The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1921-05-07
---7 = ~ .EF'eE :
open SHOPPERS
TELL why THEY
0PP0SE.uN|0NS
Explain Purpose Of Citizens
Alliance But Their Deeds Re-
PudIate Their Pretenses.
Continued from Page I.

COUGGstSoN J1OUt xOyS
The charge is but a bit of parroting
that is carried by one anti-unionist
to another.
They Sly 1T Pretty. }~~f~..:>
''The CLOSED shop pays men In the
mass. the good and bad alike" claims
the Alliance and its statement adds:
1.-THE open shop gives its wage, ac-
cording to the energy, ability and in
te1ligence Of the individual workman"
all Of which Is very prettily said. Mark
it well: the worker is paid according
to his "energy. ability and intelli-
gence," Of which the employer is the
sole Judge.
It is not true that the union shop
pays the good. and bad alike. THAT
Is merely open shop bunk, craftily
used to prejudice: the public mind
against the unions. The union merely
attempts to fix the minimum wage
for the average worker. The better
workmen always receive more than
the union scale, which is the mini
mum. The trouble with the open
shop employer is that he is in the
habit of measuring the worth Of his
employees by the speed of his fastest
workers. His tendency is to level
wages down and not up.
Just Another FaIsehood.
1.-THE closed shop tells the workers
how much wealth he may produce"
says the Alliance. and the open shop
leaves him free to express his native
energy and ambition, in unrestrained
production That is another anti
union falsehood. The workers in the
union shop. as a matter Of fact, on
the average, produce more than the
workers in non-union shops and Of
better quality. Unions place no re-
strictions upon the amount of work
a man should turn out in a day. We
challenge proof that any union in Du-
luth places g. restriction on produc-
ton.
What the "open shopper" calls the
workers native energy and an1bi-
tion,' is usually measured by his own
ability to drive the. worker at top
notch speed. "Unrestrained produc-
ton" sounds very well when applied
in criticism Of union labor, but it
has quite another sound when it is
applied to the cost-plus contractor
who urges his workers to ''slow up
Golly, But They're Bold.
''The closed shop runs all men
through the same mold. It destroys
the ambition to- excel, takes away the
incentive for individual effort, kills
initiative and undermines independ-
ence," holds the Alliance, and then
it proudlya' boasts that: '"The open
eho do of
principles Of democracy-freedom of
action, independence in thought, self
reliance and acknowledgements"
It is a shame to take the money"
That sounds beautifully when it comes
fresh from the peaceful office of the
paid attorney for the Citizens Alli-
ance, but a visit to a union shop and
q non-union shop would convince the
most skeptical that Mr.. Harris got
his wires crossed. Only in the union
shop is a workman protected in his
individual rights. There, through
such protection, his initiative has full
sway and his independence becomes
supreme.
Independence Dream.
On the other hand a workman in an
"open shop" dare not say his soul is
his own. He is bowed down under
autoeratic rule. In an "open shop"
democracy is a myth. There can be
no self reliance in an institution where
men are cowed, and independence Is
as remote as is the sun from the
earth. Thousands Of workers in So
called "open shops have come to
this office in the shadow of dark
ness. stealing in under cover to tell
us of the injustices to which they
were compelled to submit, and we
were sworn not to divulge their
names, for fear they would "lose their
jobs" Independence? Self-reliance?
Democracy? Freedom of action?
There are no such qualities developed
in single non-union institution on
earth, presided over by the kind Of
employers who are now making war
on union labor.
Repudiates Its Teachings,
It strikes the average man that the
Citizens Alliance repudiates the doc
| trine it would have employers prac-
tice when it declares it's "FUNDA-
MENTAL UR1NCIPLE rs: THE CON-
MUN1TY FIRST, INDIVIDUALS
SECOND" If such principle is good
for community why is it not good for