The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-03-25
Union Labor Is Fair.


But there was principle laid down
which may be of guidance in industrial
disputes in the future and which has a
world of meaning to the business world
in America. 1t is simply that union la
Dor is not unwilling TO accept reductions
in wages, If there is no attempt at the
same time TO use. the economic situation
rs a means of breaking down the stand
ards which union labor acquired for it
self during the war.
The packers say they could have stood
a strike. The men naturally didn't want
to be thrown out of employment at this
time but they would have endured great
sacrifices, if the packers had insisted
upon abrogating the eight-hour day and
other advantages which have nothing TO
do with compensation, but which have
great deal to do with conditions of work
OF course, 1t cannot be said that per-
manent peace has been attained as be-
tween the packers and their employees. \
more accurate description of the settle
ment would be to call IL a six months
truce, but the psychological effect. of the
agreement today is the confident hope
that a recurrence of the controversy
may be handled later on in the same way
as II was this time.
Wage Reduction Accepted.
For the next six months. at any rate,
the employees accepted a reduction in pay
packers agreed not to make any further
wage reductions without submitting
them to arbitration.
The packers granted the eight-hour
day. which had previously been the
standard, and agreed to submit any
, tor, Judge Alschuler, who has been vir-
tually the dictator as between employees
and employers in the packing industry
since the war.
The Alschuler agreement, which be-
came effective in 1917, was to have ended
year after the proclamation of peace
between the United States and Germany.
The uncertainty about the date has
caused controversy, and while the pack
ers insisted the war was over union la
Dor thought that technically war con-
ditions remained. The truth of the mat
ter is, that labor wanted to retain the
advantages of the Alschuler agreement
and the packers wanted TO get rid of it..
Finally, the understanding was reached
10 continue the agreement for another six
months, after which it will be definitely
terminated and new agreement will
have to be written.
Disputants All Happy.
The controversy may break anew then
Still the men think they will be in a
better position at that time to insist upon
terms similar TO the Alschuler agreement
liuu IHby are Inc Fuckers nave
their own views on the subject Mean
while there is an industrial truce Both
sides are happy and expectant Presi-
dent Harding and his cabinet maintained
throughout the confidence of employees
and employers. Union labor had
chance to size up the Harding admins
tration in an industrial dispute and did
not find it so ''reactionary." after an.
Secretary of Labor Davis didn't APP
pear to have all the background neces-
Sary for an effective mediator in this
particular inquiry, but he showed a sym
pathetic understanding of the problems
of the workingman, while at the same
time he called upon Secretaries Hoover
and Wallace and experts who know the
packing business intimately to give him
advice.
Railroad Problem Next.
The administration next industrial
problem will probably be the railroad
controversy and there, too, ii is not so
much a question of high wages as labor
standards that the workingmen want
preserved. If any administration policy
can be CLEANED from the packer episode
it is that President Harding is anxious
to maintain equilibrium between capital
and labor by preventing employers from
taking too much advantage of the present
economic situation in their attempts
not only to reduce wages but to break up
union organizations and eliminate the
standards won by labor through years