TRADES UNION TACTICS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11188, 10 August 1898, Page 2

TRADES UNION TACTICS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

}■ There are many warni friends of trades I umor)3-.who deplore misguided^ practices of-, isome of these- bodies-which tend' seriously, jto lessen their usefulness; ; The colonies have riot yet had much'experience of so(ne'" j of the evils perpetrated; by misguided, -srd ' j too zealous officials'"of the unions, and for ! the sake of the workers. it:,ls sincierely in be hoped that moderation and fair dealing will be the prevailing principles:;of colonial.. | unionism; Thoughtful consideration of an article headed "A Study in Trade "jUhion-! ism " %yhich apneared in .the .Apnlr,number1$ the Nineteenth Century will .shdw-io what ■ /lengths the leaders of.the; Unions at -Home---'-, i will',-go.' in their: uSfafrness*t'o~e.mploySris^ *' j'that; pare: exercised J>y tn'osei.'in'." 1 Authority in the labour'world of the coloniea Lta prevent such a policy, endangering tbe'-.' i,relations' of employers, and employed. To vlhis'end! we' reproduce the" article'j-4-. '•: r ASTUDYIN.TRAIi^UmdTSriSM.^^.^ :.. If is generally VasSUliied, although XMr - j Sidney "Webb*'does, iiot"admit; it, thafi -the' 'trade .■union?/arfe"'^^.'lineal;lsucces- '■ vsors of. the^ ".mediseyal gilds', whicjii' ©aeon, called^' fraternities in. i^vil." ; H6^ i-ever this may.be we ; ,can flnd in,the mpthjds . j and results of the, nek-imionism. aomef things '.which recall the "operation's of the old.giid- ■; ism. The unions, like...the-gilds, are, closer corporations of labdur, and, like the gilfls, , have by .-their- exactions ..and■ ■ limitfifcians»■ driven' away industries" froiji Ipcaji'tlos;! Thus.,. just.as the crafts left the mediptar.towns ..^ahd settled "ane^ in remote distnets '#way 'from the arm of'the gilds,-so-shipbuilding, .' under the "pressure of local'.tfjlde'-'unionisfai)""-' left the Thames for the.Tyne and Clyde ; r: , lace-making left Nottingham for;. Ayrshire ;./ and glass-making" ,lsft- 13nglaiid r ; and . Sqot- : land for' Germany. and Belgium.- The/old., trade ruined the.' mediaeval cities:' Js the new trade union going'to ruin the industry of the whqle...country?1 The.sup-. ject demands the most serious inquiry. >. The strike of'the engineiet'Sf; ."with-ajl.its ( "pitiful detail, its financial logs, and itSi at-, .-- tehdant .suffering,' has, after ajil,';giveti-ia3;' something to be thankful for.' It; na's • served to open the eyes" Of even the Morleyan " plain man " to some of. the practices' of those organisations of labour, s wnich for five-and-twenty yeajs economists'.have.^ce.n "• trying to teach us tp fall down and worship; and which politicians' have be6n:. e)eyatinfj into'the dignity of a "fifth estate;' During the progress of the strike, there has\been revealed, bit by-bit and- with, relentless .prA-;!----cision,; a mogt .damaging • and thqught-^-b-; \ yoking series of factst .'The bid.monopolists,,i whose operations "in restraint of trade" ' were so denounced' by the old school of i economists, are "succeeded by^ the traae ! unionists whose operations v-in restraint of labour have been brought to: the. light of day. Their methods, it .is,triie, have long been more or less familiar.to those actually, engaged in industrial pursuits ; but it -is safe'to say that not brie of the engineer employers realised how much, the engineering industry was being injured by'trade-union-" ism until last year ; they began to compire* notes. It was the discovery, they made'_ of the extent to which" they .Were being' victimised, that drew the employers, closer ; into. line. There is' : not in industrial1 his- j tory a more striking incident/ th'au this drawing together qf;..7,00; .capitalist .em-I ployers, all full of.keen trade rivalry and pro-. ■ fessional jealousy, into one compact body for mutual .protection against, an >. influence whose-insidious workings threatened toriiin the" "whole of them,; -The more assertive j the more violent, became, the revolting ! '- unions" the more resolutely the emplo/ei;s ■ held together, week by week adding tb';the strength and solidity of their alliance,:while week by week the unions, wasted their substance in riotous starvation..,....../ '. : Not the least suggestive feature of; the | whole labour struggle '. was the,' qtiietnessj.; • with which it ended. One listened in vain j , for any certaminis gaudia; of the employers. . A great struggle., peyjiaps^he'greatest'in- i dustrlal struggle on ieco,rd;, ended •without a sound of Va victis. And', thougl.' |he . allied■ trade' unions were .defeated,: tlieir. members' went back to .work.,: if not witljp.ut ; a murmur at least without eshibitiou^pf rage. '"• This isl very remarkable.!.