Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-09-08
BY DANIEL ]. ToBIN,
President. international Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stable
men and Helpers of America.

In my twenty years as a salaried
officer in the labor movement, | have
had many interesting and sometimes
rather perplexing experiences, and
were ] to relate my experiences with
employers in trying to save them
from themselves, by preventing
strikes, or tell how have been COM
PEELED TO handle some men in he
movement when knew they were
wrong, might be interesting reading
to the public, but ii would be only
the general, everyday work of the
head of an international organization.
One experience that | had during
a strike in Chicago, ! think, is worth
relating.
The teamsters had gone on strike;
traffic was tied up for days and in
dustry was practically paralyzed. The
strike, once started, spread like a
forest fire until nearly every business
house in Chicago was seriously af-
fected. No merchandise was being
moved in or out. Manufacturing
plants, in many instances, were par
alyzed for want of coal, railroad sta
tions were filled up with freight
which could not be distributed and a
general stagnation in business pre-
vailed. Only few express wagons
were running, and those, under police
protection. At that time strike break
ing agencies were at their height.
The managers of those agencies were
so clever and shrewd that they were
able to convince the employers in
Chicago that the strike could be
broken In few days by securing the
services of one of those strike break
ing agencies. The employers We're
carried away with the wonderful pic
lures painted by the heads of the
agencies, so an agency was engaged
to do the strike breaking.
For each man supplied by the
agency to do this work the employers
were charged IS. The men who went
on strike were receiving an average
Of about 1925 per day. The agency
did not pay to the strike breakers the
S5 which ii received from the en-
ployers. Ii paid the strike breakers
at he rate of So per day. The
agency also charged 81 a day for
each "guard" and paid the guard
S. per day. The agency could
procure but few white men to
work in that strike, so must Of the
strike breakers were colored men who
were recruited and brought in from
the Southern States. The teamsters
on strike were aggressive and ex-
citable, so it is almost impossible TO
| describe their feelings when they wit
messed those strike breakers on their
teams, and although advised by the
officers of the union to avoid violence,
those men, full Of strength, vigor and
/ energy, could not always control their
! feelings, so every now and then one
of the colored strike breakers was as
saulted or knocked off the wagon by
/ the strikers or some one who SYM
pathized with them.
While sitting at a table in one OF
the prominent hotels in the loop dis
/ trict one afternoon, note was
handed me by bell boy, which said.
"Mr. Tobin, a gentleman wants tc
see you" went out into the lobby
of the hotel and a splendid looking
! type of man, well dressed, clean, anc
from all outward appearances, edu-
Gated and intelligent, introduced him.
self to me, and 10 my surprise,
learned that he was the head Of the