CHAPTER IV.

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

This chapter contains statistics of strikes and lockouts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, compiled from official reports of these countries. In most cases the countries mentioned issue annual reports on strikes and lockouts, but there are some which give merely brief annual summaries in their monthly bulletins, and others which compile and publish data at longer and irregular intervals. In addition to the countries mentioned, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Russia, and Switzerland have published strike and lockout statistics which were not in such form as to be conveniently used in the present compilation.

The Austrian Government has been collecting statistics of labor disputes since 1891. The reports for the years 1891 and 1892 were published by the Government, (a) but not for general distribution. The figures for these years presented in this chapter were obtained from Volume XI of the Foreign Reports of the British Royal Commission, the original publications not being available. The report for 1893 was published in the form of a supplement to the monthly statistical bulletin in the bureau of statistics of the Austrian ministry of commerce. () The report for 1894 was the first that appeared in the form. of a regular annual report of the bureau of statistics of Austria, (c) a decree of the imperial ministry of commerce dated December 7, 1893, requiring the publication annually of such statistics. In 1898 a bureau of labor statistics was created in Austria by imperial decree, and the work of collecting and publishing strike and lockout statistics was transferred to this bureau. The report for 1897, (d) published in 1899, was the first to appear under this new régime. The reports for a Zusammenstellung der in den Jahren 1891 und 1892 stattgefundenen Arbeitseinstellungen im Gewerbebetriebe.

b Beilage der statistischen Monatschrift, 1894. Herausgegeben vom Statistischen Departement im Handelsministerium.

c Die Arbeitseinstellungen im Gewerbebetriebe in Oesterreich während des Jahres 1894. Herausgegeben vom Statistischen Departement im k. k. Handelsministerium. d Die Arbeitseinstellungen und Ausperrungen im Gewerbebetriebe in Oesterreich während des Jahres 1897. Herausgegeben vom k. k. arbeitsstatistischen Amte im Handelsministerium.

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the years 1891 to 1897, inclusive, ao not cover aisputes in the mining industry, but since 1898 this industry has been included, and the report for that year contains the detailed statistics of strikes and lockouts in the mining industry for the years 1894 to 1898, and a summary of all strikes and lockouts for these years, with the statistics of mine disputes included. The strikes and lockouts in the agricultural and forestry industries are not included.

At the present time the data relating to strikes and lockouts are collected by the bureau of labor statistics under authority of the decree of February 22, 1899, of the ministry of commerce, and of the decree of April 6, 1899, of the ministry of agriculture (which has jurisdiction over mineral lands). The administrative officials of the local governments are directed to fill out a schedule blank for each establishment, unless the strike or lockout affects only small establishments in the same administrative district, when one schedule may be used for all the establishments in dispute. The material is then sent directly to the bureau of labor statistics, where an examination of the statements is made in regard to completeness, consistency, etc. In order to discover strikes that may have been overlooked by the local officials, and to secure the greatest possible measure of accuracy and completeness, newspapers published by workingmen, reports of organizations, and other publications are consulted, and the strike and lockout material is submitted for verification to the factory inspectors under whose supervision the establishments involved are placed. A strike or lockout to be included in the Austrian reports must involve at least ten persons. In order to present definite information on the subject, the schedule of inquiry calls for full statements regarding the hours of labor, the rates of wages, and the weekly earnings of the persons in the various occupations affected by the strike or lockout, even if the question of hours or wages is not involved in the dispute. In view of the difficulty of presenting the various phases of labor disputes in tabular form, the reports give a summarized account of each dispute. This feature is probably carried to a greater extent in the Austrian reports than in the reports of other countries, and is supplemented by the reproduction of important documents, such as the minutes of arbitration committees, proclamations of either party, formal demands upon each other, etc.

At the request of the labor organizations, special attention has been given to reporting unlawful acts which have occurred during the disputes, for the purpose of showing the effectiveness of the control of the workmen's organizations. The facts reported include statements regarding the violation of labor contracts, attacks upon persons or property, etc. An effort is also made to show the extent to which strikes have been managed by labor organizations, the amount of

As now published, the Austrian reports on strikes and lockouts contain a series of six tables, showing: Strikes for the current year according to geographical distribution; strikes according to industries; a general summary of strikes; comparative summary of strikes for a series of years beginning with 1896; details for each individual strike during the current year, and details for each individual lockout. The tables are preceded by an explanatory and descriptive analysis, with charts showing fluctuations. Appendixes contain brief reviews of industrial and labor conditions, statistics of trade unions, and notes relating to the strikes and lockouts reported.

