The labor advocate., October 09, 1915, Image 1

About The labor advocate. (Providence, R.I.) 1912-1915

Image provided by: Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project

                
8 HOURS
L\
.:'—._._—_.-\\'\s@\("\&:;—:‘
VOL. 4, N 0.2. & ..ATION NO. 158.
JEWELRY WORKERS
ORGANIZING IN PREPARATION FOR VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN FOR
EIGHT HOURS
JEWELERS ARE
ENTHUSIASTIG
FOR UNION
The organization of the jewelry
workers of Providertce has started
off with a rush. Theé movement
has spread throughout the entire
city and in every shop the mass
meeting of last Sunday is the prin
cipal topic of conversation. The
attempt of the head of the Lyons
Manufacturing Company to throt
tle the movement by discharging
one of the leaders has stirred .the
workers as no other event in the
history of the industry has stirred
them, and they are determined to
have an organization of jewelry
workers strong enough to prevent
Mr. Lyons or others of his class
from ever again attempting such a
trick. ¥ :
The hall at 35 Westminster
street was filled to its utmost ca
pacity last Sunday afternoon, rep
resentatives from all the larger
shops and many of the smaller
ones being present. The large as
semblage listened with marked in
terest to the speakers who urged
them to organize so that they might
be in a position to demand better
working conditions of the employ+
ers. The speakers included Robert
Hunt, Simon Cohn and James P.
Reid.
It was voted to hold another
meeting in the same hall on Wed
nesday evening of this week.
The meeting on Wednesday evening of
this week was well attended and a large
number of those present signified their
intention of joining the union and signed
application blanks. Robert Hunt acted
as chairman, and the speakers included
Cal Wyatt, General Organizer of the
American Federation of Labor; Organ
izer Murphy of the Moulders’ Interna
tional Union; Chairman Stevenson of the
' organizing committee of the Providenee
Central Federated Union; President
Kranz and Secretary Burke of the
Jewelry Workers’ Union.
Another open meeting will be held on
Tuesday evening of next week at 35
Westminster street, to which all jewelry
workers are cordially invited.
ENTIRE GENERAL
ELECTRIC PLANT
IS AFFECTED
Schenectady, N. Y.—Virtually
the entire plant of the General
Electric Company was tied up to
day as a result of the strike for
an 8-hour day which began yes
terday. Two hundred pattern
makers, members of the only
craft working independent of an
other, who remained at work yes
terday, walked out shortly after
8 o'clock this morning.
Only a few molders and core
makers, whose unions did not join
in the strike yesterday, reported
for work this morning. It would
have been impossible for ejther
molders or core makers to work
more than a day or two longer
without the aid of other crafts
in the shop.
The strikers planned to hold a
big mass meeting in one of the
city parks to-day. International
offiycers of the wvarious crafts
were reported to be on their way
here. J. J. Keppler, Vice-Presi
dent of the International Ma
chinists of America, is actively
directing the strike. His men
were the first to walk out yester-
day. .
gchenectady merchants say
they are losing $30,000 a day by
the strike.
TEE LABOR ADVOCATE
TAFT-PEIRCE STRIKERS AT BRIDGEPORT
Some of the Men Who Are Fighting the Taft-Peirce Mfg. Co. with the Long-range Gun, the “Almighty Dollar.”
Since the walkout at the Taft-Peirce Mfg. Co.’s plant in Woon
socket on Thursday, Aug. 12, 1915, over 450 of the most skilled em
ployees have left town.
The above group comprises only a few of those who are now in
Bridgeport, over 300 of them having found employment in the various
Bridgeport “eight-hour shops” at a higher rate of pay than they would
have received at Taft-Peirce Co.’s had their request for a 25 per cent.
increase been granted. Taft-Peirce employees are in demand, for few
shops employ as large a body of first-class men as the Taft-Peirce Co.
formerly did. '
Through loss of them, not only has the Taft-Peirce Co. lost many
profitable contracts with concerns they have been trying for years to
number among their customers, but the few who are having work done
there will undoubtedly place it elsewhere in the future because of the
excessive costs, the “unskilled labor” not being able to do things expe-
LATEST 8 HOUR VICTORIES
Other employers watching the
list of 8-hour shops growing are
learning their lesson and in con
sequence the list is growing with
increasing rapidity.
Springfield, Mass.
Westinghouse Company grant
ed the 8-hour day for 1,800 ma
chinists.
The first shop to give in was
the Bosch Magneto Co., with 700
machinists and 290 girls.
The Bausch Machine Tool Co.,
with 250 machinists have an
nounced their willingness to
grant the 8-hour day the begin
ning of October.
The Hendie Motorcycle Co.
changed from 55 to 50 hours, but
the committee insisted on the 8-
hour day, which has been grant
ed to the 1,800 employes, 900 of
which are machinists or Special
ists.
National Equipment Co. gave
in to the 8-hour day after a two
days’ strike, when they found
that the 200 machinists were or
ganized.
Package Machine Co. followed
suit with 140 machinists; eight
hours and time and one-half for
overtime.
Gilbert & Barker, with 400 em
ployes, of whom 110 are machin
ists, granted eight hours.
