On October 31st, 1916, the attorney for the Union sent copies of the following letter to The Monumental Bronze Company: Gentlemen: October 31, 1916. As attorney for and on behalf of Local Union No. 110 International Moulders Union of North America, I desire to notify you that Mike Krug, who is now in your employ, did on September 21, 1916, enter into the employment of said Union and on said date signed a contract with said Union to work for it for a period of one year from the date thereof, namely, until September 21, 1917. By the terms of said contract, the said Mike Krug agreed to devote his exclusive time to the work for which he was employed by said Union and that during the period of the contract, he would not engage in any other employment whatever. By serving in your employ, he is violating this contract and you on your part, in inducing and permitting him to enter and continue in your employ, are violating the legal rights of said Union. For this invasion of the union's rights by you, you would be liable to the union in an action for damages. I therefore desire to say to you that if the Union's rights are further infringed by you in the matter stated, the Union will seek such redress as the law will permit. Respectfully yours, VINCENT L. KEATING. In connection with the complaint the Union asked for an injunction restraining the men from continuing in the employ of the Company, and restraining the Company from continuing to employ the men, and the defendants were ordered to show cause why such injunction should not be issued. This came on for hearing before the Hon. William L. Bennett a judge of the Superior Court on January 29th, 1917. W. B. Rubin of Milwaukee, the General Counsel for The International-Moulders Union appeared of counsel and made the argument in behalf of the Union. After a long argument Judge Bennett from the bench stated that he could not see where the plaintiffs were entitled to any injunctive relief and there the matter rests for the present. It seems as though the individual members of the union ought to realize that the strength of the law was being appealed to by the unions to force the members to obey the commands of the union officials irrespective of the wishes, desires, or opinions of the members. Counsel for the union admitted in the course of his argument that between 600 and 800 of these contracts had been secured in Bridgeport, it was further proven that the payments called for by the contracts were the same amount as had been allowed for strike benefits prior to the date of the contracts; the contracts themselves showed that they were nothing but printed forms; the defendants Krug and Sombody (the Company having no knowledge as to who the defendant Sakuc might be and he not appearing) went back to the employ of the Company voluntarily and at the time of the hearing were earning approximately $24.00 per week each. The purpose of the action then was to force these men to accept and live on the sum of seven dollars per week, until September 21, 1917, or until the union officials might determine the time had arrived when they would permit the men to return to work. If the action had been successful the union official would have been in the position of driving between six and eight hundred men out on the streets, prohibiting them from labor of any kind except as "solicitors for the union," forcing their wives and families as well as themselves to become dependent upon the charity of the city, for they could not exist upon the seven dollars a week "pay," and use the law to club the men into submission. The men were foreigners, unable to read English; the contracts were in English; at the time of the commencement of this avowedly test case, practically all of the six to eight hundred men had voluntarily returned to their employment and desired to remain in such employment; Anton Sombody and Mike Krug are fighting the union for the privilege of honestly working and supporting their families. Certainly, if the plaintiff could have prevailed, the slave conditions would have been worse than ever known in the history of this country; men anxious to work would have been forcibly deprived of employment; and all that the officials of the union could have their way irrespective of the wishes of the union. "Peaceful Picketing" Defined by Recent Court Decision Judge Killits, of the Federal District Court at Toledo, in Stephens vs. Ohio State Telephone Co., recently decided, answers the inquiry, "What constitutes peaceful picketing?" by asking the further question, "Would it be lawful if no strike existed?" He says: "It is a safe and proper generalization that any action having in it the element of intimidation or coercion, or abuse, physical or verbal, or of invasion of rights of privacy when not performed under sanctions of law by those lawfully empowered to enforce the law, is unlawful; every act, of speech, of gesture, or of conduct, which 'any fair-minded man' may reasonably judge to be intended to convey insult, threat or annoyance to another or to work assault or abuse upon him, is unlawful.” Further, "These propositions are so elemental that, but for the confusion which exists in many minds that a labor controversy affects the commonest rules of life, it would seem a waste of time to state them. The existence of a strike does not make that lawful which would otherwise be unlawful." Complete copies of the decision may be obtained from the Citizens' Industrial Association, 745 Spitzer Bldg., Toledo, Ohio, at $5.00 per hundred. Learn the best way to handle your labor CONVENTION of the National Metal Trades Association Hotel Astor, New York City, April 25-26, 1917 NATIONAL METAL TRADES ASSOCIATION Nineteenth Annual Convention NEW YORK All sessions will be held at Hotel Astor Monday, April 23d Monday evening, April 23d Dinner of Local Secretaries and Administrative Council Tuesday, April 24th Administrative Council Meeting Luncheon of Local Presidents, Secretaries and Administrative Council Tuesday evening, April 24th Wednesday, April 25th Wednesday afternoon, April 25th Wednesday evening, April 25th Convention Banquet Thursday, April 26th Closing session of Convention Table d'hote Luncheon The business sessions of the Convention will be of unusual interest owing to labor conditions during the past year. COMMENT The Nineteenth Annual Convention of the National Metal Trades Association will be held at Hotel Astor, New York City, Wednesday and Thursday, April 25th and 26th. The Association has just passed through the most eventful two years of its history and there will be many questions vitally affecting the interests of the members to be considered. Replies from the members since the convention call was issued indicate an unusually large attendance. There is a disagreement among the members of the Executive Board of the International Association of Machinists, says the latest bulletin of the National Metal Trades Association, and a minority report has been filed. The bulletin continues: "The split is the outgrowth of an attempt to recall General Secretary-Treasurer George Preston, although the reason given is the discharge of some eighteen general organizers. The minority report is signed by William H. Johnston, International President, Thomas J. Savage and C. T. Nicholson, General Executive Board members. Those members who are controlling the destinies of the organization at the present time are W. Ames, William Hannon, J. J. Keppler, and George Preston. The importance of this row is not minimized in the minority report; they say, 'As a matter of fact, all of the organizers dismissed were engaged in work of a most important character, most of which will have to be abandoned; and in many localities this means stagnation, if not absolute disaster to the Association . . . . . . Many of the organizers whose services will be discontinued March 1st have been on our staff for a number of years, and to throw them out of employment with less than two weeks' notice is, in our opinion, a reflection upon the fair name of the Association, which has always had the reputation of standing for a square deal. We resent such treatment by |