ployers; but the Solicitor for this Department, who was appointed commissioner of conciliation, December 3, 1913, secured conferences with the employers involved, whereupon numerous individual settlements were effected. The settlement proposals to which the commissioner of conciliation had obtained the assent of the wage-earners' organization were manifestly so fair that, although rejected by the employers' organization, the constituents of the latter could no longer be held in hostility to the wage earners. The strike, therefore, came speedily to an end. MEDIATIONS REJECTED. It is to be regretted that my report must refer to cases in contrast with those in which settlements were made. Although settlements have been the rule, unfortunately there have also been exceptions. This has been due to the unconciliatory disposition sometimes of the interests involved. Whenever mediation by this Department has been solicited by both sides to a labor dispute, or by one side and acquiesced in by the other, a settlement has been effected in which the industrial interests of both sides have been fostered, industrial order conserved, and a spirit of industrial cooperation between employers and wage earners encouraged. MINOR INSTANCES. The iron molders' strike at Erie, Pa, affords a minor instance of the refusals to accept mediation. At the request of organizations representing the wage earners' side of that dispute, the Department of Labor sounded the organizations representing the employers' side, doing so with reference to the disposition of the latter toward considering possibilities of amicable adjustment. Although the accredited representative of this Department was courteously received, he was discouraged from making a formal offer of mediation. Another minor instance was in connection with a labor dispute in the Becker and the Sturtevant factories near Boston. A strike over wages was under way. At the instance of organizations representing the wage earners involved, this Department offered mediation. But the employers, though courteous, were unyielding in their refusal to consider any other terms than unconditional resumption of work by the striking wage earners at their former wages. Early in April, 1913, the Department was advised of an impending strike at San Francisco, Cal., of wireless telegraph employees of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America. The reason given was insufficient wages. W. J. McConnell, of the Immigration Bureau, and G. W. W. Hanger, of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, were detailed as commissioners of conciliation, the former for service at San Francisco and the latter in New York. The company having refused to adjust the dispute through conciliation and also to enter into arbitration, the commissioners of conciliation were unable to effect a settlement and the impending strike began on the 22d of April, 1913. A similar spirit in three labor disputes of magnitude and serious public concern has prevented the Department from establishing conciliatory relations that might have produced fair settlements. In each instance a strike is still maintained, to the detriment of the legitimate interests of both sides and to the disturbance of the orderly industrial relations which public interests require. One of those disputes is in the shops of the Pere Marquette Railroad system, another is the coal-mine strike in southern Colorado, the third is the copper-mine strike in northern Michigan. In each instance mediation was requested by the wage earners involved and rejected by the employers. PERE MARQUETTE RAILROAD SHOPS. The Pere Marquette Railroad is in the hands of receivers appointed by a Federal court. Between the receivers and certain wage earners formerly employed by them employment contracts with shop organizations were in force down to about May, 1913. In connection with proposed renewals of those contracts, which were already past the date of expiration by their terms, a labor dispute developed while the parties were in negotiation. In consequence of this dispute a strike began in one craft of one of the shops. The negotiations were thereupon broken off by the receivers. They professed willingness, however, to resume negotiations upon restoration of the status quo as it existed before the strike. The representatives of the wage earners concerned professed a corresponding willingness to restore the status quo and asserted that they were on the point of securing its restoration when the receivers imported a large body of men from "strike-breaking" labor agencies in Chicago. Upon the introduction of those men in the places of the striking craftsmen in the one shop the organized crafts in all the shops struck. The striking wage earners still insist that the new men were "strike breakers" temporarily employed. The receivers deny that many were of that class and assert that all now there are wage earners in regular employment. It is, however, clear that a labor dispute of concern to the railroad, to a large number of trained craftsmen, and to the public has for seven months continued in connection with the shops of the Pere Marquette Railroad system. When representatives of the striking wage earners solicited mediation by this Department, and the friendly offices of the Secretary of Labor were consequently offered to the receivers, his offers were rejected on the ground that no labor dispute existed in the shops. By this the receivers meant, as they explained, that their shops were fully equipped with competent craftsmen, between whom and themselves there was no controversy. They refused to recognize the strikers as having any, longer any labor interest in their shop affairs. The fact ought to be stated, perhaps, that the striking craftsmen were citizens of the towns in which the shops are located, many of them owning their homes, and that the craftsmen who displaced them were strangers in those places. It should be stated also that at the time when the receivers informed the Department that there was no strike in their shops the imported men in the Grand Rapids (Mich.) shops were housed in box cars and tents on the grounds of the company outside of Grand Rapids, and "pickets" of the strikers were stationed at the town boundary. When the receivers had finally refused the mediatorial offers of the Department, declining to enter into any kind of conciliatory conference, directly or indirectly, with their former wage earners, nothing remained for the Department to do in the matter except to confer with the Federal court to which the receivers are responsible, and