-■ Labour has had its Sedan sis the.Cdmmunist,.outbreak to follow? Meanwhile, at any rate the deduction is clear that each.aide vyas so heavily scarred in the fight,-as,_ to-be'indis-' posed to the expression of either joy or sorrow. T,he allied trade uniqris, or, ,to be more accurate, the A.S.EI, have been struggling for absolute domination of the erjgjneering trade. The demand for the monopoly in the working of automatic machine, tools was a demand for power to control'thfc production. When it failed it wa,i? suspended in : favour of - a demahd for an. eight; hour day, not that an eight- hour day was.generally desired,.but in the belief pr hope that to get rid of that, .demand- employerswould give way on the machine question. But tbe design :has always been the same— ■ to control the output—which means to arbitrarily restrain labour, to. artificially; raise costs.' and to consequently ptycfcf tbe industry absolutely at the: mercy' of bur foreign competitors. ''" ■"" The general belief is—or, at all events, has been, for there are now signs of revulsion — that trade unionism' has done for the working . classes What nothing else could have done in raising their 'social condition and improving their wages. This is a popUlM' ■ 'fallacy. The social condition of the work-

ing classes has just improved pari passu with the general improvement of society. There is.no 'tiiule union in the world that can exact frif its members higher wages than the industry can afford, except with the certainty of destroying that industry.. Waces have not risen because of trade .unionism, and would probably have' been higher without it. B)it while unionism has not' raised the f awards of honest labour it has put a premium on inefficiency by insisting that the idle and incompetent worker shall be placed on the same wage-level as the most skilful and most industrious. Politicians and others who/glibly repeat the trade-union phrases-^ "standard rate" and "minimum vage" — do riot stop to consider the essentially . demoralising character of thff principle these phrases represent. In place of .honest toil 'if favours "the trade-union stroke," Instead^ of inciting to the, perfection of s'raftskill, it;. compels the most highly skilled artisan to keep pace with the most slovenly dawdler. Instead of raising the wages of good workmen, trade unionism tends to 'norease the cost of production all round by making everything dear for the consumers, of whosn , the majority are the. working classes themselves. For, the injunction, '•■■" Whatsoever, "thy ; han.d, findetk to dp.'do. it ;with.-all thy .mightj" i^ given' too often the' rule to yield the smallest possible mo'dicumof labour for the .largest possible .lay's wage.- ■-■■• .-.-■•.-. :.--. ■. .: . .-■,.-, .-.■:; :.- ."'.',' .Nothings-has moire- startled t good easy, people who .have been accustomed to regard, trade unionists as qualifying for seats within the arch^angelic circle than the circum.stantial. statements published by the Engineer Employers'- Federation in, illustration of the'scamping which has been practised; in the engine shops. Nothing more conclusively disposes of the favourite theory of trade unionism, than the fact that in the United States, where trade unionism is. comparatively weak,- wage's are higher than 'in*' this country,! where it Is all-powerful. ,Jt- does not follow that the condition of the 'working man in America is better than that of his fellow in^ Great Britain ;, but-'t,-;s certain that the Briton has gained no ad-vantage-.-over the American by virtue of his trade union. And all the beauty of the ■economic theory of trade unionism, as embracing the .first principles of citizenship and the glorious privilegeoorfr combination, must not blind :us to . the ugliness of hs practices. Look at it? for' instance, as it appears in the following item .of police court .intelligence taken from a daily, paper: — ,:, Tbade Unionism Again. At the-'Guildhall, I/ondoh, Hoberi Aston applied to Alderman- Sir Henry E. Knight as to what he should dp, as, owing to the action of the trade union, he was positively starving. . _,Sir Henry:, What are you? ; ; .Applicant,: A" compositor out of employment. I *wa3 originally'a .member of the -Society-'of. 