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- 12. And then?
- Well, with better wages, the workers could make better provision for themselves; with shorter hours more of them would be employed, and more leisure for self-culture would be available; with better conditions less accidents would occur; the percentage of sick would be enormously reduced; there would be fewer victims of industrial diseases, etc.
- 13. Then the unions only defeat their own purposes by adopting these policies?
- Exactly. Whenever a union tries to function anywhere else than on the job, it is neither successful as a union nor in any other capacity. The union is designed for one purpose—the regulation of the job in the interest of the workers. It cannot function in any other manner. It can no more be a union and an insurance society at the same time, than a saw can be a soldering iron, or a plumber can wipe a lead join with a shovel.
- 14. Should a union function only in industry?
- Absolutely. When a union confines itself to dealing directly with industrial problems, other things will be added to its achievements. The union is the key with which the workers can unlock the treasure house of industry and solve all their problems.
- 15. Should the employer be permitted in a labor union?
- No more than a coyotte in a sheepfold.
- 16. Why?
- Because the interest of the boss is to that of the worker as the interest of the coyotte is to that of the sheep. The union cannot serve the worker and the boss at the same time, though many of the workers believe it can be done.
- 17. Why can't the union serve both the employer and the employes?
- Because their interests are opposed. The boss wants low wages, while the workers want high wages; the employer wants the workers to speed up, while the worker does not wish to. So that it would be impossible for the union to serve these opposing interests.
- 18. Do not some unions admit the employers?
- These are not labor unions. They are employers'
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