Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-27

stopphEFs uuTlnk tnt iaN' ''S"'
months Of 1910. Most of these
stoppages also fitted into the
unions effort TO intimidate nom
unionists. Thus. on May 3. 1910.
stoppage resulted when a
unIonist refused 10 work along
side a non-union welder. On May
IS the entire union refused To
work overtime unless non-union
employees were barred from
overtime work and extra pay.
On July ? the tractor toOlroom
was shut down by unionists be-
cause one man refused to Join
the local. The tractor shop was
shut down for the same reason
on August l5.-On August u
work stopped In No. ! foundry
because n Negro union member
had not paid his dues. There
were three stoppages In October
because the company refused to
discharge one non-unionist. In
December an entire shop shift
had 10 he sent home and the
shop closed because ClO men,
hers downed tools In protest
against the presence of an ALL
workman.
Having thus achieved the
necessary discipline and set the
stage, the unions leaders de-
cided, late In December, that the
time was ripe for strike. Since
there was no issue to strike
about, they faxed one.
1.-TWO employes--Imp and Bo-
hachef by name-had stubbornly
refused to Join the union. As
they were about to leave the
pIant I'm An automobile on the
night of December Is they were
set upon by n crowd OF CIOers.
They managed to get their car
moving, break through and es-
cape. Alleging that they had de-
liberately attempted to run
down a unionist, the officials Of
Local 248 demanded their dis
charge and instituted criminal
proceedings. The two men were
laid off pending an investigation
nv the company, the police court
and. unofficially. the u. s. Con-
ciliation Service. The investiga-
ton blew up In the unions face.
Undismayed. its Officers declared
that in order to prevent blood
she'd a strike would he called II
Imp and Bohachef were allowed
to go back TO work.
"Narned ny L. s. labor con-
ciliator against a strike In so
crucial n plant on so dubious an
issue. the unions leaders made
quick shift and repudiated its
negotiated contract with the
company. When this contract
was drawn up, In 1910. these
same unionists had hailed II as
one of the best agreements OF
It's kind In the country for
plant Of this size So eager were
they for shutdown that this
about-face Reputation was made
three months ahead Of the con-
tracts expiration.
For Its new contract the
union demanded closed shop
and wage increase because Of
the rising cost Of living Data
from the L. =. Bureau Of Labor
Statistics indicated that for the
first three quarters Of 1910, Nv
Ing costs were two percent below
those Of 1887. Meanwhile, since
1887, the earnings Of Aliis-Chal-
mers employes-eNcluding the
greatly increased extra pay over
tlme--had gone up an average OF
four cents an hour.
"NOnethelesS the company, APP
pealing 10 the union leadership
TO keep the defense wheels turn
Ing, proposed that the questions
at issue he left 10 an impartial
referee. The union refused.
ION January - II conducted
a strike vote. Boss of the ballot
ing was unionist Joe Schneider.
According To his one-time asso-
ciateS. Schneider worked for the
Communists under the party
name ~ Jimmy Randall and
was n member Of the COON squad.
With no outside supervision. ne
had the ballots printed, distrib-
uted them and managed the
count. His totals were 1888 for
striking. 1853 against. The strike
was called the next day.
Experts hired by the com