These are but a fow of the factors which the strong labour organiza. tions emphasized in their unveasonable regime. No carpenter was permitted to cut a hole in conerete to permit the passage of a pipe, no matter how competent he hap: pened to be. No plumber could work with non-union material, In the building trades -no man was allowed to work overtime without the consent of the union. Whether it was a case of urgency did not concern the union. Steamfitters, in quite lordly manner, required vaditors and steam pipes to" be carried from the street into the Duilding by steamfitters, and though common labourers could have done the work probably bettor and very much cheaper, the fitters at once struck if the tule were broken.
One cate is so colossully absurd that it will b ing. A truckman, one unloaded 'a large tors in front of a building under construction, piling them closer to the tramway lines than was allowed by city ordinance, but by the time the contractor noticed it all his men had gone for the day. Wish-Ing to" avoid. arrest for violating {he ive, he ho celled ly his come ton labourers to carry the material into the building. Phe following Monday mornings this contractor compa can he seams the building and then trlamphantly carry the things
tarry them back again end dump them from the. place they Iited them "This, of ourséy way the olden "age of the unions." San Francisco was unionist from the mayor down to the lowest. jobholder, and not until 1912 did things begin to change.
Such condition: naturally, could rot go on. The rebelled. This bullying and blackmailing had to stop. Of course, the unions did not admit defeat. They never have, though at the last Labour Day celebrations the unions of the whole of San Francisco bay region were unable to get more than 11,000 men to march in their parade, and in this region there'are approximate-75,000 alleged union members. But as they grew in power, the unions seized more and more power, and once they had it they used it so unintelligently, so autocratically and dishonestly, and to the obvious injury of the community, that all persons -oytside their ranks rose ist them. During the war they had things all their own way, but in 1920 precisely what ha: happened in the British coal strike happened here. The employers not only refused to acquiesce in higher wage demands, but countered with a proposal for lower wages and longer hours. The matter was submitted to arbitration. For monthi there was much bickering, but i 1921 the arbitrators handed in their, award which reduced wages in 17 of the 52 building trades by seven and a half per cent.
Employers were disappointed that the reduction had not been greater, but the unions declared that they would merely abide their time, and when the award became effective they would generally strike. This on May 9, completely tying the whole city. Negotiations were of no avail: the unions would not budge, Then a group of business and professional men, realizing that a deadlock had occurred and determined that the unreasonable unions choukl not cripple the commerce of the city, decided the try the "open shop." This group called in the financial leadery of San Francisco, and in less than two hours some $2,000,000 was pledged as a fond with which to fight the unions. The. contractors were sent for, and their pledge secured that they' would assist in the endeavour of the newly-organized Industrial Association of, San Francisco (July 1, 1921) to. safeguard the city against the tions. While the president body publicly announced that there was no desire to destroy the unions, promising that as soon possible an impartial wage board would be created to determine wages in all trades, and inviting—the strikers to return to work, reeruiting bean all over the country to replace the strikers. By the mid die of August, or in less than six weeks, the building trades—were! working at 69 to 70 per cent. of normal strength, By the end of the year the fight was over, the unions were in collapse, but peace reigned only unti? the following March, when the union plumbers delivered' the ultimatum thay unless the non-union plumbers were discharged they would strike. These non-tion plumbers had been brought in from other parts of the country, had been guaranteed work. so long as they wished to stay in San Francisco, and when their employers refused to discharge them, the whole of the plumbers walked out. But they were beaten, In a very short time enough non-union plumbers had been recruited to on, and the Industrial Asso-n controlled the wobbling contractors by bringing in the rule tht no plumbing contractor who was not willing to conduct his work on "open shop" lines could locally purchase plumbing materials, though the contractor was not compelled te employ all non-union men, two hon-unionists to 10 unionists being considered sufficient, The story of what followed is teresting one, but there is no here to goto details. Suffice. it to say that the unions, of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.