A Newspaper with a Mission and without a Muzzle that is published in the Interest of Wageworkers Everywhere.
VOL. 2
JIXCOIiX, XEBEASKA, 3fOVE3BER 6, 1905
NO. 30
ORGANIZER YOUNG TALKS TO TEAMSTER;
.A
Albert Young, general organizer of the In
ternational Brotherhood of Team Drivers, ad
dressed an open meeting of Lincoln team
sters at Carpenters' hall last Monday evening.
.Mr. Young makes his headquarters in Chicago,
hut spends most of his time on the road in
the interests of the . great organization he
represents. During the past month he has
been devoting considerable time to organiza
tion work in Omaha, and he has met with re
markable success in that city and in South
Omaha and Council Muffs. When he went
to ( )maha he found the union in bad shape.
Its membership had dwindled away under the
terrific fire of the "Citizen's Alliance," and the
men were discouraged. .Mr. Young's first
work was to inject a little ginger into those
who had remained faithful. Then he went
after those who had fallen by the wayside;
and got them back into the fold with renewed
courage and enthusiasm. Then he went aftei
the men who had never been organized. To
day he has the coal drivers, the transfer driv
ers and the laundry drivers of Omaha organ
ized into separate locals, and the tide of union
ism is growing stronger every day.
The transfer companies issued notice to their
drivers-that any man joining the union couhl
consider himself discharged. The night - of
the first open meeting called by Air. Young
a dozen employers stood around on the cor
ner of Fourteenth and Dodge "keeping cases"
on the men who were going up into the hall.
Hut the men went up just the same. And they
have enured heartily into the work of putting
the Team Drivers of Omaha on their feet as
an organization. The Citizen's Alliance is
putting every possible obstacle in the path
of the organizers, but it is not making much
progress. The drivers of. Omaha, as elsewhere,
have learned a whole lot by experience, and
now they are profiting by it. Mr. Young is
not yet through with his work in Omaha, but
he came to Lincoln to inaugurate the work,
and after this week will spend considerable,
time in this city, and before he leaves this
section he will hay.eLh.orouglib organized the.
teamsters.
The meeting Monday night was the largest
and most successful in the history of local 440
and that local has pulled off some very suc
cessful meetings. More than a hundred team
drivers responded to the call, and the attention
given to Mr. Young and the other speakers,
and the deep interest manifested in organi
zation makes the future look bright. The
work was started right off the reel, and it
will be kept going. Mr. Young rnnounced an
other meeting for next Monday night, Novem
ber (i. and every team driver in Lincoln ought
to be there. The' reason why will be plain
enough to those who take the time to read
Mi. Young's remarks in this issue, or take
advantage of an opportunity to talk with him
for a few moments.
Mr. Young took charge, of Monday night's
meeting and he kept the interest up from the
start. A colored friend and brother tore off a
few chunks of banjo music, and. incidentally
sung a few verses and unravelled a few jig
steps.
Between speeches J. J. Conn iff sang a solo
and performed a few fancy jig steps that
earned him a hearty recall, and he came back
ON THE OTHER FOOT.
Detroit Printers Take a Hand in the Little
Game of Injunction.
Tin- striking printers of Detroit have taken
a hand in the little game known as "govern
ment by injunction," and the first card they
led was a "jack catcher."
When the union went out on strike to en
force the eight-hour day the employers im
mediately hunted up a judge and secured the
old and very familiar injunction that restrained
the union men from everything save eating,
.drinking and breathing. They would have
stopped them, too, if both air and water were
not in.e from corporation control, and eating
something that could not be stopped as long
as strike benefits were paid. The injunction
did not hurt the strikers a little bit. They had
not -engaged in any unlawful acts and they
went on uietly with their game against the
Typotheta..
But the employers kept making trouble, so
the strikers determined to try their hand at
the injunction game. On October VN the of
ficers of Detroit Typographical Cnion No. IS
appeared before Judge Mandel in the circuit
court and secured an injunction- restraining the
Detroit branch of the Typotheta from con
spiring together to destroy the credit of the
International Typographical Union and De
troit Typographical Union No. 18. This will
have the effect o preventing the employers
from sending out circulars containing the fee--blc
falsehood that ,'the International is about
bankrupt and the local union unable to keep
its pledges to the non-union men who come
into the organization- in preference to playing
the "rat." "
This is said to be the first time in history
that a labor union has brought an action of this
kind, mid when it was brought the employers
were thrown into dire confusion. They have
and delivered himself of a few athletic, stunts
that were right up to the mark. Mr. Co'n
niff made a much better appearance than 75
per cent of the "artists" who come out before
the footlights and remark, "Ladies and gen
tlemen, with your kind permission," etc., etc.,
and then proceed to do it without permission
because the patient public has no means of
preventing it. In other words Mr. Conniff
made a great hit, and the indications are that
he. will be often called on in future to help
make things lively at the meetings of other
unions: And he looks so good-natured that
the chances are he couldn't refuse if he wanted
to. .. .