this it has done. Its acknowledgments are due to the district judge for his courtesy in the matter, but the dispute remains unadjusted. COAL STRIKE IN COLORADO. The coal strike in southern Colorado, the second of the larger labor disputes in which this Department has been asked by wage earners involved to mediate and in which its friendly offices have been rejected by the employers, could have been settled upon fair terms had the proposals of the Department of Labor for arbitration by an unbiased board chosen by mutual agreement been promptly accepted. The miners were willing, but the employers refused. No further concession was offered by the employers by way of conciliation than that hereafter they would obey the laws of the State of Colorado relative to mining and mine labor. This offer was declined by the miners as a conciliation offer, on the ground that an offer to obey laws intended for the protection of wage earners is not a concession in a labor dispute. When the strike began there were approximately 13,000 coal miners in Colorado. Of those about 2,000 were working in the northern coal fields and about 3,000 are believed to have left the State. Between 90 per cent and 95 per cent of the remaining 8,000 went out on strike, and of those that struck about 5 per cent have returned to work. The remainder, nearly 7,000, are still on strike. "Strike breakers" have been imported by the employers, some of them from outside the State. It is alleged by the miners that the imported men are hired under pretenses that there is no strike. This allegation, however, is denied by the employers. Many persons have been killed-probably 30 or 40 on each side—and guerrilla warfare continues. Each side places the responsibility for this on the other. Among citizens of Colorado other than those engaged in mining it is asserted that a feudal system holds sway over the coal regions, sometimes benevolent and sometimes otherwise; that the coal companies are absolute in their respective coal camps, not only as to industrial relations, but also as to social and political affairs; that in strike periods miners are frequently interfered with in their access to post offices, which are usually located on company property; and that armed guards have been employed by the companies to intimidate and coerce workers. The companies deny all this, their representatives making the countercharge that the miners have bought large supplies of firearms. Some of the miners admit purchasing firearms, but assert that they have done so solely for the purpose of defending their persons and their homes against the armed guards of the companies. CALUMET COPPER STRIKE. Third of the larger labor disputes in which mediation by the Secretary of Labor has been requested by the striking wage earners but rejected by their employers is the strike of the copper miners in northern Michigan. This strike began July 22, 1913. At that time the total number of employees was, in round numbers, 15,500, of whom 12,000 worked underground. Among those working above ground were about 1,100 in stamp mills. The stamp-mill workers have not joined in the strike, but they were compelled to quit work when the supply of rock for stamping and smelting gave out in consequence of the strike by the others. Of the total number employed (15,500), about 9,000 belonged to the Western Federation of Miners, and about 7,000 are still on strike. Upon being requested by the wage earners' side of this dispute to mediate with reference to it under section 8 of the organic act of the Department of Labor, the Secretary of Labor detailed John A. Moffitt from the Bureau of Immigration, appointing him to act as commissioner of conciliation. John B. Densmore, Solicitor of the Department, was subsequently appointed commissioner of conciliation to supplement the work of Mr. Moffitt. Both commissioners proffered their friendly offices to the employers and made every reasonable effort at conciliation. It has been impossible, however, to bring the parties to an amicable understanding, principally because the employers have refused to consider any terms which do not include an agreement by the miners to renounce their labor organizations. The Department could not in fairness advise the miners to accept that condition against their will. Three official reports have been made-one by Walter B. Palmer, of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and one by each of the two commissioners of conciliation named above. Publication of Mr. Palmer's report, as well as Commissioner Moffitt's, was postponed, lest premature publication embarrass further efforts at conciliation. But upon receipt of Commissioner Densmore's report, all three were made public. The unyielding disposition of the parties to this dispute seemed at that time to have made friendly conciliation impossible. No reason remained, therefore, for further postponement of publication. MISCELLANEOUS CASES. Of the requests for mediation by the Secretary of Labor that were not acted upon, one related to a telephone operators' strike in progress at Boston in April, 1913; another to a strike in progress at the Draper mills, Hopedale, Mass., in May, 1913; a third to a dispute in the Corcoran Chemical Co., of Boston, and a fourth to a building trades' dispute in New York City. In none of these cases did the circumstances warrant efforts at mediation by the Department. In the garment makers' strike in Philadelphia, however, the Department acted in cooperation with the Pennsylvania department of labor and industry, at the latter's request, with a view to bringing the disputants to a friendly adjustment of their dispute by arbitration or otherwise, if possible. While progress was making toward an adjustment by mutual concessions, the wage earners involved, finding themselves unable to hold out longer, surrendered their claims. REPORT OF THE SOLICITOR. As the creation of the office of Solicitor of the Department of Justice for the Department of Labor was coincident with the creation of this Department, its work relates only to the period from March 4, 1913, to the close of the fiscal year. Following is a summary of the work for that period: Legal opinions rendered, formal.... 22 Claims, workmen's compensation act, involving examination as to law and facts. 465 Bonds, contract, examined, approved, or disapproved.. 2 4 307 Miscellaneous matters embracing everything submitted for advice or suggestion of the Solicitor or for the formulation of departmental action, not included in the foregoing items.... Total number of matters disposed of 28 849 |