WORKERS AWAKENING.

NZ Truth, Issue 334, 18 November 1911, Page 4

WORKERS AWAKENING.

History oi the London Strikes.

(From "Truth's" London Rep.)

I The recent' strikes have drawn the attention of /the few real philanthropists id this country to -the deplorable conditions of the workers throughout the United Kingdom. It is easy . enough for Australasians to 'say the remedy is m their own hands, but those who have studied English economic conditions know that to a, large extent the English worker is the victim of his environ- , ment. For centuries he has, been so crushed and subdued and made to feel that he is of inferior , flesh and, blood td the r,otten "upper classes" here, that he largely believes such' to be the case, and his servility to ' the .brainless fools who rule him and hold him m contempt, while a painful and degrading spectacle to democratic Australasian • eyes, must be taken into , account m reckoning up the reasons ' for his r 1 PRESENT DEGRADED STATE m the; ranks of the world's workers^ This "servility makes him a bad union" man, and the path to a 'united' 'trades-u_nionism> in^ England has been, and is,*" thickly strewn with the thorns" df -i non-Unionism — the tremendous proportion 1 of traitors to the common cause because the' "masters" don't like unionism. This tact is ' being made abundantly > clear by the evidence that is being daily, taken -by,, the commission which is inquiring into the /recent great railway strike. The large percentage ' 'of w,orkers m this country who do ■ not' belong to unions; and keep out -f them for this reason alone, is extremely large. .. The next largest' section of non-unionists is composed of men who are frightened of "getting " J the 'sack" if x they do,' or because they think they cannot afford the. union fees. This latter will strike the Australasian worker as ridiculo is m the extreme, but Australasians must remember that wages m this country are so small THAT EVERY SIXPENCE niakes a difference to the man with a family to support. , For, m. spite what silly lies are told to the. contrary, decent living m this country is doarer than m, Australia, while the already low , wages show a ten-d-ncy to shrink even more. This is brought about by over-competition, which also jaccounts 'for, .the .dread the British worker has of- "getting the sack. '\ England to-day is over- 1 populated 'Vby an under-developed nation, and her doors are. ever open to the filthy, greasy, cheap' alien, who will take the British . workman's job at half his - wagfe — no matter how low that is — and submit to THE MOST IGNOBLE TREATMENT from his. employer. _ This kind , of thing pleases J ohn* Bull," who loves to lord it over his employees, and likewise afiords, an answer to those people who * want to know* why John Bull doesn't bar his door against aliens. John doesn't want to shut j out the cheap ' foreigner, because _ (3 ) jhe is clieap ; '(2) * because he will subimit to treatment that even a Ghina"inan would -resent ; and, (3) because' his presence makes the poor, crushed "lower order" of Britisher still more humble. ' i ' I Then if the British" employee is so servile, what caused the railway " * trike and the other strikes ' which London has just witnessed ? , The answer, is that it was the ivo~\ torte-' ful argument of all human arguments — the argument' of empty 'bellies. The large proportion of English workers ( are half-starved — there is n,o doubt' about that — and 'into the' , ■ ' ' . CENTURIES OF HIS COWARD- •[ ' ( ICE , , _ has crept a little of the ferocity of th'e starved cun) which will fight for a spasmodic period with ' the ferocity of the bull-dog under, the', influence "of hunger. The Labor leaders ' took "advantage of this ferocity born of desperation to shove the strike weapon into tho hands of the workers at just the proper moment. , The initial success of .the transport workers showed the miserable mob of toilers that their big-bellied-bull-ies who had bossed thorn for so long were cowards as well. They caved m without striking a blow, and London labor gained its first victory m the present struggle. . r lt wasn't much of a victory from an '_ Australasian point' of view. — a wage of 27s weekly' for a twelve-hours > day— but, many of the lower grade* toilers who gained it had previously been working for £l a week and under, with hours that lasted while there . was work to do, and generally totalled up 1o sixteen hours a day. The morale of this strike was apparent m the strikes 'that rapid,ly succeeded it. The men and women toilers of England found for the first timo m centuries that > THEIR BRUTAL BOSSES were not invulnerable, and that LaIjor v had some rights, even m the ■ class-governed land of the Briton. I The railway strike first brought under the notice of English workers tho benefit of union, and kindled m their dull souls the livst spark of abiding, loyalty to themselves and their cause. But the non-union-ists had to be forcibly shown its j benefits. A large—very large— pro- ' portion of the railway employees, (When the strike was declared, went I crawling and cringing to their ro,t'.ten, monopolistic companies, and assured them of their "loyalty." But thc strikers, who had to bring them over if they hoped to succeed, put the fear pf Cod into their heaits, jso that the* scabs wilted and join- ; 'cd' them. They had to, if they wish- ' led to preserve a whole skin m their ('miserable bodies. It is a pity tho railway strike did not continue till the methods of the capitalistic-' crowd i I OF JEW VIPERS | who control England's 'railways ' were completely exposed. They starve their employees, and squeeze the poor travelling public — the third class crowd— to the last extrac tabic '.farthing. -The most • powerful argument m" j favor of Australasia's state-control-Ijed railways is the 'dearer fares, bad 'accommodation,' and sweating railjway wages that exist 'under the Engi lish , company-controlled" system. One hundred and thirty thousand of the English railway .employees receive_Cl and . le. c o per weekly - wage ' No wonder there was 'a . strike. 1 To give "Truth" readers some idea of industrial conditions as they

exist m L England to-day, "Truth" amends some , °* , THE RULING WAGES (taken from official sources) for various grades of unskilled ' labor. Builders' ■ la/borers average trom 20s to 225. l Weavers (semi-skilled) m the 'woqAlen trade come as low as 23 s 4d. Engineers' laborers have just completed a successful strike for £1 minimum. Women workers m factories average" 2s per day, and even' less. For girls .under IS as low-os 6s to 8s per week is paid, with an unlimited supply at the price Tive condition of the rustic worker is truly appalling. He is nominally sup-, posed to get as much as. 21 s a week and find himself, but 1 '" he is generally willing to take half that amount and work lik e a brute beast, at, the beck and call of, the bowel-' less employer. The classes enumerated are all hard, and honest - workers. Such occupations .as hotel and restaurant employees have, '. for the purpose of this article, been left out. Their condition ig, > however/ even worseThese are a. few of the reasons why the English \VORM OF A WORKER is ' turning at last. He has lived on iwhat is practically offal for generations, and now he cannot eai-n enough to buy the dog-bedewed carcase of the stinking red herring that is his principal provender. So he is striking. The transport trades strikes affected about 250,000 workers. The number of new (trade disputes m August was 100, and the total number of workers affected was 373,015. Successful strikes have s>o far brought about a not . increase of wages of nearly £9400 per week.' Australasians may not think' much of such a trifling concession, but it means a lot to the starving Londoner. Tt not only means an cctra herring or a bit of rancid" bacon for his yearning belly, but it has taught him the important fact that London' is a huge, over-grown city, absolutely non-productive herself, the .capital of a non-productive country, and therefore absolutely dependent on _. her transport and water-workers for her daily food. These workers can starve the capitalistic classes ' into su^>missiQii at any time," and they know it now. -.