The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1920-04-17
RADICALS IN SADDLE AGAIN.

s:sSo
RADICALS IN SADDLE AGAIN.
Once more the industrial machinery
Of the United States has been thrown
out Of gear, and forced to proceed only
limpingly, by great body Of labor
unionists who have heedlessly, if not in
large measure headlessly, broken away
from their regular labor union leaders.
This time it is the railroad men who
have undertaken to toss monkey
wrench into the works As in q some
what similar detection in the steel in
dustry, some months ago, the result is
a fairly definite cleavage of interest
between the conservative elements of
the organized workers Immediately con-
cerned, and the more radical element.
AS in the steel strike, so now in this
railroad upheaval, the conservative ele-
ments in the disaffected unions tend
to stick to their jobs, while the more
radical elements have been doing their
utmost to get all hands to quit work
And in the railroad affair, very much
as in that Of steel, there is no clear
understanding as to why the strike was
started, what the strikers want, or even
whether they all are striking for the
same reasons.
On the whole, this latest upheaval
seems to conform quite definitely to tho
sort OF strike known to be engineered
by /. W. W. or ultra-radical sympa-
thizers. Thero was smolderin1 disaf.
fection-in this case the feeling among
certain sections Of switchmen and train,
mon, principally train-yard workers.,
that the. more powerful railroad unions,
like the "big> FOUR brotherhoods, had
not shown the same persistency in look
ing after the yard workers interests
as in caring for those Of the workers
who run trains on the line. This long.
standing disaffection was apparently
seized upon by radical agitatoss, who,
scattered amongst the various organiza-
tions, chiefly in the Chicago district,
have apparently been, for some time
past, boring from withih,'' in ap.
proved I. W. W. fashion, with the pur-
pose of causing disruption. True to
type, the disturbance was precipitated
with the utmost Of suddenness, without
any real attempt to secure preliminary
consideration Of specific demands, or
even any definite statement Of griev-
ances A secret undermining of the
workers allegiance was followed by
sudden stoppage Of work. Such de-
n1aEds as there are in evidence, for the
most part made their. appearance after
the original detection, when the status
of the strike required to be established
as means to induce other workers to
give it their support. Now one other
feature Of the typical I. w. W. pro-
gram is evident in the effort of the
strikers, while not nominally disloyal to
their existing unions, to get under way
one big union' that shall include all
railroad workers in the country. From
first to last in this affair the effort to
make trouble, to cause disruption, to
substitute confusion for order, has been
the outstanding manifestation.
Against all this so-called "outlawn
activity, the great brotherhoods, which
include the major proportion Of rail-
road workers in the country and usu.
ally dominate the railroad labor situa.
ton, have set themselves fatty in op.
position. The brotherhood leaders not
only do not countenance the strike,
but they also are doing their utmost.
it seems, to prevent it from havins
any practical effect. In this they are
fighting the fight Of responsible labor
organizations everywhere, inasmuch rs
they are striving to live up to their
contracts with the employers. Thus
the real issue Of the strike, for the
present, appears to be responsibility, u
against responsibility. OF course this
issue is Of Importance far beyond the
circles Of organized labor. tn bearings
are indicated, in way, by the incl.
dent reported from New York, where
strikers are said to have jeered the
throngs Of commuters, who, prevented
from reaching their suburban homes
by the CLOSING of the Hudson river
tubes, were being further delayed by
the consequent overcrowding of the
ferry terminals. TIE men on strike
have shown marked disregard 70,
public necessity OF convenience, where.
as the brotherhood members, as rule,
have shown definite sense Of respon.
sibility to the public. Whether the
strike, therefore, has been aimed pri
nnarily at fastening the betterment OF
the strikers, or has had its purpose in
tho possible overthrow of the "bie
eaur'' brotherhoods, or has been sim.