Sidney J. Kent spoke at considerable length,
and as usual held the attention of his audi
tors. Mr. Kent knows the labor "game" from
beginning to end, for he has grown up in
the labor movement and was for several years
a member of the executive board of the Inter
national Brotherhood of Carpenters. He point
ed out the great changes that have been
wrought in the industrial field since he was a
boy. At the age of ten he was indentured and
learned the trade of stairbuilder. He had to
et up in the morning at 4 or 5 o'clock, walk
a mile to a railroad station and take a "work
ingman's train" into the suburbs. Then a
mile or a mile and a half to the job, where
breakfast as well as dinner was eaten, and
then work until (! at night and home again
if the boss didn't hold him there an hour or
two longer a's punishment for some fancied in
fraction of the rules. That was in England.
Cut the labor unions have changed all that.
Now the union men work eight hours a day
and have a Saturday half holiday. And in
addition to shortening their hours they have
secured more pay. In New Zealand, a coun
try settled by convicts sent from Great Britain,
they have organized and put into force the
best economic system in the world. They are
not struggling for the eight-hour day in New
Zealand, for they have had it fifty years. No,
they are now preparing to move for a six-hour
day.
"Some of you teamsters wouldn't know what
to do with a half-holiday if you got it, would
you ?" queried Mr. Kent.
Mr. Kent explained in well-chosen language
the objects and aims of unionism, and pointed
out succinctly and clearly why it was to every
man's advantage to join the union of his craft,
lie was selfish in wanting to better the condi
tions of the teamsters, because if they were
i ooocxxxxxoooocooocooa
CCCXXXDOOOOOOOCOOOOOCO
thought for so long that the injunction was a
weapon solely for the employers' use that they
couldn't understand why any judge should
hand a labor union i.ne from the same arsenal.
The YVatjeworker goes to press too early to
print the result of the referendum vote taken
last week, but a bulletin from headquarters at
Indianapolis conveys the news that there is no
doubt about its having been carried. They
only changes in the strike situation since the
last issue have all been in favor of the union.
Several towns have been "squared'' and the
Typotheta crippled in other centers. It looks
good all along the line. It is only a question of
a short time when victory will be here to stay.
There was never a belter fight, nor one better
managed, than the one now being put up by
the International Typographical Union under
the direction of President Lvnch. Vice Presi
! benefitted every workingman in the city would
lie benefitted. He closed with an earnest plea
'to every teamster to lend a willing hand in the
work of making the organization perfect in
Lincoln.
General Kelsey Talks.
General Kelsey spoke briefly but to the
point, and urged the teamsters to get together.
He knows what unionism does for the work
ingman because he had gone through the mill.
He has carried a card for upwards of forty
years, and every day he has realized benefits
from it. "Get together," said General Kelsey,
"not for the purpose of engaging in a strike,
but for the purpose of rendering strikes un
necessary. A strike should be the last resort.
Get together for the purpose of bettering your
conditions. (Jet together in order that you
may help each other."
Will M. Maupin, editor of The AVagework
er, spoke briefly and told why he was a union
man. ' He also urged the teamsters to get to
gether, saying that if they wouldn't help them selves
they ought not to ask others to help
them. "Capital has organized," said he.
"Money has organized as never before. Now
you get together and organize the capital that
lies in your muscles and brains and take ad
vantage of the opportunities that lie before
you."
Mr. Young's Remarks.
Mr. Young then took the floor and made a
rattling good talk. It is to be regretted that
only a brief summary can be reproduced. Mr.
Young lacks many of the graces of the pol
ished orator, but what he lacks of fancy flour
ishes he more than makjes up with ability to
talk plain, practical sense straight from the
shoulder. There is no dodging about him. He
J talks readily, but it is the talk of a man wdio
thinks a wdiole lot more of results than of
fancy flights.
