The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-13

40 .O0O, 900 workers and out OF that
number only 100000 are organ
lied. He has it doped out that of
that number 40 per cent will fall
on their knees in the presence Of
their deliverers from the tyranny
of unionism.
He says IS per cent do not at
tend trade union meetings. while
the other Is per cent are radicals.
More bunk.
He says, 1.-THE American plan Che
! means the associated employers
PLAN is not a movement directed
against trade unionism. The open
shop does not discriminate. Union
! men as we'll as the unorganized
workers may enjoy its benefits. The
compulsory conditions as fostered
by the closed shop will soon cease
to exist"
Let US see the truth OF his state
ments. Does it strike at trade
unionism? Most decidedly. When
man is prohibited from asking his
co-workers to join his union. his
organization ceases to be worth
while joining. Bring on the corpse.
What benefits and redress from
wrongs would a laboring man have
if he could not deal directly or In
directly with the officers Of his
union? When a man signs away
his right. to strike against condi-
lions, what has he left! If such an
agreement entered into with his
employers does not kill his loyalty
to the organization Of his fellow
craftsmen, please tell me what it
will do?
Does the open shop discriminate
Let two men approach an employ
er, one a union man, the other a
non-union man, and see who gets
the Job. The answer is easy.
What are some of those dement's
enjoyed by unorganized workers!
!, Look back rs or 30 years and you
will soon find them. Open shop,
sweat shop, 10 and II hours day
labor. Child labor. Woman labor
without restrictions and protection
Ill ventilated shops. No overtime
or extra time for Sundays or holt
days. No compensation for injur-
les. Work your life out for cor
poration, and when you reach that
period of life when the years are
beginning to tell in your step. out
you 60, and a boy for half price
gets your place.
Every raise Of wages, every inch
of ground the toilers have won
from the employers in the last
decade have come to them as the
fruits of organization.
Take away from the toilers this
right to organize and their right tc
collective bargaining, and we will
have conditions that existed in
Pullman previous to the great
strike Of 1894; conditions such as
existed previous to Sinclair's Jun
gle" in the packing houses Of the
country
know what the workers have
gone through since 1893. I know
too. that some trades unionists have
. overshot their mark, and I guess
some Of them have made big wages
in the last few years, but. Mr.. Edi-
tor, l have yet to find one who be
came a millionaire.
l know the clothing workers have
done a great many things that were
extravagant. but let me tell you
before they organized. poor women
sweat themselves and their chill
dren into graves made for none but
) consumptives. The garment work
ers' label in q garment stands fol
, sanitary conditions all along the
line in their manufacture. TO &C
back to the open shop means to &c
back to these unwholesome condi.
tons.
What are some Of the condition.
fostered by the closed shop, which
will soon cease to exist as stated
by Mr.. Allen! All the legislative
enabling acts that have been pu
on the statute books in the las
half century. These and thes,
alone.
5 l raise the question about tn,
e radicals in the labor movement
/ True. there are some. and so ar
l there some in the associated EN-
!. ployers' organization. Yet the dea
1 brother does not throw a fit be
3 cause Of his own inglorious pres
: ence among that august body.
Why should the employers b,
permitted to get together and de
. eide what union they shall put t,
death next, and at the same tim
deny to their American laborin,
| men the right to organize for thei
I own mutual protection? This il
2 consistency with a vengeance, bu
I minus the jewel.
0 l am not a radical; on the con
trary, have been accused OF bein
: ultra-conservative; but this line o
attack brings out all the fightin
blood there is in me, and | com
from the same stock from whic,
came Theodore Roosevelt.
l am not an alarmist. either. bu
I have confidence in the America
wage Garner. but when he is crowd
ed too far he will strike.
| am not a Stacker. I have Lib
erty bonds to attest my sacrifice
| organized Red Cross branc
and was its chairman for thre
l. years OF its existence. helpe
5 put over every financial drive pu
q on IN the county Of which was
9 resident. My son enlisted with tn
nrst quarter million and speu
0 nearly eighteen months oversee.
A NO. l am not a radical. but a low
), American like the bulk OF IN
American workingmen. But I he
'' neve In fair play. and none Of tn
crucifxion stuff now pronosed h