Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-09-27
WHY OF TEXTILE STRIKE
CONTINUED From Page One.)


into Il fight of such magnitude?
The difficulties encountered were the
apparent unwllingncsS of the mill
owners to consider whether or not the
wages paid the mill workers were suf-
/ fcicnt to allow them to purchase the
| bare necessities of life. Men and wom-
on acting as committees met their en-
| ploycrS or their representatives and re-
uIcstcd that the cuts in wages given
them should be lcssened so that they
might be able to give their children
sufficient nourishmcnt.
Not only committees of the workers
waited upon the employers, but the
| Central Labor Union Of Charlotte re-
qucstcd the governor the mayor, the
| Chamber of Commerce, the Manufac-
| turcrs' Association, to- come as good
public minded citizens and endcavor to
settle the request of the workers for a
reduction in the cut in wages given.
/ All to no avail. Every obstacle was
/ placed in the way of adjustment by
! the employers and the press.
What were the cuts in wages? They
ranged from 81 II per cent. to 65 per
cent. in two of the chains of mills in
Charlotte and vicinity; and in another
! CLAIM of mills where q bonus was Civ
| en- during the war period of 12O per
cent, it was taken away from the
workers entirely.
The mill workers complained to their
! international Union to do something
! for them. The officers went to the
meetings of the workers and told them
to bide their time and they would try
every method to avoid a strike. This
was done and, IS stated above, met
with complete failure. The workers
then told the international that they
would not stand for such treatment as
Twas accorded them by the employers.
They demanded that the international
should endorse their going out with
the understanding that the Inter-
national could not pay the strike
benefits called for in their constitution,
but would assist to the best Of its
ability
On June the workers walked out in
three of the largest chains of mills as
protest against the most into.erable
conditions and the most drastic cuts in
wages that have ever been given to a
| God fearing people. These workers
are all Americans. All they ask Is the
right to work and have say in what
they should receive for that work.
Surely there is nothing wrong in that
request.
| have no desire to add fuel to the
already blazing conflagratiOn when /
say that in plain dollars and cents the
cuts in wages in many instances
dropped from $27 per week to s11 per
week of 55 hours and 60, and in some
cases G5 hours. ,sE
Not country that! was engaged in
the world war but has given to its citi-
zens a torty-Cight hour work week or
less, and started Investigations to find
out the home conditions of it's work.
cra-all but the United States.
In the southland where textile mills
are situated there you will find the
raw material grown in abundance: cot
ton sufficient to supply the worlds
needs; cotton at the backdoor of the
mills. There, too, you will find the
skilled textile workers, men and wom-
en-, boys and girls, ready at all times to
be faf and reasonable toward their
employers, taking an interest in the
quality of the work they produce.
Why do the mill owners of Caro-
lima refuse arbitration? Why do they
spend thousands of dollars telling the
workers to not go into a union?- Why
are the mill owners of the south on
/ posed To legislation that has for lis
purpose the uplift Of humanity? Why
are the mill owners inJistCnt that
labor is a commodity to he bought and
sCld? why are the mill owners not
wiling To conccdc to the worker the
same right as they have. namely,
| getting together in an association?
All the above questions would be
SupCrfluouS il the human facto" was
! allowed to function as God ordained it
! should he doEC. 1t is my opinion that
much of the anim0sitics and hatrcds
arc cngcndcrcd by the workings and
manocuvrings of unprinciplCd lawyers.
! Those mon I'm many inst nrpC urn fail =