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GERMAN LABOR UNIONS.Samuel Gompcrs In hie article ou Labor in Germany in the Dally New* of August 21, said that “Centrulverbande (central unions) of Germany correspond to our American Federation of Labor. This statement is misleading, as there is a great difference between the Central-verbande of Germany (united in the General-kommisslan der Gewerkschaften”) and the A.F. of'L. I was a member of the German union (painters’ union) for more’ than^nine years (110) months) and I know the A. F. of L.The American Federation of Labor is organized strictly on craft lines and there are juris* diction fights and jealousies between different unions. The German unions are not strictly on craft lines and there are no jurisdiction lights or jealousies between them. The metal workers, with about 350,000 members, the wood workers, the miners, all with no district divisions, separate contract!, check off or fines, and the textile workers and others are more organised industrially than any one body in the A. F. of L.The German unions have no closed shops, r union buttons or union labels and when they * strike they strike for all men engaged in that particular industry. For instance, when the painters in Hamburg got 60 pfennig (15 cents) an hour that was the scale for every painter in that city, union man or nonunion man.On the other hand. If a workingman is a member of any one of the many parts of the A.F. of L. and he has to change his vocation for f one reason or another (as I did on account of ! lead poison); If he is a member of the painters’ ; union and has to quit his trade and wants to go as a waiter he has to Join the waiters’ union all over, just as if he never was organized. His membership book in the painters’ union does him no more good with the waiters* union than If it was a mere Y. M. C. A. membership card.The German unions have a universal transfer system and all a man has to do is to exchange his book of one union for one of the other and the time for which he paid dues in one is counted with the other. The German union's slogan is Ones a union man always a unionman.The A. F. of L. is a mere Job trust, a cartel!,* as we nay in Germany, and therefore does not even attempt to organize all the men In one trade in a given locality and keeps the undesirables* out through the medium of high Initiation fee# and the like. I can prove this by personal experience. The Gerraana have almost no Initiation fee (perhaps as much as 25 cents or 10 cents) and tend to organize all, whether highly skilled or notThe meetings of the German unions are open, except when forced by the police to allow only members at their meetings, when a sergeant-at-arms is appointed to look at the books of those attending, a thing which occurred twice in a local of which I was a member in four years.Chicago. CARL RATHJB.
Newspaper Details
Spokane Industrial Worker
Spokane, Washington, US
Thu, Sep 02, 1909
Page 8
Full Page
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Anonymous
IN, USA 20 Jul 2023
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