LABOR'S NEED FOR OLD AGE PENSION
Kennedy, Thomas J.
R'S NEED EOR OLD: AaEtBENSIOl Miners' Secretary Takes Issue With habotites Who Obbose- State Aid to the Aged - ., TO those amm slight, familiar wik the fm*njf tmr m* the need for oldve penskns...
...Members of some unions dare not let it be known that they are mem hers for fear of being blacklisted...
...That attempted bargain" failed but it so demoralised the strikers that the strike was broken, the union was destroyed, and, I believe, the lines axe still unorganized to this day...
...The iBBltltllll I Of our State met the early pert of thts year, that is, the members of the Beasts sod House were hi sussiuti for three months, but the real members of the Legtatatam were onfy ta session foe* about forty-eight hours and they were eoaspeeed ef three men, htr...
...Where unionism was once the rule the open shop has become general except for a few of the more powerful local unions...
...Unfortunately the old age pension bill was not on that schedule...
...Today moot of tke terge plants are non-eaten...
...The persons elected ostensibly as Senators and member* of the House simply went through the mechanics of putting the bills through according to orders...
...Men and women of all political and religious opinions associated together in the common work...
...The meetings of the Central Labor Union were an inspiration...
...We believe that it is only giving to the workers in America a measure of belated justice that inherently belongs to our people...
...tk» Federation, ts most heart enmo...
...A Parliament of Labor The writer served several terms as a delegate to the Central Labor Union, representing the iron, and steel workers...
...Backus had the fighting spirit and Idealism that are essential to a growing labor movement...
...The me* and women who have been active hi furtherance of this work are really pioneers In the movement of trying to bring about a solution of thfs problem...
...The scheme worked for about a year until through the over-development in the coal mining areas of the southwest and through competition with states south of the Ohio River, especially Kentucky, we found that part time emelovrnant and the shuttlnr down of high cost mines made the pension arrangement which our organization had started in that field practically prohibitive...
...It doesn't happen teffce wfth the preeusttpsillj...
...Is not as intense as it is in mining sections where our organization is not powerful enough to cope with the situation which has resulted in the replacement of old men 'with the younger men in industry...
...In making this statement I am conscious of the fact that Pennsylvania, the state which gave me birth and In which I now live, will probably be the last State in the Union to take up and adopt this very meritorious legislation...
...Evinger's union, the printers, and ReinboU'i union, the cigarmarers, proved to be the rallying centers around Which other unions clustered and before the end of the nineties they saw the fruit of their years of work emerge in the organisation of the Central Labor Union...
...In fact within the past several months operators In some of these Southern states have gone a little further than some of the operators in the northern fields where old men are replaced by younger men...
...While laatssoated In the Chamber ef Cesameree the latter body adopted an "open shop" resolution and preestdsd to carry it est The Molten Union was brekem ep...
...Last winter te the mining town of Bleknet te sa sIJbsbIb* count...
...Within a year the Central Laser Union said a heavy fullj far venturing on this pottey...
...That conference issued the call for the national convention which met in Pittsburgh in the following November...
...Our constructive program contemplates a system to take the place of the poorhouse and of charity and also to take the place of group insurance which was calculated to solve this problem, but which is used against the workers and many times is used for strikebreaking purposes...
...I do not believe it has any of these elements...
...Mellon of Pittsburgh and the Chairman ef the RepobHcan Party fa the State of Penney 1 Tarda...
...In the meantime a small group, most of them union men, organised the local branch of the Social Democi%ey in March...
...A strike of "*tbe carpenters was crashed, the membership of the anion aerlines, and only a handful remained to sack Bp odd Jobs...
...It seems that in aproaching these problems, in trying to arrive at solutions to bring about a redress of these wrongs, we first got to convince the government and the legislators that wa have a problem...
...We have tried it out...
...local Chamber of Commerce, a policy which has been followed by other central labor bodies with a consequent decline of prestige, power and influence of the unions...
...The humility and resignation exhibited in this document are utterly alien fi SB" genuine trade union idealism...
...As an officer of the labor movement in this country and as secretary of the largest organization within the American labor movement, I want to say, for the benefit of all concerned, that if I know the American labor movement and the sentiment in the American labor movement and the policies that members of the American labor movement believe in, labor is in favor of the system of old age pensions as advocated by this and other organizations of like nature...
