Brief reports of activities in the first week of July, 1916 from New Bedford, Massachusetts; Ellendale, North Dakota; Seattle and Spokane, Washington; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; Bisbee, Arizona, Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Eureka, California.

‘What’s Doing in the I.W.W.’ from Solidarity. Vol. 7 No. 340. July 16, 1916.

Here’s A Bunch of Reports From Locals Showing Activity in Building, Textile, Clothing, Mining, and Other Important Industries.

New Bedford, Mass. The construction workers, mostly Italians and Portuguese, working in this city on the various jobs now under way, have organized in the I.W.W. They now work 8 hours a day and get 25 cents an hour pay. They want 30 cents an hour for pick and shovel men, and 35 cents an hour for hod carriers, and time and a half for over time. When they are a little stronger they will demand an eight hour day. The I.W.W. textile workers here are carrying on a vigorous agitation for the eight hour day. The craft unions here have passed resolutions favoring an eight hour day, and their members work 14. Where are their principles?

Ellendale, N.D. About two months ago a fire occurred in this town, destroying several business blocks and 50 residences. About four weeks ago rebuilding was started. Since then slaves have arrived and departed, majority remaining from one to three days. Contractors started to pay 20 to 30 cents per hour, the good husky “block” receiving the 20 and the one with indications of intelligence receiving the 30. Two or three I.W.W.s happened along with others and as usual began telling others why they should organize in the one big union. The consequence is that about 25 rebels are now doing business in Ellendale, and no doubt will soon demand better conditions. We expect to make a stand for $4 a day 10 hours work soon. Any I.W.W. near this vicinity should look it over. Del. 393, A.W.O.

Spokane local reports a street collection of $15.50 for the Iron Range strikers. The secretary is also willing to speak before the Snohomish workers and will take a collection there for the Minnesota miners. Seattle C.C.C. at their business meeting Sunday voted $10.00 for the strikers The secretary is also go buttons from members and sympathizers brings the total, for Seattle, to over $20.00. A committee to arrange for demonstrations, collections, etc., for the strikers was appointed.

Baltimore, Md. There is nothing new in the Strouse Bros. strike here. Everybody is sticking fine. We are getting workers to quit faster than the Amalgamated can get scabs. We should worry about that bunch. We have published “An Open Letter to the Amalgamated,” showing their ingratitude and treachery toward the I.W.W. There have been about 20 of our men and women arrested and about the same number of the Amalgamated. Many of their men have been arrested for carrying deadly weapons. Considerable shooting has been done by the scabs The only person injured was a bystander. He was shot in the leg.

Paterson, N.J. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn spoke here on the night of June 29. An audience of about 500 were present: John Golden of the A. F. of L. “United” Textile Workers, had, a “monster mass meeting” on the 17th of May at which 80 people appeared, about half of the crowd were I.W.W., who wanted to hear what he could say against the four-loom system. Although the meeting was supposed to be a protest, Golden never mentioned the four-loom system. It’s a delicate subject with him since he said, when it was introduced in Dougherty’s mill four months ago: “Four looms means progress.” The manufacturers are coining money in Paterson and cannot secure enough labor, so they plead with and beg the workers to run more looms, just for a while, and hold out inducements of big money to be made. So far, however, the workers haven’t swallowed the bait. The I.W.W. has moved into fine new quarters, at 48 Van Houten street, opposite the Orpheum Theatre. Local 152 has an office, reading room and a hall there big enough for shop meetings and lectures, I which will be held as often as good speakers can be secured in the various languages. The office and rooms are open every evening from 730 to 10 o’clock.

New York Local 179 is holding successful street meetings. Speakers Raison (Australia) and Jack Carney (Dublin). On the Fourth of July 5,000 men and women gathered in Union Square to celebrate the anniversary of Independence Day. Frank Walsh (Chairman Industrial Relations Commission) delivered a striking address. Its only bad feature was its advocacy of the ballot, after showing that the power of the Rockefellers in Colorado was an economic power. It was this power that gave them the power to shoot down the workers, according to Walsh himself. At the conclusion of the anniversary celebration another successful meeting was held, under the auspices of the I.W.W. Louis Kramer presided. He showed that it was not passive adherence to flags that they counted, but action in the workshop. Jack Carney, the chief speaker, stated that the I.W.W. stood for 365 Independence Days in the year, 366 days in leap year, not one The I.W.W. stood for the working class to be independent of the capitalist class, and so make Independence Day something real Literature was sold in great numbers. Great demand for song books we sold all that we had. Mother Jones was an interested spectator in the crowd.

