These 14 cities comprise about 45 per cent of the total union membership. Financial reports for 1911 were made by 675 trade union cartels. Their income amounted to $427,900, their expenditure to $381,000, and their cash balances to $196,600. Of the total expenditure, an amount of $73,600 was spent on assistance to strikers; $25,200 for organizing; $6,800 for elections of labor representatives; $36,300 for trade union houses and meeting rooms; $68,900 for legal advice bureaus; $22,200 for libraries, etc. During the ten-year period, 1902-1911, the trade union cartels expended about $1,000,000 for assistance of labor disputes. The work carried on by the trade union cartels is, and has ever been, of great benefit to the working classes of this country. The usefulness of these institutions of organized labor will grow as their field of activity extends and the means at their disposal increase. The trade union cartels as such are not represented by delegates in the conventions of the German Federation of Labor. Their local unions and membership are represented by the delegates from the German National Trade Unions. TH Trade Unionism in England. however, until after the strike is over. In the meantime all the steam tugs and lighters that are moving are manned only by masters, mates, and river policemen. Practical stagnation prevails in the port. [Exclusive correspondence of AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST.] LONDON, June 28, 1912. HE London transport workers' strike remained during June confined to the metropolis, a hastily hatched scheme to make it national having failed owing to lack of preliminary arrangement. In London, however, the docks have remained practically tied up with about 100,000 men idle the whole time. Diligent efforts were made by the shipping companies under the control of the Shipping Federation-perhaps the bitterest anti-union force in the United Kingdom-to import blacklegs into the dock area, but the measure of success was very small. Figures showed, on June 25, that about 10,000 men were working at the docks on the unloading of ships and the carting of goods away, and attempts were made to read in this a collapse of the strike. Nothing was further from the truth. Practically all the men working were brought at heavy expense from other parts of the country and they were almost without exception a lowdown lot of wasters. The amount of labor put out per man was very low, about three blacklegs doing one regular docker's work. Furthermore, they had to be pampered by the dock and shipping companies and, as is always the case with the breed, they took splendid advantage of that, working when they liked and how they liked. The foremen over these men at Tilbury eventually struck on June 25, finding it impossible to go on working with the material provided in this way. So much for "blackleg" labor. Attempts were further made by the Port of London Authority to get out of the very big trouble caused by the strike of the lightermen (the men who operate the wide open barges in the dock district). Every lighterman had struck and owing to an old charter, men could not be recruited for this work without infringing the lightermen's union's rights. These rights are a mediaval survival and have the incidental beauty of being a splendid anti-blackleg device. The Port of London Authority, however, is endeavoring to put into operation a by-law which will require parliamentary sanction enabling the employers to put to lighterman's work any capable man who has had three months' training. There is not the least chance of this receiving parliamentary sanction, The transport unions' funds became exhausted in most cases after the strike had prevailed about five weeks, but the pressure of want for the strikers' children was relieved to a very great extent by voluntary funds raised outside dockland. The strikers simply tightened their belts and went on fighting despite the overhanging shadow of starvation. The release from prison of Tom Mann, on June 23, inspired the strikers with fresh hope owing to the recollection of his successful leading of the transport strike last year. It will be remembered that this labor leader was convicted of an offense under an almost obsolete measure passed in 1797 called the Mutiny Act. He issued an appeal to soldiers not to fire on strikers in the case of industrial disputes and was made the victim of legal proceedings which were the first under this act for nearly a century. Agitation against his sentence induced the Government to shorten it and in the end his release, just when the transport workers of London required perhaps a little fresh encouragement, was opportune. Although the strike has not become national there is gradually being put into operation an arrangement whereby any ship diverted from London by the strike will be held up in any port to which it is sent. The first action of this kind occurred at Hull, on June 24, when the local dockers refused to unload a steamer which had been sent on from London. The railway men in many districts have been anxious to join the strike, but so far their unions have not authorized them. A very serious deadlock appears to be threatened in the British shipbuilding industry. The questions in dispute include the men's demands for a fortyeight-hour working week, the organization of the boilermakers' apprentices, a claim for certain wage increases, and the renewal of the old agreement now expiring. Most of the shipbuilding trades are in favor of a renewal of the old agreement with modifications, but the boilermakers and iron-ship builders desire something more. A meeting between the workmen and the Shipbuilders' Federation took place on June 19, at which the boilermakers' request for a 4 per cent advance in wages was refused. The employers also intimated that they were unable to alter the working hours. Upon some smaller points the