...The bakers had ah big plants bat one organized...
...They are shells of former influential local bodies...
...In addition te Backus, Edward H. Ev inger of the printers, Philip Reinbold of the cigarmakers, and Eugene V. Debs, of the railroad firemen, were the active >spirita in organizing local unions "and finally founding the Central Labor Union...
...Local unions siiintpJted aad saBBatsd with the ostites* body and *t soon bsosm* one of the leading city organisations in the state...
...The old fighting spirit has been sapped...
...But while doing that they should not in the next breath proclaim that because this Association and a great number of international unions in this country are trying to protect and advance the interests of the aged * in industry, we are paternalistic and "socialistic" We are absolutely sincere In it...
...The application for affiliation was accompanied with the payment of three years' dues to the Chamber of Commerce and the Central Labor Union was admitted...
...We look at it in the same light and along the same line of reasoning as the judge and the school teacher and the policeman and the soldier and others who are now pensioned by various branches of the government in this country...
...It does not ask the Chamber of Commerce to "surrender any principles" which it "may think right...
...Had that spirit been displayed in the eighties and nineties no unions would have been organized- The document itself ignores the ruin which overwhelmed the trade unions as a result of following this policy...
...He was anxious to get the strike out of the way as be wanted the Republican nomination for sheriff...
...The Central liW Union no longer had any newer...
...It thtBaH is continued it wUl undents*) 4 stronger unions...
...Workers srs aawj listed for political agitation as tW*m for union agitation...
...Drifting to Disaster J£| Last year a young man weraas...
...We have tried to mafnfafn la our sgistlOBShip with the employer this proposition: first, that the wage or rate is oa the job sad sot on the lndtvtduel...
...The city ttessf has the aseeet ef swm» «rt and (tests...
...neither do we, except In the same light, mean to give ap any that we think right and just, bat we do hope and believe that working in the light of truth, reason and common sense, we shall ah be led to see the right and in the future work as one great concentrated and harmonious force to the end and that our fair city may become a center of happy and comfortable homes, and a busy, happy, prosperous and contented senate...
...They are not willing to admit that we have problems...
...Notwithstanding that practically all government employees in the State are covered by some form of old age pensions or retirement funds, including the judges of Pennsylvania who receive one-half of their salaries for the remainder of their lives after they have served twenty years in any judicial capacity in the Stats...
...Education bvMH The old fighting spirit must ss Organised labor must rsowsr thsjj which has been bartered for e dHRH era tion policy...
...I recall only one heated controversy to divide the delegates and this was due to the fact that in a street railway strike the president of the C. L. TJ...
...You cannot hope to accomplish much that we have sjasialsyaiul They are not ready to sjsJatR that...
...Because our *«* ful union movement protected uxm as citizens...
...The War—And Reaction , Then same the war aad its aftermath, the open shop drive in the years following the armistice...
...Married Men Consequently the old age security problem }n the mining districts, where the mine workers' organization maJntaias its economic strength...
...When we get these to admit that, we must pot our heeds tegethsr and try to ant** at rnsmiastna* as to how that prohlsin can best be solved...
...ht other words, we protect the rate and the earnings of a particular jo* er a particular position sagardleas of who ssppsss to occupy that parttcstar job...
...Many thoasands are unemployed and la the seiisaiidliia, minis* district* there are thousands of latoari asm thaw tesaatet was far twe or mere yean have gananiel ansa charity...
...We In the mining industry know that that is an impossible proposition...
...This is generally true of states like West Virginia and other states south of the Ohio River...
...A City of Misery Moreover, wages have declined since the trade onions leitlaien en this suicidal policy- UnskUW labor is paid aa tew aa W skate aa hear and thoasands ef workers are Bring tress head te hand...
...Some operators in the Southern states have gone so far as to replace the young married men with single men and they board the single men at a commissary and allow them the munificent wage of si.50 and board...
...We demand old age pensions as our right and as a matter of justice to the people that we have the honor of representing and of fighting for in America...
...Chambers of commerce have the upper hand...
...Both increased in influence and membership...
...The solution can be effective only by the payment of pensions to the aged, on the basis of equality and justice and as a matter of American right and in keeping with every principle of justice and humanity...