Scranton, Pa. On July 3rd the hall at Parsons was closed to the I.W.W. by the owner, flanked by state police and deputy sheriffs, by order of the Mayor who is a mine boss at the Keystone mine. The Keystone is owned by Major Jermyn of Scranton. On a porch of a house a shirt sleeved miner was heard to boast a well-dressed crowd, “Well, they didn’t do that to the U.M.W.C.A.” The advertising for the meeting was torn down by company men. Geo. West has written a fool article for The Masses praising the U.M.W. eight hour agreement with the anthracite trust. Joe Ettor has written a reply to it. Tens of thousands of miners have struck against the agreement lauded by West. On July 4th a picnic was held at Avoca, under the auspices of the local there, that was a pleasant affair and a big success, in spite of the effort of the Polish priest to spoil it, by holding an opposition picnic a few hundred feet away. Ettor, Flynn, and several Polish speakers addressed. the crowd. Over $7 worth of literature was sold.

Bisbee, Ariz. Local 65, at its last meeting, started a relief fund for those I.W.W. who are in the pen or in need of funds. Only those of proven worth were considered. $44.50 was raised, with several names to pay in. The fund was divided between 6 different groups and fellow workers. First came Ford and Suhr: Jane Street: The Magnons, Schmidt of Dakota; Cline of Texas, Mat Schmidt and Dave Caplan. The cash was sent out the next day to those who most needed it. As soon as the next pay day rolls around the complete total will be known and divided equally. PRESS COMMITTEE

Seattle, Wash., July 4. The Lumberworkers’ Conference held here Monday, July 3, was well attended. Five or six hundred lumber workers were present. The conference was addressed by James P. Thompson, who was followed by a varied discussion from lumber workers on plans of organization. The district plan of organization was adopted A district is all territory supplied from a common center or shipping point. The nature of the job has determined this. For instance, all workers that leave Seattle for work are returned here when there is no work. The lay of the surrounding country, the means of transportation and communication make Seattle the distributing point for everything relating to the lumber industry in the Puget Sound district. This is the logical place for the headquarters of this district of lumber workers. This holds good for other districts as well. Portland is the supply place for Columbia river jobs, Aberdeen for Grays Harbor, Spokane for jobs in this district. The discussion on where the locals should be and what a local should be, was the main discussion of the conference. The proposition of having the locals on the job was attacked from many viewpoints. The tide turned in favor of organizing on the job. When put to a vote there was little opposition. It was also decided that seven workers, on a job may form a local, locals to get their charter from the district organization. Under good and welfare, these suggestions were made; the necessity of close co-operation of the men on the same job, and locals in same district and districts with each other, the necessity of keeping our papers alive and before the workers at all times and the necessity of staying on the job; also the necessity for unity of purpose and concerted action. The prevailing sentiments of the conference were ones of co-operation. and solidarity among the lumber workers. Unless we are deceived by appearances we expect to see the lumber workers carry on a vigorous campaign of education and organization throughout the Northwest.

Eureka, Cal., July 4. New hope is entering the hearts of the lumber workers in Humboldt County. Three speakers are now in the field spreading industrial unionism: Louis Parenti, Italian; Fred Esmond and Mortimer Downey, English. The efforts of the speakers here are being aided by low wages, bad conditions and company tyranny. Unskilled labor here gets $1.85 per day, for 12 hours. When the I.W.W began agitation, the Hammond Lumber Co. was paying only $1.75 per day. In a short time, this company came back to $1.85.

The most widely read of I.W.W. newspapers, Solidarity was published by the Industrial Workers of the World from 1909 until 1917. First produced in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and born during the McKees Rocks strike, Solidarity later moved to Cleveland, Ohio until 1917 then spent its last months in Chicago. With a circulation of around 12,000 and a readership many times that, Solidarity was instrumental in defining the Wobbly world-view at the height of their influence in the working class. It was edited over its life by A.M. Stirton, H.A. Goff, Ben H. Williams, Ralph Chaplin who also provided much of the paper’s color, and others. Like nearly all the left press it fell victim to federal repression in 1917.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/solidarity-iww/1916/v7-w340-jul-16-1916-solidarity.pdf