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—TON WORKERS'BULLETIN PuMuh^ by ,h. But,.- Worllw,P,.tec,i.. 10. ,9,,SPECIAL editionThe Grievances of the Button Workers of Muscatine, IowaAND WHAT THEY WANTAddressed to the Governor of Iowa, the citizens of Muscatine County, the business men of Muscatine and all friends of justice, good business and gpod* citizenship: -. . In a P«,iod of fifteen years, pearl button manufacturing has become theprincipal permanent labor emplojdng mdustiy of the city.We charge that the grievances hereinafter complained of are due to the conduct of the eight or nine firms or corporations whose factories employ a large portion of all of the button workers of Muscatine, namely: McKee Bliven Button Co., Hawkeye Pearl Button Company, The Pioneer Button Company, Leo H. Hirsch Co., Amsterdam Button Co., Vienna Pearl Button Mfe Co The Automatic Button Co., U. S. Button Co.We charge and stand ready to submit proof of the following facts:1—That by deception and fraud, in false weights and counts, our employers have m recent months deprived many of us of our just pay for work done, so that we have recently received from twenty-five to fifty per cent, less pay than we received for the same amount of work two years ago.2 That in the presence of the Governor of Iowa, on April 29tli, 1911, our employers above named entered into a written contract with us which contains the signatures of said firms, our representatives and also that of Hon. B. P. Carroll, governor of Iowa,That said contract has been broken and repudiated by our employers and we have been injured, and the Governor of Iowa has been treated with contempt by the firms or corporations who are parties to the said contract.3—1That by fraudently reducing our pay so that our necessities have required the immediate use of all moneys earned and instituting a system of discounts at the rate of five per cent, per week on our earnings if we collected them three days after they were due, or else requiring the. workers to wait ten days for their pay, many of our employers have taken our money from us at the rate of 110% per annum on every dollar earned each week where the discount system is in use. An illustration of this system is found m the following assumption:Let us presume that on January 1st, 1910, a button worker left his last week’s wages amounting to $10.00 with his employer and one year afterward he asked for it and was told that there was a so called discount charge of fifty cents a week for fi%-two weeks or $20.00, that his ten dollars would be kept on account of the debt and he owed the balance of $16.00 to his employer.^ ^U1 employers agreed not to discriminate against us by reason ofour membership in our union, but hundreds of our members have had their incomes reduced and have been abused, while many othere have been discharged blacklisted- and locked out for no reason except the fact that they were members of our union.5 Onr union is our only means of defence against the dishonesty fraud and oppression of our employers. We complain because of onr employers’ efforts to destroy our union has deprived us of our means to earn a livino- aud frc^ us to secure funds from organized labor to maintain a commissary’ and free eating room for our unfortunate members. ......6 We complain of the unsanitary conditions under which we are compelled to work, the lack of fans, blowers and appliances to remove the poisonous shell dust from the air of the working rooms; we call attention to the fact that if the button factories of Muscatine were moved two miles east and operated for one hour in the manner they are operated in Muscatine all the factory^owners would be criminals subject to a fine and imprisonment for operating their factories filled with poisonous dust in violation of the Illinois statutes.1 nWe ask the LeSlslature °f Iowa to enact a law which will protect our health from vicmus factory conditions which cause eight out of every ten of our members to suffer with catarrh and throat trouble.7—We object to the manufacturers’ effort to create fear and prejudice m our city by making false threats to move their factories away.We recommend that the factory owners read the factory and labor laws of other states, for the purpose of finding another state in all the United States where they could more safely cheat, injure and oppress their employees than they do m Iowa. There is no other place where they can get such intelligent, efficent service for the price they have heretofore paid us A little serious consideration of the history of the button industry, the factory and labor laws of other states, and the labor market and wage conditions throughout the United States will quickly convince any citizen of Muscatine county tae t!ireafc to move the factories is a silly act of deception.i 8TT? S16 taXpayers of Muscatine county we complain of the acts ofthe sheriff of this comity m bringing foreign, non-resident men of questionable • character and no occupation into the city of Muscatine, authorizing them to act as deputy sheriffs, and then attempting to stand before the publicas a wise man and a hero, while his official actors, under the cover of authority, proceed to establish, fake breaches of the peace, make false arrests and do other unlawful acts for the sole purpose of creating prejudice against the buttonworkers; to thereby aid certain citizens of the county to cheat, oppress andinjure men and women, whose necessities force them to remain under the control of citizens whose selfishness and greed for money exceeds their conscience or sympathy for those enduring suffering, hardship and abuse. Muscatine was peaceful until these sluggers arrived, while here they must have some disturbance as an excuse for collecting their money and holding their jobs.We call attention to the fact there has been no violence or disorder in Muscatine except during the periods when the “deputies from abroad,” commended by the “misguided business men,” have been in town.9_We charge the sheriff of the