anderson hopes to attain by filing the suit is to have organiza- | tions engaged in public service held liable for losses sustained by reason of cessation of work or strike. It is claimed if labor organization engaged in public service are so held strikes affecting public service corporations will become thing of the past"
 ''The courts have held" Anderson asserts, that the right of persons to quit work and induce others to do so is necessarily subject to limitation when employment is accepted in a business charged with public inter- est"