employers gave way, but sufficient remains to threaten to precipitate a very important national conflict notwithstanding the existence of certain agreements. A shipbuilding strike would involve easily half a million men and gradually all the conciliation machinery is being exhausted. In the cotton trade a wages crisis has arisen. The cardroom operatives of Lancashire have decided not to take any action against individual mills in connection with the demands for increased wage, on the understanding that July 6 should be substituted for the end of July, as the date when, if a new wages list is not agreed upon, negotiations should cease. The employers appear to show some willingness to frame an acceptable list and are conferring with operatives, always in joint meeting. The last echoes of the London tailors' strike have now died away. The West End operatives returned to work at the beginning of June, but about 10,000 Jews in the East End of London remained out for three weeks longer. They were mainly engaged in the ladies' costume and mantlemaking trades. Their dispute lasted seven weeks and was originally declared as a sympathetic movement in connection with the West End strike. The men and women concerned in the strike have secured practically all their demands, which include a rise in prices, the employment of union labor only, a shorter working day, and the abolition of the dual system. The last is an important technical point which has been keenly contested for years. The strike has been exceedingly successful, so much so, in fact, that delegates from the workers' unions have called upon the individual employers and if the master tailor has not immediately conceded all the demands put forward he has had to pay each man in his shop $1.90 for every day that elapsed before he gave way. CONVENTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL UNIONS, 1912. July or August, National Association of Machine Printers and Color Mixers of the United States. August, Indianapolis, Ind., United Garment Workers of America. August 5, New York, N. Y., International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers. August 12-17, Cleveland, Ohio, International Typographical Union. August 19-24, Denver, Colo., International PhotoEngravers' Union of North America. August 26, Cleveland, Ohio, International Brotherhood of Roofers, Composition, Damp and Waterproof Workers of the United States and Can ada. August, Chicago, Ill., Brotherhood of Railroad Freight Handlers. September, Boston, Mass., United Association of Plumbers, Gasfitters, Steamfitters and Steamfitters' Helpers of United States and Canada. September 2-3-4, Salt Lake City, Utah, National Federation of Post-office Clerks. September 9, St. Louis, Mo., Coopers' International Union of North America. September 9, Blue Island, Ill., International Brick, Tile, and Terra Cotta Workers' Alli ance. September 9, St. Paul, Minn., International Union of Steam Engineers. Second week in September, Denver, Colo., International Union of the United Brewery Workmen. September 12, Boston, Mass., Spinners' International Union. September 13-14, New York City, Pocket Knife Blade Grinders and Finishers' National Union. September 16, Peoria, Ill., International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers. September 17, Washington, D. C., United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of Amer ica. September 30, Milwaukee, Wis., Operative Plasterers' International Association of the United States and Canada. October 7, Indianapolis, Ind., International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen, and Helpers of America. November 4, St. Louis, Mo., International Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes. November 11, Rochester, N. Y., American Federation of Labor. First week in December, New York City, International Alliance of Billposters and Billers of America. WHAT OUR ORGANIZERS ARE DOING. FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC. In this department is presented a comprehensive review of industrial conditions throughout the country. This includes: A statement by American Federation of Labor general and local organizers of labor conditions in their vicinity. Increases in wages, reduction of hours, or improved conditions gained without strikes. Work done for union labels. Unions organized during the last month. City ordinances or state laws passed favorable to labor. Strikes or lockouts; causes, results. A report of this sort is rather a formidable task when it is remembered that nearly 1,000 of the organizers are volunteers, doing the organizing work and writing their reports after the day's toil is finished in factory, mill, or mine. The matter herewith presented is valuable to all who take an intelligent interest in the industrial development of the country. It is accurate, varied, and comprehensive. The information comes from those familiar with the conditions of which they write. These organizers are themselves wage-workers. They participate in the struggles of the people for better conditions, help to win the victories, aid in securing legislation-in short, do the thousand and one things that go to round out the practical labor movement. Through an exchange of views in this department the wage-workers in various sections of the country and the manifold branches of trade are kept in close touch with each other. Taken in connection with the reports from secretaries of international unions, this department gives a luminous vision of industrial advancement throughout the country. FROM DISTRICT, STATE, AND LOCAL ORGANIZERS. ALABAMA. Condition of organized labor is one hundred per cent better than the unorganized. Union men are given the preference in most cases of employment. Paragould.