county of Muscatine with unlawful . C0nduC7t and aTcts tendmS to incite to riot and disorder, when in gross violation of the law of Iowa he has incarcerated boys and girls of ages ranging from 11 to 14 years in the .jail of Muscatine county.The statutes ot Iowa provide that no child who has not reached its' seventeenth bmthday shall be imprisoned or kept within the enclosure of any vjail. We appreciate the prompt discharge of these children by the court.10 We charge that the chief of police of Muscatine has been guilty of conduct unbecoming a peace officer and acts tending to incite riot and disorder. He has caused one of our members, a pure, defenseless girl to be imprisoned m the company of lawbreakers of the other sex in violation of law and that he has arrested button workers and held them without authority of aw, refused them food and drink and the priviledge of counsel.Another young woman has been arrested and thrown into jail without cause and the chief of police has held her in legal custody for four days and continues to so hold her without exhibiting any legal record of a charge agamst her or permitting her to come before a magistrate for a hearing or making a written charge against her as required^by, lawv* . ...11 We complain of the conduct of the police judge ahd the chieLOi police of Muscatine in depriving defendantswho are button workers and members of bur union, the right to a trial by jury for the reason specified by the chief of police that “no jury would convict them,” and then the said magistrate proceeds to fine and imprison the defendants for no apparent purpose except to incite prejudice and enmity between the citizens of our city. .We know that the officers and counsellors of the Button Workers’ Protective Union are the most efficient conservators of the peace in MuscatineThey are constantly, advising and persuading all citizens to forget, forgive and submit to the vicious conduct and unlawful acts of the so called conservators of the peace; that is, the sheriff, the chief of police and the armed foreign sluggers acting as county officers.12—On October 3rd, 1911, the button manufacturers succeeded in gathering over three hundred of the business men into a meeting at which they passed a resolution containing the following:The history which resulted in the present situation conclusively showsthat organized labor as exemplified especially in the Pearl Button Workers’Union, is largely a mask for economic fallacies that make against social or-der and permanent prosperityOur objectionable economic fallacies are simply a demand for common honesty and fair- dealing; they tend toward “social order and permanent prosperity.” We challenge the button manufacturers to bring their grievances into the forum of public opinion and their answer to our grievances. Then you can drawyourVown'conciusioasaboutriighteous-ness, truth, good order aud prosperity among the people.A -We have shown that the manufacturers in conforming to their economic ideals have deceived and broken faith with the Governor of ■Iowa.B—We have shown that the manufacturers have broken and repudiated their contract with us.C—We have shown that by craft and cunning through a so called system of discount, the manufacturers have deprived our members of their just earnings at the rate of $26.00 per year each, or $26,000.00 on each 1,000 of our members who suffer this wrong.D-That the manufacturers cheat us by an arbitrary system of hunting the buttons made by us, so that upon the whim of our employers we maybe compelled to make from 200 to 300, or more, buttons for each gross paid tor and yet the manufacturer cards and sells all of them.E-One of the button manufacturers is a stockholder in Senator Lomner’s La Salle Street National Bank of Chicago, of which the Chicago Inter-Ocean is the official organ. The Inter-Ocean sent a reporter to see its Muscatine friend and then published an article which every person who has even a slight knowledge of the pearl button industry, or even common sense knows to abound m falsehood and mis-statements. It tells about a button cutter receiving $30.00 per week, sorters $16.00 per week and societyffolks carding buttons at church socials, while riding in automobiles, or while launch riding on the river for the sum of one and one half cents a gross. Then the Recoiff of Muscatine, the official mouthpiece of the button manufacturers, quotes the Inter-Ocean m full, declares its article to be true, and to increase strife and ferment trouble m our city, the reprint is circulated throughout our city.Disregard for the Governor of Iowa, contract breaking, bad faith cheatmgm counts, weights and measures, filching by tricks and cunning, inciting not, breeches of the peace, prejudice and anger; importing and officially quahfj mg lawbreakers who are not residents of the State of Iowa contrarv to the spirit, purpose aud intention of Sec. 510 of the Code of Iowa doiue needless injury to the health of large numbers of the citizens, denying legal rights to the button workers, are not acts tending toward “social order,” peace good fellowship and happiness in our city; these acts on the part of the button manufacturers and their aids should not be commended.Why should the citizens of Muscatine give their sympathy and moral support to a small group of men whose greed and whose moral and civic ideals and conduct is so destructive to the city’s welfare.FRED RAY, President Lb ROY JOHNSON, Vice-President 0. C. WILSON, Business Agent MISS PEARL McGILL, Recording-Sec. DANIEL BORGSTADT, Fin.Sec.-Treas,Claus Lemkau John Tetrick Frank Fuller Q. C. WilsonAnna Richley Emma DrischPearl McGillMembers ofthl Executive Boa
Newspaper Details
Muscatine Button Workers Bulletin
Muscatine, Iowa, US
Thu, Oct 05, 1911
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
IA, USA 28 Apr 2025
Other Publications Near Muscatine, Iowa
Muscatine Journal and News Tribune
New Indexed Atlas of Muscatine County Iowa
Atlas of Muscatine County Iowa
Muscatine Daily Journal
Muscatine Weekly Journal