Mr. Young introduced himself by saying
that he was the man who organized the team
sters of Chicago. "They tell j'ou that the team
sters' strike in Chicago was a failure," he ex
claimed. "It is not truer-it was a magnificent
success. There are 5,000 more union team
sters in Chicago than there wore before the
strike. Ye are in better shape than ever, and
it's a safe bet that there won't be another strike
of teamsters in Chicago for a long while for
the very simple reason that the bosses won't
Teamsters, Attention !
There will be an open meeting of Lincoln Local, Teamsters' Union, at Carpenters'
Hall, on Monday evening, November 6. General Organizer Young of Chicago, will
address the meeting. Members should be present. Refreshments.
Non-Union Teamsters are Cordially Invited
dent Hay, Secretary John Bramwoocl and
Hugo Miller. We may have our little disputes
on the side, but when the printers want some
thing they ought to have they forget the dif
ferences. And the eight-hour committee is
doing- the kind of work that calls for recogni
tion. MR. POST AGAIN.
Writes to Expose His Igncrance of All Vital
Economic Questions.
The Hra Magazine, published at Deposit,
N. Y., announces in its October number that
it has engaged Mr. C. Y. Post, "president of
the Citizens' Industrial Alliance of America,"
To tip. Public
Union printers throughout the country are striving for
the Eight Hour Day. Strikes are in progress in Chi
cago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo and other
large cities. Printers point with pride to the fact that
they are conducting' their strike in an orderly and law
abiding manner, and to the added iact that the3' are
winning. The justice of their demands cannot be
questioned. They ask the support of the public. You
can help the printers by demanding the Allied Trades
Label on your printed matter
let us strike. They've learned a whole- lot
while trying to teach us a few things."
This statement brought out a terrific round
cf applause. Then Mr. Young explained what
iuiionism has done for the teamsters.
"We don't have to get up at 4 o'clock in
ihe morning when; we are well organized,",
he said. "And we don't have to work until 8
or 9 o'clock at night. Not much. VVe work
nine hours a day, and we get a lot mere money
for the nine hours than we used io get for the
thirteen or fourteen. And we don't have t
take care of the bosses' teams on Sunday, eith
er. We go to church with our families, and we
go to the parks, and we go down to the lake
front. Wc have Sunday to ourselves now, but
we didn't have then. -
"Wages are not the only thing to be con
sidered in this matter of unionism. There are
other things to be done, and when they are
done the wage question will settle itself. I be
lieve in fraternal insurance, and I belong to
three fraternal orders. They are good things,
too. But after all, the money 1 put into them
I'll never see again. Maybe some other 'skate'
w ill come along and spend it. But the money
I have put into my union I get returns from
right along. I have the fun of enjoying those
benefits. 1 don't have to die to beat the game.
I might have worked for the wage I received
before I joined the Team Drivers' union a
thousand years, and I couldn't, have saved
monej- enough out of my wages to build me a
home. Now my wife and my , two little dnes
have a roof to cover their heads. Every week
my wife can take my envelope and out of it
save something for a rainy day. Before I went
into the union I couldn't have saved enough in
forty rears to buy a cotton umbrella. Before
we were organized our wage averaged $1.25 a
day. Now the teamsters of Chicago get$5 a
day for nine hours' work and time and a half
for overtime. The man who owns and works
his own team gets $( a day. In Boston, in
New York and in other cities, we have a Sat
urday half holiday. Some of you Lincoln
teamsters wouldn't know what to do with a',
half holiday if you got it all at once, would
you ?"
.... "No. we wouldrCt!" was the loud reply from
all parts of the hall.
"Don't imagine for a minute that I am here
to organize you so you can go out on a strike.
A strike is the last thing I want to see. I am
here for the purpose of organizing you so. you
won't have to strike in order to get what's
to write a series of articles on "the true rela
tions of the employing and employed classes in
America." This is what the Era Magazine
calls "a new era for labor," and it further
boasts that this will be "in many respects the
most notable series of magazine articles of the
year."