'Coinposifprß; but, owing -to certain - circum- -. ■'stpince'9i:;io's*-:in^.'cara;..' Four year3iago I; .loft ■'Snglarid, audy on returning,..got work inva-. ■Tibus -printing ofiipes. .1 was for 9ome tune a •reader, but. througli illhessi had'to relinqiiish tfwt post. Then I obtained two. situations, both of whicli I lost in consequence of the action of the Bociety, and I am starving. I jiave .tried, to rejoin, the society, but am tola, that the- committee refuse to again allow, me to enter: . . ■.' ''■ Sir Henry: It appears to me that asoeiety which, stops a man getting his bread is committing acrtiel act. "Have you any family? Applicant: Yes, a wife and three children. I Have been assisted at'the Mansion House ■ by the Lord Mayor: ■ Sir Henry: Well, I can do nothing for you; "but" no doubt the press will notice you,r application. .- : . ■..-,'•'... ■ ■ .'Surely the man in the street can see that£here is more of the fraternity of ..evil than of the'fraternity., of'labour in this kind;;of thing.- The cruelty illustrated in this, case however, is. just--akin!to the savagery displayed f>y trade-union " pickets*1-' who well, know how toT exercise coercion without the. "persuasive -eloquence* of brick-bats —when "brick-bats cannot 'be, thrown with safety. What'we have to realise is that the stronger a trade union is the more ; absolute •is the. power it exercises over its own members; and'the larger.--.it become?, the more pre- j jstimptuous is the- tyranny- it attempts over j . others. ' • ■.-••■-. The prostitution; of the honesty, of the individual worker under the evil eye of ihe v" shop steward (or' society spy) has baan '•abjufiditntiy'shown-1 -by; the1 Engineer■ EmV, ployers' Federation in theicase of thcA.SJj;.,,; and of this trade union it has also .been shown. :that'tts^bbject -h1 as.not-been; to maintain,the standard of craft-skill :(for it has been, eager .to sweep into-its.fold any:labourers in the, ' jerigine shops who-would.jcontribute to, .its. fOnds),.- but".to,'Jbtain the absolute command ;rof; the engine; shops with a .view to ..dicta-; : ting--teems to the .employers on, allpolnis. In raising the machine ; : question the 'engineers sought to crush another trade union—the United Machine' Workers' Asso■"ciation—a'nd'alsO to .■Coerce rioh'-Tinion "labour. :They have afforded a'striking lesson in.the jealous selfishness pf trade unionism, which, "while it vapours about the solidarity of •labour, has spent more of its substance arrt I energies' in -internecine contests than.--m>! struggles -with employers. There havebecn j more,.. an,d incomparably more, bitter " de- i ■marqaibion .disputes ", between trade unions i -than wages disputes between trade unions ;and employers. ~..-; !,\ Mr Tom Maim Was onoe, if not twice, and j inaj?toe again, candidate for .the-genval I of the A.S.E. ■« At the oufc'break of the last strike he was sent by the Executive Council of the society to rave, recite, and madden through the land. Ahd'thV /following is what he said in the course cf a speech at' Leeds in July last :■ — We shall not, remain" contented for ever with an eight-hour day. Democracy is now shaping itself, npt merely to get an eight-hour day— that is by the way—but in ordor to get their . feet effectually planted for something else. • And,-fellow-workers, why funk it? Pace the situation: face the employers—our organised enemies. Do not pretend to come with meaiy mouths and cry, Peace, peace. The conditions of peace are "not possible until you have passed through war. Do not cry peace, and suggest, quiet and respectful and courteous negotiations. You will get no respectful and courteous negotiations•' from the other side until, you have demonstrated by your behavumr that you know exactly how to tread on their corns, and more, that you are prepared, if necessary, to jump on them;■•:.- ■-.., • .■•■ . ■;.■.-.,.■.... ;...