Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-04-29

cause the proceedings had nothing TO
do With the noa-uniCn branch OF the
printing industry. But il is the
OPEN shop branch that has raised
the objection TO the adoption OF the
forty.fonr-hour week on May /, 1921,
ana Mr. Paris and his associates are
trying to hide behind this similarity
Of names aad sneaa out OF an agree
ment made in open meeting by their
accredited representatives.
This Is how they twist the figures:
Paris SAYS that representatives Of
only 10 percent OF employing printers
signed the agreement There are all
told 100000 printers in the United
States, so, 900 Of these are in the union,
the rest are non-union. made up very
largely from printers in small towns,
like Mahomet, St Joseph, etc. There
fore. 10000 printers are not involved
in any way, and $4,000 of the re-
manning 10000 are newspaper print
ers and are not to be considered.
Therefore, the employers of $4,000
are in any way connected with the
forty-fourhour week. The greater
percent of these employers are men,
bers of the closed-shop branch of the
United Typothetae. and representa-
tiyes of these employers are the ones
who agreed to the forty-four hour
week which the small Try among them
wish TO repudiate.
Mr. Paris, at one time staunch
member of the Typographical Union,
was one OF that organizations hard
est workers for the eight-hour day, the
fight for which was waged and won
on just the same principles that the
fight for the forty fourhour week Is
being conducted at the present time
THAT THE PRINTER NIGHT ADD
A FEW MORE YEARS TO HIS LIFE.
The public should understand thor
oughly that the job printers are not
asking for any more money. Money
does not enter into the present de-
mands Their fight is based upon
their right to as many years of life
as the rest of humanity, which Is 62
years. Printers now live SO years.
When the Typographical Union was
organized, printers worked IL hours
a day and lived 2S years on the aver
age. Had the union not been formed,
the chances are printers would still
be working II hours day and living
% years. An illustration of this Is in
the steel industry, which has never
been organized, and in which the EN-
ployes work TWELVE HOURS A
DAY AND SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
BY constant fighting with their EN-
ployers for shorter hours and better
working conditions, the printers have
added % years to their lives, but 1t
has always been fought for. At no
time have they been given an added
lease of life except at the cost of
urgent demands backed up by the
strike order, il that order was neces
sary. Not one little iota of the i'm
proved conditions. increased pay,
shorter hours obtaining today has
been gained by the voluntary gift of
the employers.
The printer Is in this fight for more
LIFE. The Master is in this fight
for more PROFIT.
Printers do not ask the forty-four-
Ito work less hours. II is because con
ditions in the printing industry are
such that printers age more rapidly
and die at younger ages than do the
rest of the people. Ii is a condition
that must be entirely overcome some
day, although the forty-fourhour week
will give to the printer only about
four and one.half years of the nine
years due him. This condition must
be reetified. The public must un
derstand that the printers life is just
as dear to him as are the lives of
the merchant or the manufacturer.
The public must understand that just
as long as the printer or any other
man has one hours life coming to him
that added life is worth fighting for,
and business must understand that 1t
is morally responsible to certain
degree for the high mortality among
the printers through the everlasting
haggling of SOME buyers of printing
over what he terms an exorbitant
price. Ii must be understood that II
conditions are not such in the print
ing trade that the printer may obtain
the maximum of life, then they should
be MADE right, and il Is the duty OF
the buyer of printing, seller OF print
ing and maker of printing to get
together and devise means whereby
each will receive square deal. in
stead of being at swords points over
condition that the masters claim
would be business suicide to accede
to- and which has been proven would
be HUMAN SUICIDE for the printer
ii not aceeded to.
This condition is we'll known to the
employing printers. They KNOW the
forty-four.hour week will add more
life to the printer. but FEAR of los
ing little PROFIT prompts them
to place PROFIT above HUMAN
LIFE. The employer should join