-R. J. Hubbard and T. J. Cupp: Organized labor is progressing rapidly. The members generally feel encouraged with prospects. Many of the trades have secured the eighthour day with increased wages. Trades Council recently held open meeting, with large attendance. Employment steady. Any union card man can get employment in this city. Four new unions were organized recently. Nearly every trade is organized. Special effort is being made to organize the remaining laborers into the federal labor union. Federal labor union obtained the nine-hour day without strike. CALIFORNIA. Santa Barbara.-C. F. Edie: A building trades council has been organized since last report. Prospects are brighter than earlier in the season in so far as employment is concerned. The coast, however, is overrun with men and there are many idle. San Francisco.-John O. Walsh and Jas. A. Himmel: Organized labor holding its own. Bakers secured the eight-hour day and the use of the label through a well conducted strike. There is a State law which provides for the six workdays a week, and some of the Latin bake shop employers were fined for violation of this law, by working their men seven days a week. Work is uncertain and there are many men out of employment. State Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour law for women. Saw filers are organizing. San Mateo.-J. B. Falvey: Work is fairly steady, but not so good as we might wish. Carpenters have increased their membership very substantially. Expect to organize a union of laundry workers. Also have prospects of federal labor union and others. Stockton.-T. E. Zant: Organized labor making steady advance. About 95 per cent of all union men are steadily employed. Cooks and waiters unionized about eighteen establishments, including some of the very best in the city. Every butcher shop but one in the city is organized. Bakers have pretty nearly a hundred per cent organization. There is a splendid spirit of unionism abroad here. All the unions are making rapid strides. Plumbers secured $1 increase after eight days' strike. Painters obtained 50 cents per day advance without strike. Cereal mill workers, warehousemen, and pastemakers organized during the month. Atlanta.-Louie P. Marquardt: Practically all organized men at work. There is a demand for more men in some lines. The percentage of the unemployed among the unorganized is very large however. A campaign for a greater and better State Federation has been started and already most encouraging results are shown. The union labels are constantly agitated. Savannah.-Robt. Fechner: Working conditions are good, building trades active, and railroad trades steady. A $1,000,000 electric power plant and a half million dollar hotel are being constructed at this time by union labor. Electrical workers are about to organize. IDAHO. Twin Falls.-Fridolph Olsen: Organized labor in fair shape. Unorganized workers also in fairly good shape at present owing to the harvest which employs a large part of them. A federal labor union will be formed here shortly. ILLINOIS. Aurora.-C. B. Atkins: Most organized trades have increased wages. Conditions of union men are much superior to the unorganized, as the wages of the unorganized are very low. Three new unions are under way at this writing, and hope to report them organized next month. Chicago.-John L. Helm: Condition of organized labor is far superior to the condition of the unorganized. In a number of instances the unorganized workers have been advanced in wages, with the purpose of keeping them from organizing. Improved conditions have been secured by the unions through arbitration, but in some instances have had to strike. Du Quoin.-Geo. A. Pflauz: All trades here are pretty well organized. Miners obtained increased wages. Clerks are organizing. Herrin.-Hugh Wiilis and Abe Hicks: We have twenty-three locals affiliated with the central body. Team drivers, sheet metal and boot and shoe workers organized during the month. In fact, practically every trade in the city is organized. Theatrical stage employes are organizing. The contracts with the show managers provide for union house throughout, including the actors who appear. Miners have secured 5 per cent increase in wages. operations going on. All union labels are ad vertised and demanded. Indianapolis.-Geo. A. Nolte: Have unions of carmen under way at Brunswick, Md.; Butler, Pa., and Logan, Ohio. Condition of unorganized workers on some railroads are deplorable. Logansport.-Dora Smith: Organized trades are maintaining union wage standards and improved conditions, as well as sanitation of workshops and factories. It is regrettable that the same conditions can not be recorded of the non-union concerns, for while these people fare better because of union influence in this locality than they would were there no organizations here, yet they are still several degrees behind the union workers in the matter of wages and working conditions. We are continually trying to get the unorganized workers in line for better conditions. Plans are being discussed for extensive celebration of Labor Day this year. IOWA. Sioux City.-J. H. Strief: Conditions are good, particularly in the building trades. More building is going on in this city than for some years past. Carpenters secured increase of five cents per hour, and have doubled their membership this spring, having now about 400 members. Plumbers received increased wages as result of strike. KANSAS. Coffeyville.-H. J. Mohler: Work is not so plentiful now, as the glass plants have shut down. Brick and tile plants working full time. Labor is employed on city work such as paving, and on the work in connection with the big water plant, in course of erection. Carpenters and painters secured slight increase in wages. We have a union man as candidate for Governor. Lawrence.-Ben. M. Schooley: While wages remain about the same as last year, the eight-hour day has been secured in most trades. The merchants' association here concedes the union scale of wages. Work is not steady at this writing. |