...Those of us who know the situation in the various parts of the country where it is intense, know that the poorhouse as it now exists is rapidly becoming a relic of barbarism and has no place in our civilization...
...Joseph Grundy of Philadelphia...
...Be *SS tfj listed sod his boss told hist thdj was discharged because of his idgg activities...
...Unions hi ether tnduatries have else bean saaterteBy weakLabor Finance* to Fight Unions...
...This is represented in the various measures that have been presented to the general assemblies in the different states from time to time...
...1 Something like this has com* teth* dues throughout the country *SSS unions have followed this Orris tbjgsjj tion policy on a local scale...
...Now that body Insists on the application of the open shop principle and if it is not to surrender that idea a growing trade unionism is impossible...
...The only bffls permitted to go through the Legislature were those that first received the, approval of the general assembly consisting of these three particular gentlemen...
...Weakening of Once Powerful Council Indicates Drift to Disaster < It is impossible to survey what has< happened in all these cities but we may select one as typical In mtny ways of all...
...He also became a member of the Socialist Party...
...Take our unemployment situation...
...Its logic, moreover, is absurd...
...The work was contracted far by the cHy aad it began with entea carpenters ample yi I. It was finished By non-anion werttTS and the Central Labor Union pas ess a boycott open Ji~ When the bah season opened there was ae teak ef ssteaateass and it was evident that the tersest was ineffective...
...We are advancing upon the basis of justice...
...He died a few years before the outbreak of the World War...
...We believe that the problem is one that should command the attention and support of every man and every woman in America who loves justice and humanity...
...On that same day the A. F. of L. News Service sent out the news that "Dick" Powers, ons of the polneers that met in the Terre Haute conference in 1881, had died in Chicago...
...Another one of the pioneers at this conference was "Dick" Powers, general president of the Lake Seamen's Union...
...This has been done in the States of Arkansas and Texas...
...The local political organisation finally was represented by five braaohes...
...a During the years when the siwsr*t«| a member of his union in Terrs BM was frequently a candidate for lstnffl flees on the Socialist ticket...
...With the development of extensive mechanical operations and with the mtroduction of machinery in the hard coal mining regions, we ted that the operator or the employer it always desirous of i eliminatine the older worker in that particular industry...
...And the American labor movement, in cooperation with the American Association for Old Age ecurity and with its friends outside of the movement will, in my opinion, in the very near future make it possible for old age pension legislation to be enacted by all of the states in this Union...
...Is the Tariff Paternalistic...
...The Civic Federation idea came into the councils of the central body, the idea that by associating with those against whom workers organise we may get something without fighting for it...
...18*7...
...That fight continued for years and the union men and their families boycotted the paper despite all alluring subscription plans its owners tried...
...In fact, tbsrt * * in Terre Haute that the Chamber Commerce may undertake to Stated the local Typographical Union, t*r • surviving and influential nates- • comes down from the earlier days sFS labor idealism...
...Today the Chamber of Commerce is practically the ruler ef the city and trade unionism is at a low abb...
...They were generally packed, with workers flocking from nearly all the industries of the city...
...Tht Sjjji was true of other union mta...
...On May 11 of this year the local papers reported a committee of three of the Building Trades Council meeting with Morton Hayman of the Chamber of Commerce and promising the latter cooperation in Bringing new industries to the city in the hope of "getting our share of the additional employment...
...IB spite of the class solidarity shown by members of the Chamber of OtaaBamt against unionism the Bunding Trades Council test April sent capitalist body...
...The political organisation was badly hurt by war persecution sad later by internal strife Meantime that Strang* psychology ef fk fsallsni that has affected so many unions m this country caane te Ten* Haute...
...We fought for forty years to solve the problem of liability...
...They may thwj pate as much as they want te te **| politics of the old parties as stt*-*dj ties is acceptable to the opes staSBBSS but labor politics is fought as ta* wa**j are fought...
...We had, a splendid library of books and a reading room where labor and radical publications were on file...
...As president or secretary of the body, these two men guided the organisation...
...There is a coincidence regarding the date of his death which will be referred to later on...
...As a youngster the writer of this article remembers the consecrated work of these men in trade union organisation...
