Page:William Zebulon Foster - The Bankruptcy of the American Labor Movement (1922).djvu/16

 Rh eminently the long hour work-day nation of the world. This is indeed a poor recommendation for the prowess of our labor movement.

Another matter which is vital in determining the real strength of all labor movements, and in which ours is sadly lacking, is trade union control over industry. In many European countries the trade unions are so thoroughly established in almost every branch of industry that the employers have come to accept them practically as permanent institutions. In such lands trade unionism has become recognized as an inevitable factor in industry. So well are the workers organized that scabs are almost a thing of the past. This is notably the case in England and Germany. In the latter country the trade unions have agreements covering every industry. No sane employer hopes to dislodge them, much less break them up. Consequent upon this firm grip on industry, which encourages them to look forward to the time when the mills and factories will be democratically owned and operated, the European unions have worked out elaborate systems of factory councils, guilds, etc., to take over the management of industry, and they have made substantial progress in establishing these organizations.

But things are profoundly different in the United State. Here the unions have such a slight grip upon industry that they hardly dream of such things as factory councils and guilds. Indeed, outside of the clothing industry, very few of our labor leaders would even know what such things are. The nearest approach we have had to such a movement was the one centering around the Plumb Plan, and Mr. Gompers neatly smothered that. As yet our trade unions have hardly won a semblance of recognition. Constantly they have to fight for their very existence. In not a single industry have they been able to force the type of recognition that is common in many European countries. The closest there is to such recognition is in the case of the four railroad train service organizations, and even these are constantly threatened. America is peculiarly the land of the "open shop." The "American Plan" is the correct name. Nowhere else but here is such an abomination to be found. With the great industries almost totally unorganized, and with vast armies of scabs available, the employers of this country have contempt for the trade unions. They look upon them as a passing phase, as presumptuous organizations which must and will be eliminated at the first opportunity. The present wholesale smashing of unions, which threatens