30,000 locked out : $b the great strike of the building trades in Chicago
John Locke · en
The simplest mind can readily see how little control the employer
has left him, when a man not in his employ is permitted to come
upon his work and "use his personal judgment" in questions of
disagreement, the workman being obliged to then obey his orders.
The employer seems to be a mere cipher under this arrangement, and
can only fold his hands and wait till the "regular meeting" (at
which he has no opportunity to be heard) settles whether the
"personal judgment" exercised be just and fair. The result can be
imagined. In the hands of an exceptionally honest and discreet
person such a power would be dangerous enough, but in the control
of a man who may not possess these qualities, or possess one of
them without the other, the chances of stoppage of work under his
orders, the constant annoyances to which employers, architects and
owners may be subjected, makes this infliction too grievous to be
borne. The thousands of unnecessary strikes, stoppages and
obstructions to work for every conceivable cause, or no cause,
which have occurred in all parts of the country in the name of
justice and the walking delegate, are evidence enough that to
owner, architect, employer and workman, he is an abomination not to
be tolerated. As an adjunct to the walking delegate comes the
"steward," who, like him, has some functions perfectly
unobjectionable, but who in other ways is empowered to assume
certain direction and control which surely is not consistent with
the duties of a workman, that is, if the workman is considered to
have any duty to his employer. It is noticeable that in the
description of the duties of these two gentlemen, it is the
"interests of the Union" only that they are directed to observe; it
is true that the walking delegate is not an employe, but he is to
have free access to the work, can interfere and obstruct as he
pleases, but the interest of the employer seems to have been
omitted in the recital of his duties. When it is considered how
much is taken off the hands of the employer by these two persons,
it is somewhat a matter of surprise that owner and architect burden
themselves with the useless middle man, the nominal employer, when
they can have the whole matter handled by the Union and its agents.
The rules in relation to apprentices are peculiarly restrictive and
leave nothing whatever that is worth possessing in the hands of the
employer. We cannot imagine why any contractor would care to have
apprentices at all, if their direction and control is to be so
completely out of his hands.
These rules declare that "no contractor shall be allowed to have
more than two apprentices at a time;" "he will not be allowed to
have any more until their time is completed;" "he may then replace
them."