...The only consolation we had was that the president of the C. L. U. was not elected sheriff...
...The printers spent many thousands of dollars of their own and were aided by their national organization...
...It requires no stretch of tke tafj inatioD to anticipate the day wast III unionism itself will pass mte BSU from this creeping disease...
...Not a word was said about union hours, conditions and wages...
...Progress in tf'e Nineties Rot till the early nil ties did the organization of unions in \ "re Haute proceed at such a pace that tui active men could look forward to the organization of a central labor body...
...A friendly corporation Jadge destroyed a union of the Jttaay bee driven with ens Jsmtotel order...
...Today we have te rights in such cities that fSarnhmfl Commerce wul respect...
...The Gazette...
...which became the Social Democratic Party the follow tag year and the Socialist Party in 1B01...
...The Barents faded ant...
...We' believe that it ought to be done and they have a right to do it...
...Qimsis.ii mtjy, we have got te fight and em have got to argue and we have got to present farts, net aloes te eat* amy tssittealar pioMeni but te get the publie officials ta this country to extant that there is a problem...
...A fighting trade unionism would insist on the same right which the capitalists and bankers in the Chamber of Commerce excercise, the unrestricted right of organization...
...In the mining sections of the southwestern states we have been able through our economic strength to cope more or less with the situation...
...We believe that security in old age is the inevitable right of our people...
...The old banner of the eighties bad been furled and the heirs of the veterans have staged this spectacle of submission and humility...
...This convention founded the Federation of Organize* Trades Unions which, a few years later, became the American Federation of Labor...
...the local branch of a powerful StS** tion became active in the local st*j of the Socialist Party...
...CoaWMdjj bodies ase wrecks of what they fem*F were...
...The city of Terre Haute, Indiana, may be selected for study because it has a historical place In American trade unionism...
...it has been tested and due to economic conditions in the industry over which we have ae control we found the scheme ef the organization an impossible and impracticable propositisay ' ' Th« Position Of Labor Now T realise that la the tabor movement in this country there is a difference of opinion with regard to whether or not the old age pension proposition is the proper one to pursue under the circumstances...
...Our Constitution in dealing with questions affecting trade or industry is very elastic but when it comes to human questions it is as rigid as the rock of Gibraltar...
...We tried as an experiment the scheme of having the organisation itself finance an old age pension plan...
...The logical fruit of this policy was to make application for affiliation with the...
...Now this brings up the question whether we might grow impatient in the long bitter fight that we have to make to solve these problems...
...By Thomas J. Kemredy International Secretary-Treasurer, United Mine Workers j 'J'HE need for old age pension as it affects the mining population a* am* PBamesy would be more intensive today were it not for the fact that the miner's organization was able to maintain old miners in thefr particular positions or jobs in the various mining sections of the country where our organization has economic strength...
...was discovered in secret conference with the railway officials...
...Let me point out further in this connection that the labor movement itself lately has sent committees to Washington for the purpose of advancing and protecting by tariffs certain Industries in this country...
...Evtnger and Reinbold were ¦ especially conspicuous as they were frequently seen on the streets sad by some people were pointed to as "cranks.'' To agitate organization of workers was considered as evidence of a peculiar mental twist Occasionally a strike occurred and Debs was always called in to serve as orator in defending the grievances of the strikers...
...There were the usual compliments paid to each other by members of the two organizations and the labor men were* now associated in the same organization with bankers, contractors, mill owners, real estate agents and capitalist organizations in general...
...The organization that I represent believes that a pension is no form of paternalism...
...It is a rather long document but its leading idea may be gathered from the following quotation: New we do not ask, except in the light at troth, risen and common sense, the surrender of any principles men may think Just and right...
...To concede the "principles" of the Chamber of Commerce is to concede fundamentals of trade unionism and invite physical and spiritual death to the trade unions...
...With unions dasaoysf *1 crippled by this Chamber of OsantetJ policy it is ten-fold mors diitksRll organise a Leber Party, or Paraa*4hhj or Socialist groups...
...One of the striking aspects of this tragedy is the fact that the three years' dues paid by the Central Labor Union into the Chamber of Commerce was used to destroy the anions and to extend the tnflarrvne of the open shop policy...