The statistics relate to the Crown lands represented in the Imperial Austrian Parliament, namely, Bohemia, Bukowina, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Küstenland, Moravia, Styria, Galicia, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Silesia, Carinthia, Salzburg, Carniola, and Dalmatia.

In Belgium, statistics of strikes have been collected and published monthly by the Belgian bureau of labor since January, 1896, in accordance with the law of April 12, 1895, which created this bureau and which requires the publication of this information. The collection of the statistics of strikes and lockouts is regulated by a ministerial circular of November 22, 1895, which requires that whenever a strike or lockout occurs, the bureau of labor is to be notified immediately by the heads of the communes. These officials must send a statement of the name and business of the establishment, the number of strikers, and their demands. The labor office then sends copies of the schedule of inquiries to the communal officials, who at the close of the strike must fill out one schedule for each establishment involved. The usual methods of verifying the data in the schedules and securing information as to strikes not reported by the officials, by making use of labor journals, reports of correspondence, etc., are followed. If necessary, agents of the bureau are sent to the scene of the strike for the purpose of gathering information. The "correspondents" of the bureau, who are agents permanently located at the large industrial centers, are made use of in securing data regarding strikes possessing unusual features. When the schedules reach the bureau of labor, they are combined in making up the reports of the general, or "group" strikes, as the strikes in which more than one establishment is involved are designated. In this manner the central office exercises complete control over the classification of the disputes into general or single strikes.

The official definition of a strike reads: "The cessation of work by several workmen at the same time, with the clearly defined purpose of imposing certain requirements on the proprietor or directors of the establishment." A lockout occurs when "the proprietors or directors of an establishment dismiss their workmen and decide not

defined requirements." These definitions would not include sympathetic strikes or lockouts, but, because of the importance of this class of disputes, they are included in the Belgian statistics.

In 1903 the Belgian labor bureau published a compilation of statistics of strikes and lockouts covering the years 1896 to 1900, () consisting of an analysis, details in tabular form for each strike, and summary tables showing the results of strikes and lockouts by industries, by causes, and by methods of settlement; the duration by causes; and the monthly distribution by industries. This report, together with annual summaries which appeared in the monthly Revue du Travail of that office since 1901, constitutes the source from which the Belgian statistics in the present report have been obtained. These statistics cover the years 1896 to 1904. In 1907 a summary of strikes and lockouts of the year 1906 was published, but as no such summary for 1905 was given in any of the bulletins or other publications of the Belgian labor bureau the data for 1905 and 1906 have been omitted from the present compilation.

Canada has published strike and lockout reports since October, 1900, in the monthly Labor Gazette issued by the Canadian department of labor. These consist of brief descriptive accounts of individual trade disputes in text and tabular form and annual summaries with comparative statements of strikes and lockouts of each year since 1901. The annual summaries have been mostly used in the present report, which covers strikes and lockouts in Canada during the years 1901 to 1905.

In Denmark statistics of strikes and lockouts have been collected since the beginning of the year 1897, in compliance with a law passed December 16, 1895. The information relates to all strikes and lockouts resulting in a suspension of work and is obtained by means of schedules of inquiry sent to the employees and employers concerned, and returned by them. The statistics have been published in brief form each year in the statistical yearbook of Denmark. In 1901 the data for the three years 1897, 1898, and 1899 were published collectively in a more detailed form in a report of the Danish statistical bureau.() This report contains an analysis and summary of the strikes and lockouts, copies of the schedules of inquiry, and details of each individual strike and lockout occurring in 1897, 1898, and 1899. The principal facts shown are the number, time, duration, causes, and results of strikes and lockouts, the number and location of establishments involved, the number and occupations of persons affected, wage loss, assistance received, and cases of arbitration. In the present compilation the data for the years 1897 to 1905

a Statistique des Grèves en Belgique 1896-1900, Office du Travail.

b Strejker og Lock'outs i Danmark 1897-1899. Statistiske Meddelelser, fjerde