Omaha daily bee., 1920-01-04

When went to Gary o>make in,
quiries about the steel strike I had
in mind the IL demands made by
the national leaders when the rner
walked out ON September p; but
heard only two discussed with any
emphasis either by the workers OF
the management.
First, the l2-hour day.
Second the right to organize and
to bargain collectively with the en-
ployer.
The l2-hour day is a very real
thing in the life of Gary, and tried
in number of specific cases to find
out what it means. Here is the ex-
act daily schedule of skilled Amer
lean workman who does II hours a
day during one week and IS hours
a night during the next He has his
Sunday free, though many men in
the steel industry still have the
seven-day week: nor does he do the
"long-turn" of "a hours continuous
service when the change from day to
night work takes place--a practice
still persisting in some centers OF
the steel industry. In order to get
cheap rent--for there is a great
shortage of housing in Gary-this
man lives four fililes out from the
mill. He must. therefore. in order
to be on time, get up early. ~
Man Exists Only.
$50 a. m. he arises and gets break
last.
$40 he leaves home.
5:55 he reaches the mill.
5000 he begins work.
fa He is on duty steadily until S
o'clock in the afternoon. There is
40 stoppage for the luncheon, but
he has time, during waiting periods,
to get something to eat He arrives
home at E o'clock; soon after he
finishes his supper he must 60 to
bed, for at 4:30 in the msrning he
must be up again.
During the night shift he gets up
soon after 3 o'clock in the after
noon. starts work at 5 o'clock, works
IS hours, until 6 in the morning, is
home at 7, and in bed before 8. In
cluding the time it takes to 60 and
come from the mill. this mans time
is really commanded for some IA
hours every day.
lie has been at this work all his
life: he now makes %.& day.
Il don't live" he said, Il Just ex-
ist--work and sleep. I don't get
any time to see my family. / can't
go to any entertainments without
taking it out of my sleep; and | am
too tired to go to church on Sunday,
or to do anything else but lie
around" -
How 1t Strikes a Pole.
Another striker, Pole, said to
ME in broken English:
They tell us go to school, learn
American. When we get time?
Twelve hours day! What the hell
they wantp r..
Remember, l am trying to show
Just how it looks from below.
According to Judge Gary's testi-
nlony before the senate committee.
there are 69,284 men in the United
States Steel corporation now work.
ing the 12-hour day--and there are
many thousands more in the indie
pendent companies. A great pro-
portion of these 12-hour men are
foreigners, of some AZ nationalities
at Gary alone, speaking a babel of
tongues and hitherto unorganized
and unorganizable.
When remarked to a group of
workers that Judge Gary had told
the senate committee that employees
of the United States Steel corpor-
alton desired a 12-hour day, and
even seven-day week, in order to
make more money, l was greeted
with a shout OF laughter.
Want itl' said one of them, "We
can't help ourselves. The mills run
on the two-shift basis and it's either
IL, hours Or quit Besides, at the
rate of wages per hour paid by the
company most of the men could
not live unless they worked the
long hours"
SO much for the 12-hour day.
The senate committee, in the recent
conclusions after investigation, said:
"That the laborers in the steel
mills had a just complaint relative
to the long hours of service on the
part of some of them and the right
to have that complaint heard by the
company.
I'VE believe where continuous op-
Grafton is absolutely necessary the
men should at least be allowed one
days rest in each week"
The Demand to Organize.
The other great complaint, the
demand to organize and bargain
collectively, is more complicated
goes down deeper into the roots of
the controversy. For. if the work
ers were granted the eight-hour day
and the six-day week, this other
demand would not only persist but
probably be strengthened. l met
one steel employer, who said 10
me: IF you give an inch; if you let
them discover that agitation and
organization gets them anything.
'ou've gone. .Gary's right"
He spoke of Rcckefelers intro
duction of the eight-hour day and
shop committees in his Colorado
plants. did it stop the striker" lie
asked. mo. they're out with all he
l,tkcrs. So are the Cambria mills
there they have company uniors.
ary's right There is one independ
il mill that, was scarcely touched
the strike. 1t has been looked
pn with some envy in the steel m
ary. Its superintendent explained
he managed hi workmen:
atch 'em young; treat ''sm
b; tell 'em nothing"
this question Of unionizatlt.n
T,,I.x,