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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1909)
The Waqeworker VOL. 6 Magazine Section I Wnlii, Nebraska, September 4, 1909 Labor Day Edition NO. 22 TRADES UNIONISM IN LINCOLN AND HAVELOCK In view of all the surrounding circum stances, trades unionism in Lincoln and vicinity is in a flourishing condition. In dustrially and socially Lincoln is a peculiar city. Being a great educational center a large proportion of its population is made up of people who come in from the country districts and make Lincoln their home for the purpose of taking advantage of its great educational facilities. Upwards of a.tHH) young men and 2.0X young women come to Lincoln every year to attend some of its great universities. A large proportion of these either work their way through school or supplement their means with odd Railway Employes, and a local of the Inter national Team Drivers Brotherhood. Other organizations have been strengthened, and today Lincoln boasts of being one of the best, organized towns of its size in the United States. What is true of Lincoln is also true of its thriving neighbor, Have lock. During the year ending August 31, 1909, there has not been a cloud upon the horizon of labor in this section of the country. There has been neither strike nor lock-out, but on the contrary several organizations have secured better hours and wages with out being forced to extreme measures. Delegate A. F. of L., Louis V Gnye, Om aha. The next meeting of the State Federa tion of Labor will be held in South Omaha, the Tuesday after the first Monday in Janu ary, 1910. The Cigarmakers boast of the oldest union organization in Lincoln. The local was chartered in June of 1833, and has been in active existence ever since. It has met with the usual ups and downs of a trades union organization, but it has never been found wanting when active union work was called for. Present condition are not of the best, owing to local con- 4 i i1 l o't? 13 " ff s fffp ff "6 'ft ' '8 a These: are the Men who Made the Nebraska State Federation of Labor, Lincoln, June 21-22, 1909 jobs. This means that in many lines of in dustry the labor market is glutted from September 1 of each year until June 1 of the succeeding year. These students are, -in most instances, willing to work at any thing for any old wage, regardless of the effect their presence may have upon men ami women who must depend wholly upon their work for a livelihood. The student population makes it extremely difficult to maintain a wage schedule in several organ ized lines, and impossible to maintain organ izations in other lines. It is useless to at tempt to maintain a waiters' organization, when there are hundreds of students will ing to "wait table" three times a day for their board and a dollar or two a week. A retail clerks organization is also handi capped by the fact that hundreds of stu dents are willing to work Saturdays and evenings for a mere pittance. All this has a tendency to keep down wages, for the average university student seldom stops to consider what influence his or her work may have upon the welfare of others. Hut, despite all these handicaps the work of organization progresses in a manner that gratifying to those who are deeply interest ed in the industrial uplift. During the year just ended, two new organisations have been perfected. Division Xo. 522, Amalgam ated Association of Street and Electrical Xever has a more friendly feeling existed between employers and employes than has existed in Lincoln for the last twelve mouths, and this friendly relation promises to continue for manjr months to come. During June of the present year the Ne braska State Federation of Labor was or ganized, the first convention meeting at the state house in Lincoln on June 21 and 22. This convention" was called by "Will II. Maupin, deputy state commissioner of la bor, and the eall was responded to by eighty-two locals, each one sending a dele gate to participate in the work of organ ization. After two days of deliberation, the State Federation was organized, a con stitution adopted and -the following officers elected : President, Will M. Maupin, Lineoln. Secretary-Treasurer, Frank P. ITart, South Omaha. Sergeant-at-Arms, George Enoch. MeCook. First Vice President, George Stevens, South Omaha. Seeond Vice President, J. A. Booth, Fre mont. Third Vice President, L. C. Mason, Al liance. Fourth Vice President, J. C. Birming ham, Beatrice. Fifth Vice President, Ira A. Dnnean, Hastings. ditions, but the membership is still of good faith and the right union spirit. Lincoln Typographical Union Xo. 201) was chartered in October, 1833, but dates its ac tice existence from February of the follow ing year. It is one of the strongest nnions in the west, and with the exception of one trouble has enjoyed a continued era of peace. At one time the life of the union hung in the balance, but loyalty and devo tion to the order saved the day, and today the union's membership is the largest in its history. Upwards of 98 per cent of the printing done in Lincoln is done by union men and women. Last February the union's committee negotiated a new agreement whereby an increase in wages was secured and a contract signed covering a period of five years. There never was a time when a better feeling existed between the em ploying printers of Lincoln and the member ship of Xo. 209. The Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join ers, Local Xo. 1055, has had many hard conditions to battle against during the past year. As before stated, the fact that Lin coln is a university town has been against the carpenters. Every man who has moved into Lincoln to give his children better edu cational facilities, and who is able to drive a nail straight or saw to a chalk mark, has gone into competition with the