We admit that in at least one respect this
series of articles will be the most notable of the
year. They will be noted for the profundity of
the Post ignorance of economic questions, and
it is only necessary to refer to one paragraph
in the October installment to prove the as
sertion. After charging that labor unions are trusts
formed to restrict labor output and raise prices,
Mr. -Post claims that in effect labor is merely
the laborer's product that may by him be sold
at the prevailing- price or withheld from the
cojiring to you. But if you won't get out and -help
me to make your conditions better, I'm
not going to waste any time on you. You've
had an organization here, but it hasn't done
what it should. That's because you have been
negligent. Why, I understand that only a few
weeks ago a member of your local got up on
the floor of this hall and moved that your local
surrender its charter. .That man's head ought
to be bored for the simples. Give up your
charter? N6-a thousand times no! What
you want to do is to hustle. Get wise to the
fact that you arc alive!- When the Hebrew- '
cemetery committee wanted an inscription to
go on the-arch spanning the entrance to their -new
graveyard they asked the Irish sexton to
give them something. Pat thought a mimite
and then said : 'Oi t'ink thot "we are here to
stay" would be til' roight thing.'' ; . ;
" 'We aire here to stay,' and -don't yon for
get it. Now you get out ajnd hustle and help
me to be of some service to you. . If you'll do
your share I'll promise to stay right hcre-until
you are thoroughly organized. We received
our charter from the American Federation of
Labor in 18S8. We organized seven little lo
cals with a membership of less than $2,500.
In seventeen years we have grown to be the -third
largest union in America. In another
year "we will be the second largest. And the
team drivers' union is the real key, to the in
dustrial situation.. They can't do without us.
Now, with all this in our favor why not get
together and take advantage of our opportun
ities. I am a union man because I -want my
children to have a better chance than I have -had,
I want my children to be better than ,
I have been. I want them to have better school
ing than I have had and I know that without
the unions my children and your , children
would be driven into the mills and the sweat
shops. There isn't a man here who vouldn!t
fight like a wild cat if some, brute insulted
your wife on the . streets, but you- go right -ahead
working for starvation wages and leav
ing your wife to suffer the pangs of privation'
and hunger and you haven't got the sand to
protest. Shame on you. Protect. your, homes
and your families. I'd rather have' myWife
insulted than. to. hayghpr,stfa.r.eJjtttil3!i.
blowed if. I'll stand for either one if I can help '
it, and I rather think I can. I can protect her
from insult by my own efforts, but -I can only
protect her from privation by having. the com--
bined help of my fellow craftsmen, for singly"
and alone I am a mere' nothing in the indus
trial field.
"Now, boy ; let's get down to business and
organize .organize, organize."
Mr. Young spoke for nearly an hour, but
not a, man left the hall, and lie was inter- ,
rupted by hearty cheers all through his re
marks. He said that it was intention to or
ganize the team drivers into at least three Io-.
cals, transfer drivers, coal drivers .and laun
dry drivers. Without this separate organiza
tion little could be done to improve conditions,
and he explained why this is true; Several
transfer drivers were present and signified
their desire to be organized, into a separate
union. Mr. Young then told them what to
do and how to do it, and arranged for another
meeting next Monday evening. And ; every
teamster in Lincoln should be there. It will be
money in his pocket and hours with his family
to join hands in perfecting the organization
of the craft in Lincoln.
market until the laborer thinks the price is
right. He says: . '.'..' :
According to an unchangeable commer
cial law the men who have certain prod-'
ucts to sell and can not obtain the price
'desired from one particular buyer, may of
fer this product to one or more other buy
ers, and finally sell where they can get the
best price, or hold the product, in the same
manner as ihe farmer when trying to sell
wheat, or the ranchman when trying to
sell cattle, has a right to seek the best mar
ket possible, and sell or refuse' to sell as
he pleases. ' , ' , "
j i
The utter fallacy of this-theory when applied
to labor is so apparent that even the most ig
norant day laborer can see it. Even Mr. Post
can see it, but in his bigoted zeal and his in
sane desire for publicity he fondly imagines
that no one else is bright enough to do so. Let
it be put plainly. .. .
John Jones, a hod carrier starts out in the
morning to go to work and at the job is told
that his wage will be cut 50 cents a day. He
refuses to sell a day's labor for $1.50 and seeks
work elsewhere. It takes him two days to
find it. No what is he going to get for tht
two day's labor he has been carting around?
The labor of one day must be sod that day
or it is forever lost, it can not be stored up
and drawn upon tomorrow. The farmer may
haul his wheat to town and either sell or haul it
home to await a better price. The man who
likens the farmer's wheat to the workingman's
labor is either foolish or knavish, or both.
But Mr. Post says that while the laborers
have a right to refuse to sell until they get their
price they have no right to play the part of
bully and say that the employer shall buy labor
of no one else. All that is very old straw so
old and musty that it reminds us of some pat
ent breakfast :foods. But the workingmen of
the country are not so much interested in that
as tnev are in preventing- men like l ost ana
ner millionaires from fattening
I J
lea ui me people. . .
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