The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1945-01-18
THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS

NEXT TIME you hear somebody talk about the
good old days, ask him about wages. Ask him
about hours of work and conditions OF employ
ment The old days, when this nation was strug-
folks, but they certainly were not happy for people
who worked for their living.
For instance: back in 1871 the cordwainers
(shoemakers) organized in Philadelphia - just
four years after the Constitution of the United
States had been drafted in that city. Wages
ranged from so to rs cents day. The working
day from sunrise to sunset. There was no such
thing as overtime pay. Workers were locked on
the premises and were docked for even a few
minutes off. In some places they were not per-
mitted to speak while at work. There are records
that some employers required them to bring their
own fuel or work In cold room.
There were strikes, too. They called them
"turnouts." There were picket lines known as
"tramping committees" The employers had the
strikers arrested, the courts ruled that both
Unions and strikes were unlawful.
About this time the first Union leaders were
getting into trouble with the employers in Eng
land where the courts sent scores of Union MEM
bers to prison, at hard labor, for long terms. 1t
was crime to belong to Union in Britain; it was
a crime for two people to meet together for the
purpose of discussing the problem of getting
better wages.
In America, however, the Unions found a.
friend in Thomas Jefferson. Through the efforts
of Jefferson's friends, Union members, when
arrested for going on strike, given light SEN
tences. Public sentiment gradually broke down
the employers hold on the courts. 1t was not
until 1872 however, that the supreme court oil
Massachusetts ruled that both Unions and strikes
were lawful.
While this fight was going on in America, theI
British Unionists also were making gains. Theyl
finally gained practically the same rights that theI
employers had obtained many years before to or
ganize for their own protection and benefit
Union organization was slow in the early daySl
those good old days. 1t was dangerous to jOinI
a Union. Employers employed spies to report onI
Union activities; organizers were tarred and|
beaten, and often murdered.
There were times when it seemed the entire|
Labor movement would collapse; there were times
when it was badly led when it was betrayed. But,
though slowed to snals pace, it continued tol
move forward. With Union growth, public senti-
ment changed. 1t was discovered that employers
could work with Unions, that many Union leaders
were interested in the welfare of industry as well
as in the well-being of the working people.
Today even in the midst of a war for survival
free Union men and women cling tightly to theirl
Union organizations, knowing full well that there
in lies their future safety For there is still long
way to go before all employers are willing to meet
WITH TO negotiate with, and to bargain with
Unions Of their employees.
The Pacific Northwest is the brightest spot in
the country today Here we have a degree of
stability, of cooperation, of mutual understanding
and respect that was never dreamed of a few
short years ago. The good old days are gone
cts hope they're gone forever. = Washington
Teamster.