Page:William Zebulon Foster - The Railroaders' Next Step, Amalgamation (1922).djvu/6

Rh this they have induced the pliable Railroad Labor Board to abolish the national agreements, and in many cases the eight hour day itself; wages have been slashed to the bone and more reductions are in sight. Piece work is being established on many roads, likewise company unions. In fact the railroads are carrying on a great drive—which is all too successful—to reestablish pre-war conditions of slavery for their workers. The only way this campaign can be resisted effectively is for the workers on the railroads to develop the strongest, most closely-knit organization possible. And this cannot be achieved until the entire body of them are fused together into one all-inclusive organization.

This anti-union campaign is, of course, calculated to reduce railroad workers to utter helplessness so that we may be ruthlessly exploited by the railroad owners. The latter are in business solely for profit. In their greed to make money they consider all means legitimate. They are the biggest single gang of thieves in the world. Humanity and fair play cut no figure with them. So long as their own profits are forthcoming they care not a rap for the sufferings of their workers. That is why they have so bitterly fought every working improvement in the railroad industry; collective bargaining, better wages, shorter hours, the sixteen-hour law, the safety appliance laws, etc. Because it paid them well, they were entirely content to have their workers exhausted by from 25 to 60-hour runs, abused like dogs by tyrannical foremen, pauperized by low wages, destroyed by piecework systems, crushed to death by faulty equipment, etc., etc. The only protection the workers have had from the most savage exploitation, the sole thing that has kept us from sinking into complete degradation is our trade unions. These organizations have achieved results entirely upon the basis of the amount of power they have been able to exert. The railroad owners can appreciate no other argument than that of might. With them might is right.