...R'S NEED EOR OLD: AaEtBENSIOl Miners' Secretary Takes Issue With habotites Who Obbose- State Aid to the Aged - ., TO those amm slight, familiar wik the fm*njf tmr m* the need for oldve penskns is rmdil****dad§4g*L • It is itrmgeani disaffomthtff to finffhot the **or movement as represented by the recent A. F. of L. conventions, ts far behind many social wetfw, frmUmai and amm pahhcat ormvmzatxons on this view of the failure of recent conventions of the A. F. of L. to owe endorsement to a program of state pensions for the needy* aged, the fattorning art*** by Thomas J. Kennedy, secretary -treasurer of hmo**t ummt in...
...I do not rsfer to it in any paternalistic or charitable way at all...
...nih<i We have a very serious problem cxmfrenUag a* with respect to provision for our aged people I believe we have already convinced people that this problem actually exists...
...Workers have SW glorious battles and can fight sa*wf* can rescue their organlzaaosB fTS...
...In fact the pension scheme only lasted for a period of about two years...
...That seems to me is a sufficient answer to those who proclaim that labor and other organizations ought to maintain their own pension systems...
...All of them were later members of the Socialist Party...
...Thoasands have tost the esty te resent yean aad assay basses ate tar rent...
...A stark bor progresslviam and the fighting spirit were forgotten...
...Sertosasnete sail...
...A strike, of one of the local unions brought to it the aid of the central bod v. I recall the long fight against the one non-union daily paper in the city...
...I real* las that in some trades they are proclaiming against old age pensions to be paid by the state, by the Nation or by the counties or by a triple arrangement between the state, Nation and county...
...THE DECLINE OF LABOR IN TERRE HAUTI By James Oneal IF THERE be any members of trade unions who think that an awakening is not needed to avert disaster to the whole movement theytare asked to consider what is happening to quite a number of central labor bodies all over the country...
...After a fight of soma ten years or more the paper was abandoned by its owners and the organised workers felt jubilant over tola victory...
...The American Federation of Labor had Its oriEin in a national conference held in that city in August, 1881...
...The A. F. of L. News Service of May 11 of this year announced the death of Powers in Chicago at the age of 85...
...It seamed that there was a spiritual affinity between the C. L. TJL sad the political organisation although there wet* no official relations between them...
...We insist upon ataintaining the rata on the particular job regardless of the age of the tadfvidual, with the result that we have bean able to successfully coat tti the situation ra resisting the astir* of the operator to replace the elder men with younger men...
...tke ehiMron at they could g* to seboeL It a ten fit part hate that the Building Titles fhjg eli desires to bring now liiiawriw thtj operation with the Chamber ef Cm**** and without any agreement naatoau s rardinr anion condition...
...Another amazing chapter is being written in the trade union history of Terrs Haute...
...Conatitatioaality Of Pension* We have got to amend our constitution in Pennsylvania before we can secure legislation of this character...
...There is another aspect ef tab a*| cidal policy...
...M was not one single Instance of S> ta* blacklisted...
...The asxt thing is to out the machinery into motion to bring about a solution ef this problem...
...Nobody has accused the proponents of this proposition with being paternalistic or seeking favors from the Government...
...The largest contrast stnee the end ef the war that affected the carpenters was the bailerag ef the Staetem, footing sheet a ha If-million Setters...
...Among those attending the Terre Haute conference was J. R. Backus, of Terre Haute, a shoemaker, who spent many later years helping to organize local unions...
...9 That is what labor men fast te^H cities throughout the United SUSS* because some recognise the ttt*»T yawns and desire to awaken their II era to it thev are susnectsd ef He motives by some leaders ia ths SRI If the blind or the indifferent httSJ way the whole labor movement *mP to final disaster...
...It was a splendid city parliament of labor...
...He had to leave the emjH cause the Chamber of CoiinssrfS tbP real government of the city, * tdpaM stituted extra-legal power, lnsth** # vindictive, and its rule it typiehlttwS prevails In too many cities...
...Significantly, these judges, themselves beneficiaries of an old age pension system, decided that so far as ether workers in Pennsylvania were concerned, they were not entitled to receive any compensation according to the Constitution of our State...
Vol. 8 • June 1929 • No. 24
