Evening star., 1920-02-15


/ business were experts in advertising.
J experts in selling, experts In produc-
| tion-and no experts at all in the
most important factor OF all In In
| dustry-labor. Good will in industry
! is not enough. Schaffner had had good
will and his men had struck. There
must indeed be good will. but it must
be based upon accurate knowledge
and a common understanding.
This was the beginning of the new
experiment upon the part OF the en-
ployer.
In the same shop there was a young
Jewish clothing cutter named Sidney
Hillman. He was at the time only
twenty-four years old. He was born
in Russia and came through the mar
row but thorough training or ran
binical school. Like so many other
an active revolutionist against the
| czarist government. He was arrest :
ed before he was eighteen years ola
and thrown into prison. where ne
spent his time reading every BOOK
upon economics and political science
he could lay hands upon. When he
got out of prison he left Russia. spent
a year in Manchester. England. and
then came to Chicago, where ne
worked in the plant OF Sears ROE
buck & Co. and later in the shops
of Hart. Schaffner & Marx. He had
an ambition to be a lawyer. but when
| the labor disturbances began he came
at once into local leadership and was
the principal agent on the part OF the
men in working cut the remarkable
new cooperative agreement which
went into effect during the following
year-1911.
Principles of Organization.
At the time of this agreement the
dominant union in the garment trades
ho cd Garment
which was affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor. But many
of the local organizations were ols-
contented with the old craft unlonlsm
and the militaristic methods ana
leadership of the American Federa-
ton of Labor. In the national con-
vention of the United Garment work
ers in 1913 the differences came TO
head. and when considerao pie num-
Der of delegates were denied seats
they withdrew, held a rump con.eh
ton. formed a new organization
called the Amalgamated Cioth1ns
workers and elected Sidney Hillman
as their president.
The principles upon which the new
organization was founded were IN
brief, as follows:
1) To place less emphasis upon
craft organization and more upon
union of all the workers in the m
dustry: to be as hospitable toward
the unskilled as toward the skilled.
(2) To cooperate with empowers
wherever possible rather tnah 70 ns :
them-but to fight. and fight hard. II
necessary They had before them the
Hart Schaffner & Marx agreement OF
1911 as way of approach toward IN
dustrial democracy
Although excommunicated py M ,Hs
American Federation of LABOR thls
new organization spread win eN
traordinary rapidity. Today II mas
membership of some 100000 and prac-
ticaI,y dominates the workers IN 'he
mems garment trades of America anu
Canada.
wealthy Organization.
II is one of the most powerful
unions in the country: II puoiisneS
it's paper in seven languages: IL con-
ducts interesting welfare ana euuca
tiona1 work: it is planning large OF
fee buildings for its own use zone
70 cost million dollars) in Ne"
York and Chicago: 1t is proJectins
cooperative enterprises OF seVerai
kinds: it was rich enough 10 send
check of 100000 to the steer WI has
ers in their recent strike IL mas
succeeded in binding together IN a
close union workers of a dozen an
ferent nationalities and races. chlen!
Jews. Italians. Poles. Bohemlans. out
including many old-stock Americans;
Scotch, English, Scanoiha'lans anu
others.
The essential element in the Hart
Schaffner & Marx agreement. from
which the entire deVelopr>$nt springs:
is also the fundamental idea found
in the shop committee" system,
which 7 have already described-that
labor must be represented in man
aging those elements of industry
which concern its own life. Therefore
the Hart Schaffner & Marx agree
al in
by the workers in each shop of
..chairman" These chairmen. VINO
are. of course. union men. because
the shops are firmly organized. elect
five delegates to meet five representa-
tives of the employers in trade
board" where all questions that
arise can be discussed upon an equal
and democratic basis.
shop Councils system.
This is in it's essence the usual
"shop councils" system. but in the
garment trades two very important
new features have been introduced
One is the principle of continuous
to let difference of opinion reach
the point of a strike. Instead of
meeting occa casionally and dealing at
arms length. these trade boards"
are in session every day and any
trouble that may arise is instantly
dealt with
The other important feature is the
impartial chairman" He is the out
slider who is chosen to preside over
the trade board and to decide ques-
tions when a deadlock occurs between
the five members representing the
workers and the five members repre-
senting the EMPLOYERS. In short there
is not only continuous negotiation.
but continuous arbitration Very a bile
and broad minded men, often college
n fh
partial chairmen and arbitrators At
present Prof. James II. Tufts of Chi
cago University is chairman of the
board of arbitration in the Chicago
market.
SO much lies in the spirit of an
proach to these new methods that
every one who is really interested
ought to read the following fine ex-
tracts twritten by ]. +. Williams now
deceased. the first chairman of the
board of arbitration and one of the
real creators of the moyement) from
the preamble of the agreement
which are in their way setting forth
of the basic principles for new con-
stitution for industry. now in the
making:
Preamble of Agreement.
"On the part Of the employer it is
the intention and expectation that
this compact of peace will result in
nv ihdiht enance or
Il high order of discipline and effi
cheney by the willing cooperation of
union and workers rather than nv
the old method OF surveillance and
coercion; that by the exercise of this
discipline all stoppages and interrun-
ttons of work and all wilful viola
tions of rules will cease; that good
standards OF workmanship and con
duct will be maintained and proper
quantity, quality and cost of produc
tion will be assured: and that ont Of
It's operation Will issue such co-opera
tlon and good VIII between employ
ers. foremen. union and workers as