Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1923-04-27
RIGHT TO STRIKE;
ITS IMPORTANCE
BY SAMUEL. GOMPERs.
President. American Federation of Labor.

The strike Is the social and eeono-
mic safety valve of industry. Without
il We should have explosions and reyo-
buttons threatening the destruction Of
our social order. That Is one Of the
reasons why labor opposes efforts to
hang a legislative monkey wrench on
the Safety valve Of industrial organ
ization in the United States. Il op-
poses anti-stfike laws because the re-
tention by labor of the right and the
power to strike insures a larger meas
ure of industrial peace In the long
run.
Governmental interference with
business is not popular with the
American people. Labor's stand on
this question Is expressed clearly in
the annual report of the Executive
Council to the Denver Convention Of
the American Federation Of Labor,
November 8, 1908, as follows:
Our movement has not asked
and will not ask at the hands
of government anything which
the workers can and should do
for themselves. The movement
of labor is founded upon the
principle that that which we do
for ourselves, individually and
collectively, is done best. 1t is
therefore that the exercise by
the workers of the economic
power is, after all, the greatest
and most potent power which
they can WELD.
The possession of great eco
nomic power does not imply its
abuse, but rather its right use.
Consciousness and possession of
economic power bring with them
responsibility, wisdom, and care
in its exercise. These have made
the labor movement of our eoun-
try tower of strength inspiring
the confidence and respect of the
masses of cur workers, as we'll
as the sympathetic support of
students, thinkers, and all liber-
ty-loving people.
This declaration applies to the use
of the strike power. This power will
not be relinquished. The good its use
has done for humanity far outweighs
any of the temporary inconvenience
suffered because of it. 1t seems the
course of wisdom for all of us to de-
vote our energies to prevent through
education the necessity for its use.
The greatest cause of industrial UNI
rest and the most prolific source of
development of class antagonism is
the campaign of certain reactionary
groups to destroy labor unions by
taking away the weapon of the strike.
Here are a few reasons why labor
opposes anti-strike legislation:
|. Anti-strike legislation is a step
backward in social progress. Before
the Declaration of Independence,
strikes were always prohibited. Anti
strike laws were part of the old or
der of kings and of slavery.
2. Anti-strike laws would deprive
humanity of the weapon with which
it has won its most important victor
les. No industry has ever reduced
hours of labor, or raised wares, until
compelled to do so by the organized
power of the wage earners and the
consequent power to strike. Because
the workmen in the United States
have had a means Of realizing their
ambition to improve conditions, be
cause they have been able to make
of their discomfort a creative force
for their own benefit, the wealth of
the United States, both individual
and aggregate, exceeds that of any
other country in the world. As a re-
suit, we have an organization of pro-
duction in the United States, instead
of an organization of destruction. A
parallel with China suggests itself,
because there labor is not organized.
Capital does not derive any benefit be-
cause Of the few cents day wage
that prevails, and the human instinct
for organization and personal adj
vancement expresses itself only in the
organization of robber bands. The
countries that abound in revolutions
will always be found to be least eff
cient in the organization of labor.
3. Anti-strike laws are not neces-
sary as a means of settling industrial
disputes. Strikes have been settled
and will continue to be settled with