E. S. Stacy Machine Co. were
granted a straight 8-hour day
Oct. Ist. Wage rates were ad
justed to maintain the present
scale.
The United States Envelope
Co., Powers Paper Co. and the
Birnie Paper Co. also granted the
8-hour day thereby averting
strikes in those plants. This ac
tion by .he Envelope Company
effects its plants, not only in
Springfield, but also in Wor
cester, Holyoke, Hartford, Rock
ville, Conn., Cincinnati and Wau
keegan, 111. Day and piece work
will be adjusted so that there
will be no decrease in the weekly
wage. LT
Schenectady, N. Y.
On Oct. 4, virtually all of the
10,000 unionized employes of the
General Electric Co., except
the blacksmiths, coremakers and
moulders, struck for the 8-hour
day. Machinists led the walkout
which continued thruout the
day. Recent events tend to show
that these employes will get all
they demand without much de
lay, as the company has been ex
pecting a strike f}c;r some time
and has not fought as it would if
it were opposed. .
Pittsburgh, Pa,
A general walkout is expected
most any day at the Westing
house Eyiectric and Mfg. Co.
where over 10,000 men are em
ploved. -
The demand of the employes
are for an 8-hour day, 20 per
cent. increase in wages and re
instatement of all men discfimi
nated against.
President E. M. Herr agreed
to an 8-hour day at same daily
wage, amounting to 10 per cent.
raise. Seven thousand of the em
ployes met in mass meeting and
decided to vote whether or not
to accept the offer or strike un
'ess all demands are granted.
Meriden, Conn.
About 3,000 silver and cut-glass
workers employed in the five fac
tories of the International Silver
Co. walked out Oct. 4, because the
Jirm had not reconsidered its re
fusal to grant the demands of the
employes. In addition the em
nloves of Manning Bowman Co.,
makers of tableware and special
ties. also struck.
The metal workers demand an
8-hour day, increase in wages and
changes in shop conditions, The
cut-glass workers ask for a nine-
Continued on Page 4
PROVIDENCE, R. L., OCTOBER 9, 1915.
diently and the enormous charges for the spoilt work that is being
turned out daily.
The men in Bridgeport having formed an auxiliary lodge, they
are continuing to pay due into the Woonsocket Lodge, No. 199, so as
to continue the Local until some of them return to work the eight-hour
day in the Taft-Peirce Co.'s works.
Not only are the bers paying dues into Woonsocket, but they
have voluntarily asses;q‘themsdves one dollar a week so as to main
tain a fighting organization in Woonsocket ; and, to make sure that
Lodge 199 will not lack funds to fight the Taft-Peirce Co. or its agents
in the law courts, they chose a committee, Sunday, Oct. 3, to arrange
details for a dance, the proceeds of which will furnish the sinews of
war. Thanks to men like these, the “eight-hour day” will before long
become an accomplished fact throughout these United States.
METAL TRADES STRIKE EXTENDS
10 BUILDERS IRON FOUNDRY
The third week of the strike at
Brown & Sharpe’s finds the strik
ers more determined than ever
and really in a stronger position
than at the beginning of the sirike.
Sufficient time has elapsed to test
the calibre of the men who came
out and now that it is known who
the weaker ones are the rest of
the men are in a position to wage
a fight to a successful finish.
The threat of the strike leaders
to extend the strike materialized
on Tuesday, when the men at the
Builders Iron Foundry were callea
out. The moulders and core-mak
ers were not included in the first
call, but with the addition of these
workers it is stated that about 9o
per cent, of the force will be on
strike.
The attempt of the daily press to
create the impression that organized
labor was not a unit in support of
the strike was fully exploded at
the meeting of the Central Feder
ated Union on Sunday evening,
when resolutions were adopted
unanimously calling upon all affili
ated unions to give their moral and
financial support to the strikers.
These resolutions were passed
without a dissenting voice and a
committee was appointed to carry
the resolutions into effect.
The strike leaders are absolute
ly confident of the usccessful out
come of the eight-hour movement.
They can see nothing but victory
for the men and now that there is
abundant assurance of financial
support, there is no reason to ex
pect that any of the strikers will
return.
Mr. Viall's talk of filling the
strikers’ places is of course an
empty boast—just a bluff and one
that will have absolutely no weight
with anyone who knows anything
about the conditions existing in
the metal trades. If it were possi
ble for the Brown & Sharpe Com
pany to procure strikebreakers they
would have made their appearance
at the plant long ago. For the first
time in a great many years the de
mand for machinists is greater
than the supply, and there are
more jobs than there are men to
fill them. Surely no man of com
mon sense will claim that machin
ists will be willing to act as strike
breakers when it is easy for them
to get a job at eight hours and
union wages, and with the clear
conscience that comes to one who
is loyal to his fellow workers.
The few men who have gone
back have taken no one's job but
their own. The men who are out
can rest assured that their places
have not been filled and cannot be
filled until they themselves go back
—and keeping this fact in mind
they are not likely to go back until
they go back to eight hours.
