Evening star., 1920-01-02
STEEL STRIKERS FEEL
THAT CORPORATIONS
SUPPRESS WORKERS
Twelue-Hour Day and Hostility to
Uni0nism Are Real Grievances to
"Mdn Who Is Under"

: intendent explained how he managed
his workmen:
Catch 'em young; treat 'cm rough; !;
tell EN- nothing.
SO this question of unioniZation and
collective bargaining-as Judge Gary
tesrified-is the real crux of the strike.
He saw it long ago when the steel
corporation was organized, and he
has never changed in his opinion or
in his policy of opposition. He has
contrary, as L shall show in other
articles - but upon the question of
unioniZation and collective bargaining
he has been adamant.
The workers also recognize this as
the crux of the problem. l did not
find much complaint of wages at
Gary, for average wages of all en-
ployes since 1914 have increased from
s2.93 Il day to s6.27 per day. ia per
cent. This incI ease corresponds
roughly with the increase in the cost
of living. There are also a consider
able number of workmen at Gary.
especially of the higher grades, who
live at low rentals in company houses
or who own their own homes. and
some who have been assisted by the
corporation in buying stock. These
men for the most part did not strike
at all
| asked one group of strikers what
it was. then, that they wanted. Every
one of them had been working in the
Gary mills; every one of them spoke
English well-two were of pure Amer
lean stock. one was of Dutch ances-
try. two Irish. one English, two
Serbian. three Polish.
"Striking for Freedom"
Since 1 am trying to show exactly
how the strike looks from below, | am
going to put down exactly the answer
l got:
We are striking for freedom.
What do you mean by freedom" 1
asked.
We'll, the right to have our organ-
cations. the right to employ representa-
tiveS to act tor us. just the Steel
Corporation does. and the right to bar
gain collectively with the employers for
our labor
| found this group of men very in
telligent. They told me that it had been
the settled policy of the Steel Corpor-
alton from the beginning to fight union
ism. and one of them handed me pub
llcatlon containing copy of a resolu-
ton passed by the Steel Corporation on
June Il. 19O1-six weeks after its or
ganization (Which l have since verified :;
it appears in the reports of the United
States bureau of labor, as follows:
Opposed to Extension.
That we are unalterably opposed
to any extension of union labor. and
advise subsidiary companies to take
firm position when these questions
come up. and say that they are not
going to recognize it; that is, any ex-
tension of unions in mills where they
do not now exist: that great care
should be taken to prevent trouble,
and that they promptly report and
confer with this corporation"
Irpdc
the Senate committee that men were
not discharged for belonging to unions
the strikers not only assert here at
Gary. but witnesses from the Penn
sylvania mills asserted before the
Senate committee that many such dis
charges had been made
"Oh. the foreman doesn't say, You're
union man. get out But every
movement. evert whisper in the mill
is known. If W. have a meeting, we
know there is b spy inside, or else
the foreman or other officials come
and stand outside the hall and watch
the men go in. Let man try to get
the workers together try to organize,
and some day he'll get his pink slip
because he has been ten minutes late,
or because he's had an accident or for
one of a hundred small excuses"
Whatever may be the instructions
from Judge Gary, this is what the
strikers everywhere in the steel dis
tricts believe. Indeed, the second de-
mand of the twelve that they made
when they struck reads thus:
Reinstatement of men DISCHARGED
for union activities, with pay for time
lost.
Foreigners and Unionism.