The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-01-12
Local Union "A
Continued From Page One,

\SOlltlllueO from rOSe OISJ
labor troubles, mismanagement and
inability of directors to adapt pro-
duction to changing times.
Gradual collapse of the town fol-
lowed the closing. By 1888 homes
valued at $4,000 were being sold for
$500. Business places were being
boarded up and property sold for
taxes.
dead Town" Eyesore
The pottery, looted by thieves it's
windows smashed and it's machinery
ruined by rust, was the eyesore of a
"dead town."
Broke and possessing only the
clothes he had on his back, Reese ar
rived here in 1888 and sought a job
A former "jiggerman" he looked over
the pottery and became convinced he
could revive it.
With funds again raised by popular
subscription, he bought some used
machinery and enough clay to make
a start. Employees worked only with
the promise that they would be paid
if the reorganizing were successful.
On Capacity Output
Production proceeded slowly until
the plant was on 24-hour schedule
which it has maintained since. New
equipment was purchased and en-
ployes began drawing regular pay
checks.
Today practically all of the SOC
workers have bank account, own q
good automobile and the town has a
housing problem which has boosted
property values to new high.
The local unions letter, which ap.
peared in the Reviews Open Forum q
week later, is reprinted:
Sebring, Ohio.
January 2, 1889
Editor of Alliance Review:
At the last meeting of l.. U. Al, N
B. of o. P. committee was appointed
to draft letter to your paper and ask
that it be printed in your open forum
In your issue of Dec. "a, 1888, was
a news item concerning the success
of the Scio-Ohio Pottery Co. and its
distribution of $4,000 bonus to its
500 employees, which amounts tc
about 81 week per employe for a
one-year period. This news item was
of course, widely read by all pottery
workers; much interest being taken in
it due to the fact that the Scio-Ohio
Company does not recognize or bar
gain collectively with the National
Brotherhood of Operative Potters, the
labor union of the industry, nor are
they members of the United States
Potters Association, the organization
many of us know and have worked
with Lou Reese, the head of the con-
cern, whose education in the pottery
industry was partially gained at con-
ventions of the Union and conferences
with the L. S. p. A. as a union dele
gate. j., sev.
Now, the size of the bonus, given
when taken as whole seems like a
lot of money, but when you take into
consideration the difference in the
wages paid per hour and per dozen at
the Scio-O Ohio Pottery Co, with that
paid in every other pottery in Ohio
the bonus fell far short of giving en-
ployes the wages they earned accord
ing to union standards.
In regard to the statement that la
Dor trouble contributed to the failure
of the old Scio company; TO oar knowl-
edge there never was any labor
trouble in that plant. SO, the failure
of the plant to operate successfully
cannot be laid at the door of the Matt.
onal Brotherhood of Operative Pot
ters, whose organization is recognized
by educators, union leaders and indus
trialists, as the most democratic in the
country and is working example OF
the soundness and safety of collective
bargaining.
When the Sebring Brothers and
their sons established our town with
the pottery industry, they paid the
union scale, recognized the n. Il. of
o. p. as the bargaining agency and
did not have to resort to any Santa
Claus acts. The same can be said of
Green, Weaver and Albright of the
Gem City Forming Co., also pioneers
in Sebring and those who came later;
The Royal China Co., The French
Saxon China Co., Strong Manufacture
ing Co., their workers are all mem
bers of organized labor being paid the
wages stipulated by collective bar
gaining.
(Signed)
f. NJ. HOWELL,
President, Local Al, n. b. o. p.