ORGANIZATION OF EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES 1 69 



is there evidence of an exclusive contract by which both parties seem to 

 have united for the purpose of getting more than they otherwise could 

 out of the pockets of the public. They are very largely agreements as 

 to the conditions of work, hours, wages, holidays, etc. There is no 

 provision to hire only unionists, nor is there an arrangement by which 

 the unionists agree to work only for the members of the employers' 

 associations. This is all that is lacking to make the monopoly perfect 

 on both sides. 



The conditions in Chicago are such as to show that in certain lines 

 of work the fighting stage in the relations of labor and capital is well- 

 nigh over. The result is not so good as the public has hoped for from 

 the union of labor and capital. The success of the combination of labor 

 and capital in Chicago will prove an inducement to organization in other 

 quarters, and the result is likely to be a repetition of the extortion that 

 prevails in that city. 



In Chicago everything is unionized, both employers and laborers. 

 Here are some of the results of the employers and laborers getting 

 together. 1 Five years ago a struggle began. It was the Coal-Teamsters' 

 Union fighting for an increase of wages. Finally the Coal-Team- 

 Owners' Association and the Coal-Teamsters' Union entered into an 

 agreement regarding hours, wages, etc. They also made a secret agree- 

 ment the terms of which are as follows : 



" Party of the first part (the Coal-Team-Owners' Association) agrees to employ 

 none but members of the Coal-Teamsters' Union, local number 4, in good standing 

 and carrying the card of the organization." 



"We (the Coal-Teamsters' Union) further agree that we will not work for any 

 firm that does not belong to the Coal-Team-Owners' Association." 



The agreement was signed May 21, 1902. For fear of prosecution 

 it was slightly changed. The men agreed that they would use their 

 best endeavors to have all employers of coal teamsters become members 

 of the Coal-Team- Owners' Association. This is the same thing. This 

 agreement means that the Coal-Team- Owners agree to employ only 

 union men. The scab is driven out and competition is killed on the 

 side of labor. The men will work only for the association and the 



1 This account of conditions in Chicago is taken from Ray Stannard Baker in McClure's Magazine, 

 September, 1903. 



