Montana labor news., 1936-07-09
STEEL MILLS WILL
BE ORGANIZED
By HENRY ION
Federated Press

WASHlNGION.-(FP)-ln all the
history OF the United States and the
accompanying history OF American la
Dor there has been one industry in
which labor has been fought bitterly,
consistently and successfully. In the
great steel mills in which over half a
million men are employed the word
union" has been ordered stricken from
the workers vocabulary and all eff
forts to form unions in the industry
have been met with bullets and clubs.
When the American Federation OF
Labor was an infant, in 1892, workers in
the mills at Homestead, Pa, attempted
to u%nionize TO secure better wages,
shorter hours and improved working
conditions. Their demands were met
with whitening gunfire from Pinkerton
strikebreakers floated down the river
on a barge. The strike marked the rise
of the Pinkerton agency as one of the
leading strikebreakers in the country
and succeeded in quelling organization
efforts in the steel industry until 1919.
The year the World War ended do
nestle warfare broke out again in the
steel industry. Workers then faced
the giant United States Steel Corpora
ton, creation Of J. P. Morgan, father
OF the present J. P. Morgan, plus the
guns Of state police, company guards
and hired strikebreakers. Behind them
was the power Of the American Fedora
ton Of Labor, no longer an infant but
a booming organization riding the
swell Of high wartime wages to work
ers.
The second storming OF the citadel
of steel was also beaten back. Many
reasons are given for the failure Of the
second drive but, most important, it
was victory for the corporate masters
OF steel and defeat for labor.
Now another drive to u~nionize work
ers in the steel industry is under way.
All signs point to the most serious
struggle yet in the industry.
On one side is a $1,000, 100000 indus
try. Behind it are the masters of the
wealth Of the country. The House OF
Morgan with its almost limitless fl
nancial power sits in the generals tent
surrounded by the Melons, the Du
Points, and all the smaller fry OF in
dustry who look upon the steel indus
try as a bulwark against the fight for
union organization in the auto, cement,
oil and rubber industries.
Aiding the industry, indirectly but
nom the less effectively, are the federal
courts Of the United States. From the
Supreme Court to the smallest federal
judge they have co-operated by hold
ing that the giant steel industry is not
in interstate commerce and that the
federal government, through the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board, has no
power to protect the constitutional
rights Of the workers to organize into
independent unions.
Across the battlefield are Ten power
full unions. As organizers they have
men who know the steel industry and
who know the workers in the industry.
Treasures are not empty. Within
these ten unions is the will to organize.
Opponents Of John l. Lewis, chairman
Of the G. |. Q. and driving force in the
organization campaign, say it is lust for
personal power that spurs Lewis on.
Supporters of the c. /. o. contend it is
a genuine desire to see workers in basic
mass production industries organized
to secure higher wages and better
working conditions.
Whatever the reason the drive to
organize has begun and it will not stop
until the unconquerable citadel of steel
is stormed and captured or until the
ten storming unions confess themselves
beaten and retire.
Preliminary shots have already been
fired in the battle. Labor has com
pleted its plans for organization, has
sent its organizers to their posts, and
started the machinery that it hopes
will result in the enrolment OF thou
sands OF workers in the Amalgamated
Association Of Iron, Steel and Tin
Workers.
The steel industry, through its
American Iron and Steel Institute has
announced its defiance. Through the
mails thousands of pamphlets, entitled
"The Men Who Make Steel" have
been sent. These pamphlets intend to
prove that great freedom exists in the
steel industry and that the lowly pud-
dler has the chance to some day head
the U. S. Steel Corporation. Meetings
of company union representatives have
been called and warned that DETECTION
from the path Of company unionism
will be regarded as "disloyal' and will
be treated as such. In one Jones &
Laughlin plant, it is reported, 80 work.
ers have already been fired for union
activities.
The challenge has been hurled and
accepted. A battle has begun that
may take years. 1t is a battle in which
the future Of American labor is at