Previous to the strike the
efficiency system at Brown &
Sharpe’s was one of the wonders
of modern industry, but this
efficiency system received an awful
pump two weeks ago last Monday.
[Even granting that it was possible
for the company to get enough
men to run the plant—and there
isn't the slightest chance that they
ever will get the men until they
accede to the demands of the
union—it would take months and
months to get the system running
with the smoothness that prevailed
before the strike.
BLACKLIST USED BY
JEWELRY FIRMS TO
FRIGHTEN WORKERS
The talk of organization amoug
the jewelry workers of Providence
has got the proprietors thoroughly
frightened and they are about
ready to resort to any methods to
through with their plans,
This was very plainly demon
strated last week by the action of
the head of the Lyons Manufac
turing Co. Mr. Lyons doesn't
want any union men or women in
his shop,*no more than do the
other manufacturing jewelers, for
the very simple reason that union
ism means better wages, shorter
hours and more desirable working
conditions, and all these things|
mean less profits for Mr. Lyons,
Quite naturally he prefers to hav‘
them unorganized, for then they
are entirely at his mercy and he
can force them to work at what
ever terms he sees fit. Mr. Lyons
has been an expert in the art of
slashing wages and so often has he
cut down the pay of the men and
women in his employ that it is
next to impossible to get any
thing like a living wage in his
‘shop.
So it is like waving a ré&d flag m
the face of a bull when Mr. Lyons
arrived at the shop last week and
found an advertisement posted up
announcing a mass meeting of the
jewelry workers to organize for
8 hours. And as if this were no
enough, the notice was actually
signed by cne of his own em
ployes, Simon Cohn, as chairman
of the committee, the publication
of his name being insisted on be
fore the Bulletin would accept the
advertisement.
Mr. Lyons didn't think such a
thing could be possible in his shop,
but there it was in black and
white.
Trembling with rage, Lyons im
mediately sent for the man to
come into the office.
“What does this notice mean?”
he demanded.
“It means just what it says—
that we are going to organize and
demand the eight-hour day.”
Cohn of course was immediately
discharged and Lyons blustered
into the shop and demanded to
know if there were any others
who were not satisfied to work 10
hours. “If there are, go into the
WOONSOCKET
BLACKALL CHANGES TACTICS
Taft-Peirce Company Tries to Embarrass and Discredit Strikers
by Arresting One of Their Number.
At the close of the first week of strike, Mr. FF. S. Blackall,
thru the medium of the “Woonsocket Call,” stated that if his em
ployes did not return he would proceed to fill their places.
After eight weeks of strike we are still waiting to see Mr.
Blackall make good that threat. With the exception of a few
shops in this part of New England who are affiliated with the Na
tional Metal Trades Association, the former Taft-Peirce employes
and men of their skill are in demand at a premium, being able to
secure better wages for eight hours’ work than they would re
ceive here with the 25 per cent. increase. The men who have their
families in Woonsocket are taking them elsewhere, and men such
as the Taft-Peirce requires will not come for the price they are
offered, even if there were no strike.
No doubt Mr. Blackall knows what he's about, but we are of
the opinion that he should have learned a lesson when his ma
chinists in the Robert Hoe Printing Press Co. fought him three
months and won the eight-hour day two years ago.
Perhaps, too, it would profit him more to study his plant and
the way it is run rather than tell the Worcester employers how
they should manage their plants,
THREE CENTS—SO CENTS PER YEAR
office
shouted
No one responded to his kind
invitation, though Mr. Lyons
might just as well know that he
has in his employ at the present
time several staunch workers for
the cause of unionism.
The Blacklist Gets in Its Work.
Now comes the story of the
Blacklist. Cohn immediately went
in search of another situation and
found one very soon at much bet
ter wages than lLyons was paying.
Everything was all right until the
proprietor of the shop found out
the reason of Cohn's discharge.
When he discovered this he at
once told Cohn that under no cir
cumstances could he work there,
adding significantly, “nor in any
other jewelry shop in this district.”
He admitted frankly that there
was an understanding among the
manufacturing jewelers not to hire
men who were discharged for the
reason that Cohn was. He would
not admit that it was a blacklist,
but was “just a matter of court
esy.”
. But if an agreement that pre
vents an employer from hiring a
man who has been connected with
a union isn't a blacklist, it would
be hard to find a better name for
it. The fact is that the manufac
turing jewelers are even more bit
ter than the Metal Trades Asso
ciation in their opposition to union
ism and in their determination to
prevent a man from working in the
industry who dares to talk union
ism. The policy is to starve the
workers into submission is possible
and there 1s nothing too low for
them to stoop to in order to gain
their ends.
Lyons” loud talk and bullying
tactics, however, have not fright
ened the workers either in his own
shop or any other, and in all prob
ability the Lyons Manufacturing
Co. will be the first of the bosses
to discover that the time has come
when the workers will have some
thing to say about the conditions
under which they shall work.
Unionism alone can give the
workers strength to deal with
such men as this Lyons, and it can
safely be predicted that this same
Lyons will feel the power of or
ganized effort before many weeks.
Continued on Page 4
Printed and Published
By Union Laber 10
and get your pay