•;;.! This;wals characteristically Tom-Mannish; I butSvh'at.is'.the'-'" something else "to whuh. he-, referred?.. ' At:other' times there .have been vague talks of a seven, ifiix, and five hour day to eqnie, but something snore th'au''; that was meant. We get an idea ef it in a speech delivered .by Mr James. Ratcflffe, j the north-east coast delegate of the Engineers' Society, in November last, just, indeed, as the first conference was being negotiated. Mr Ratcliffe said on the eve of a meeting with the employers: "The machine question is the real cause of the dispute, and not!the^ eight-hour question. The masters | are fighting in order to be able to do what they like in. their own workshops. The men will never allow them to do that. It is to prevent it that the A:S.E.exists." | This is candid enoughs and just establishes I our contention that the object of the vmg;- j neers was to obtain absolute control of this machinery of production, and to_ regu- j late the output to their own ideas of honost i industry. .Let us, now. see what some of these ideas are. The following instances of A.S.E. j tactics are not specially selected, but are taken at random, from the hundreds collected :by the Executive Board of the Employers' Federation. They are all numbered ; for* by the secretaries, who hold the documentary proofs:— j (1) This" firm were compelled by the A.S.E. to hand over two copying-lathes to two turners, and each lathe was rated at 35s per week—7os for the two. Since.the strike a labourer nas Ijeeri advanfeed';and put in'oharge of both .machines, frmri which he, singly', sis; getting more Wprl? than the two- A.S'.E. men formerly proa'ueea.' Thfe labplii'et' leceives 245-per week, which -was a' large'increasa on his former-wage. ■Result;"-a saving of 46s a week and a larger output. '■■■: . ■"■ ■■ ..>.{>;.-•.• .■..■■ .■• ■ ■'....'. The promotion of so-called labourers to be maqhjne-tenders (employment not requiring, skill) 'was the castis belli in the machine question. (8) A Manchester iirin had a large planingmacjiine worked by an : A.S.E. man, who took .190 hours to plane a large bed-casting, which a promoted labourer, under a non-union shop foreman's supervision, is now doing in 135 hours. ■•■-■. And how much better a man the promoted labourer may be the above case shows. Then as to routine work: — (23) Another London employer writes:—For many years it has been the cxistom of our A.SiB. men to limit their output to an amount agreed upon among them. Kepetition jobs ooenpying as long as 200 to 300 hours have Invariably been done in the same time as the first lot almost to an hour, even though put into other lathes and done by other men. Some of these jobs have Bince been done in another department by men not in the A.S.E., and have been done in 20 per cent, to 80 per cont. loss time. When new jobs are given out for which piece-work priceß are likely to be fixed, they are spun out to a ridiculous extent to rdisleact. Now to show more cjearly society influence;— . . (43) Another case reported by a firm ia that of a man who belonged to tha society prior to the strike, but who, wlien tTie discharge notices

were served, by the employer, resigned from his society and'remained'at 'work. This man Ts .bow doing twice ihe amount of work he did when formerly a. member of the society. And of what can only be characterised as . flagrant dishonesty under the society banner, I onu heeds no stronger eviden.ee than that of ! the two following cases: — (57)' A firm reports that when making ammunition boxes for six-powder cartridges some , years ago,"it was found that in finishing up the I I'linges any member p." society employed on .the job used aiwaj4 *o uo exactly eight in a I diiy. Tbe ioreman 'in etiarge knew that this ; was not a day's work; and he changed the men, but in-every case, notwithstanding" that considerable changes were, made, me men made exactly eight per day. A young Swiss, who did not. speak English, was'then put on ' the job, and the first day he dieT fifty. (SS) Another instance reported by the same firm is that in filing up the outside handles of machine guns,'ft"was-found that any member of the "society' working on the jobl generally . did ■ one a day, it being understood that the handle was milled in .the.shop, and had pnly to be'" smoothed up, and the corners taken off with a file. The firm knew that-tins was not a day's work, but were""iinab'le to get a society man to .da more than one in a day. The work was then givon to a gun-filer, who did not belong to any society, and he did twelve a. day.. , . .'.. •: Are these not pretty cases of the British working-man—the, country's -pride? And ;■ there are thousands more like them, all in, tbe-same-trade:; -\ . . ■■-:, .