Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1920-05-27

AiRf IS cons tent VII CONDITIONS.
It maintains the right Of the employ
e. ana the employe to confer, either
Individually or collectively, or by
committee, concerning any and all
matters involved in their mutual re-
lations, without interference from
81 dicfation by any lsboE Union Or
walking delegates Ry1colleetlVe p 1T
gaining as herein referred to- we
mean collectively with committees OF
she vor <ers themselves, unhampered
and unhandicapped BY walking deie-
gates or agitators or any other out
side influence.
The Open Shop Association main-
tains itself financially by the assess
nent of dues amounting to one-quar--
Ter OF one per cent o. the payroll OF
members and by nominal individual
dTies from those whozhaYe no pa grutt.'
gbauId the unions choose to single-
shot any Of the weaker members, the
0nen Shop lends very heaE1i It's
support 10 that particular mem et5
bv directing the power Of its own
Membership and that Of public senti-
nent toward the relief that may be
required. Financial relief is not spe-
officially provided for in the eonsti-
tuition and by-iaWs, but would be fur
nished If necessary to prevent lnJus-
tice.
Specifically, therefore, Open Shop
has practically freed Beaumont from
the domination Of union labor. The
victory has not get been entirely won,
bat there are, practically speaking
with four or five small exceptions
no closed shops in Beaumont, except
those connected with the printing
trade, which had elosed-shop cons
tracts, and Open Shop respects and
| insists that its members respect all
| contracts made. When the Beau
mont Trades Assembly, immediately
upon formation Of the Open Shop
Association, proclaimed general
strike and boycott, the printers reso-
| lutelv refused TO break their con-
tracts and withdrew from the Trades
Assembly, and their action was up-
| held BY their international officers.
! Open Shop demands that contracts
| and agreements between labor and
/ capital, or employers and employees,
shall not be regarded merely as
scraps of paper" but they shall be
strictly carried out according to their
| terms, and to this end, as previously
mentioned, advocates the legal char
| tering Of all labor organizations so
that their contracts may be enforce
able by law.
There have been two distinct tests
| Of strength in Beaumont since the
formation Of the Open Shop Assoc
citation, between its adherents and
those Of union labor, both Of which
/ have been decisiyely won by Open
Shop. These tests were not formal
trials of strength between the Open
Shop and the Closed Shop, but prae-
| tically they were. The first was an
election on December 81, on the
adoption Of a modern charter en-
bracing the city manager plan, of To-
cal government, which vas won by
& majority ef 254 out of about 1900
votes. The second trial Of strength
was much more intense, as union la
Dor massed all its strength and made
every man and his wife pay their poll
| taxes, as women can vote IN the pri-
mary. This election was for mayer
and cOuncilmen, to be elected for the
purpose of carrying out the proYi-
sions Of the new charter. This was
won by majority of 462 out Of
about 5000 votes.
The Open Shop plan Of. Beaumont
is being adopted in other places and
the movement is spreading. SIX
towns in Texas have definitely adopt
ed it on the basis Of eur plan, and
seven others are considering it at
the present time. Six other cities in
Oklahoma have adopted it, two in
| Arkansas and four in Louisiana. The
Southwestern Open Shop Association
has already been formed at the initia-
tive Of Beaumont, covering the states
of New Mexico, Arkansas, Texas,
Oklahoma and Louisiana.
One Of the greatest indirect bene-
fits that Open Shop has conferred on
the people at large lies in the fact
that many projected strike in Texas
has been recently abandoned on the
ground that such would very likely
precipitate in such places Open Shop
organizations.
L
Right here desire to call your at
tention to what is, perhaps, the most
vital principle in connection with the
Open Shop movement, and that is,
it being based on principles of fair
ness and square-dealing between all
parties, it has a support among the
union labor men themselves-that is,
in the rank and file-which has here
tOfore been unsupported. / may ven
ture the assertion that rs per cent
Of union labor men themselves care
very little about the abstract princi-
pie of the closed shop If they are re-
eeiving adequate wages and working
under satisfactory and proper condi-
sions, and this is one Of the great
reasons why Open Shop win succeed
wherever it is projected on the right
lines.
It is not inappropriate to call your
attention to a very important feature
IN connection with this phase Of the
subject, and that is this; The power
Of union labor has been vastly over
rated There is not a solitary ex-
A. AZ