-..- r-- - ~ The grand panacea, of,; co-operative production has often been proposed to get rid, ;of labour disputes; b.tit tbe-trade union,' ; leaders cannot' tolerate co-operation. Here ' is an example ; r~ '-..•'..... • (23) A firm decided to. try proSt-shanng as a ■'. means of, increasing and improving the _con- ' ditions of..product]on. The jnen cordially coh- , curred in the scheme, whicli was to allow them ;.a bonus on ordinary wages, if certain results • ''were attained.- The bonus-was paid for five. i years, and though it. was really earned out of j patents'anc! special v/ork—not out of the gene-.-ritl work, of the. shop—^he-'firro were coirtent .enough to continue the system. ...But the A.S.E V ~ipterfer,e.d, having pronoiinced.:a boycott against . profit-sharing as tending tp' weaken the loyalty of the men to the tinioii. The interest of the men waned year by year, and eventually '-'thesystem had to be dropped, because the merii.1 . though'under a twelve months' engagement, de- . i manded-the same advance .in vages as wasbe-/ I ing given in other, shops: in the .trade v,'here , there was. rib bonus. They struck the shop until . I their, demand was ooncoded, preferring the diaStates of the society to the terms of a co-opera-i tive partnership with.their employers. -.-■ ; [ Over and "over again profit-sharing has been attempted in the engineering trade, ' and always with the same- result, because the trade union officials, both local and central, know it -would in time destroy their despotical rule.. ;. ' Just another case now-to illustrate the method of encouraging young labour in. the ; A.S.E.':- ■■- -.-.■■ ■.- '■ '■: ■ (3) A London firni had an apprentice workr.. 'ing between two'- union .<-inen> all.. pri sircilar- ; machine .tools, The apprentice, wa^ ."inter- . . viewed" by these .two inert !becanse he finished . three head?, (part of a stanip mill)' in his day,;' . a? against'their, two'ea;cli'. '• Tlievlad-consulted-" his father-as to the choice heVshotild make between cheating his: employers, out.-of. onei.third;.; of his work and risking a ..broken head. The ~ father having reported the affair to the prin-"' cipal, the lad was removed from his delicate situation and put on • other work;- and the 1 unionists were left to do theit- minimum of . ■ work. .•. -•■••■■•' ..;■■- ' .. . An even more glaring easel is'not in the Federation reports, but is within the knowledge of the ■ present " writelv'j.- -A ..young , apprentice, after"ai year-or-two's experience, was moved into another shop and put to .a new job, which, he attacked'with all the ardour of youth and with all the zeal of one who loves honest industry. He had not been long at work before a. " shop steward " cf the A.S.E. whispered -in his ear: " Ca' canny, my lad, ca' canny; that, way o' . working -ill no' dae heTe.- Yotx: job's got to last ye the week, or it'll be the worse lor; ye." The boy stared in--.amazement,, and then, in honest protest redoubled his energies ■ and finished the; job the- samel afternoon: In one day he completed work that the A.S.E. spy said should.-,be' spread over a ; whole week. .-■.- . ..- ■)'>»■; ' i; " As to non-union labour;;if-does; iiot seehi to be known, even by those who pose sis authorities on labour subjects, that the A.S.E. has special legislation with regard £ 0 it.". ' •• ' ■'■ •■■•. •:•■.?■.'.■■-•■ •-••■--- • -. ■ According to. rale''-S7'of their code members of this .spoiety are entitled to con^> r -,jtiingeirt benefit:; (which-.is'-'an^ allowance of ss; .' -per week in ' addition' to the. ordinary. oUt-.".of-wbrk benefit "of 10s:"peii week) in' the "iiaM '.- .of, inter alia,'" member's'^actihg-' oh instruct. . tioris from district' cbihmittee,. refusing 'to* ; do work coming fl-bm'•Shops'~^fhere our: , members- are on strilie'/fbt i-efusing to work with non-society iheri^' ''fiiis-'iS'-eqUiiklent' jto ah;offer;''ofva reward by:the society,.:tor 'all members1 wb'6 -refuse: practical recogni-; 'tion of the freedom" Of llabdurl ;-.».And. yet... 'this-society," which-has.'had incessant quafe-., rels with other trade unions, iandAvhieh/hasj,persistently tried -to. iforce all the/;labc<u]f iin-; the ■ engine.-■ shops ,; into*-; its* > prganis^tifm..., officially■■" protests that 'it nevet interferes ; j with other union or with non-union labours .j !"■ . (To be continued.) r ' ' <' - .-••' : .-• '• • i-'.' -. - !