Finally, sabotage is a word that expresses the whole philosophy and practice of revolutionary labor.John Spargo, in his "Syndicalism, Industrial Unionism and Socialism," traces the origin of the word to the dockers' union in London.Attempt after attempt had proved futile to win by strikes "the demands of these unskilled workers.The men were quite at the end of their resources, when finally they hit upon the plan of "lying down on the job" or "soldiering." As a catchword they adopted the Scotch phrase ca'canny, to go slow or be careful not to do too much.As an example they pointed to the Chinese coolies who met a refusal of increased wages by cutting off a few inches from their shovels on the principle of "small pay, small work." He then goes on to say that "the idea was very easily extended.From the slowing up of the human worker to the slowing up of the iron worker, the machine, was an easy transition.Judiciously planned "accidents"might easily create confusion for which no one could be blamed.Afew "mistakes" in handling cargoes might easily cost the employers far more than a small increase in wages would.Some French syndicalists, visiting London, were greatly impressed with this new cunning.But as they had no ready translation for the Scottish ca'canny, they ingeniously abstracted the same idea from the old French saying "Travailler a coups de sabots"--to work as if one had on wooden shoes--and sabotage thus became a new and expressive phrase in the labor war.
Armed with these weapons, Haywood and his henchmen moved forward.
Not long after the first convention in 1905, they made their presence known at Goldfield, Nevada.Then they struck simultaneously at Youngstown, Ohio, and Portland, Oregon.The first battle, however, to attract general notice was at McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, in 1909.In this warfare between the recently organized unskilled workers and the efficient state constabulary, the I.W.W.sent notice "that for every striker killed or injured by the cossacks, the life of a cossack will be exacted in return." And they collected their gruesome toll.
In 1912 occurred the historic strike in the mill town of Lawrence, Massachusetts.This affair was so adroitly managed by the organizers of the Workers that within a few weeks every newspaper of importance in America was publishing long descriptions of the new anarchism.Magazine writers, self-appointed reformers, delegations representing various organizations, three committees of the state legislature, the Governor's personal emissary, the United States Attorney, the United States Commissioner of Labor, and a congressional committee devoted their time to numerous investigations, thereby giving immense satisfaction to those obscure agitators who were lifted suddenly into the glare of universal notoriety, to the disgust of the town thus dragged into unenviable publicity, and to the discomfiture of the employers.
The legislature of Massachusetts had reduced the hours of work of women and children from fifty-six to fifty-four hours a week.
Without ****** adequate announcement, the employers withheld two hours' pay from the weekly stipend.A large portion of the workers were foreigners, representing eighteen different nationalities, most of them with a wholly inadequate knowledge of English, and all of an inflammable temperament.When they found their pay short, a group marched through the mills, inciting others to join them, and the strike was on.The American Federation of Labor had paid little attention to these workers.
There were some trade unions in the mills, but most of the workers were unorganized except for the fact that the I.W.W.had, about eight months before, gathered several hundred into an industrial union.Yet it does not appear that this union started the strike.It was a case of spontaneous combustion.No sooner had it begun, however, than Joseph J.Ettor, an I.W.W.organizer, hastened to take charge, and succeeded so well that within a few weeks he claimed 7000 members in his union.Ettor proved a crafty, resourceful general, quick in action, magnetic in personality, a linguist who could command his polyglot mob.He was also a successful press agent who exploited fully the unpalatable drinking water provided by the companies, the inadequate sewerage, the unpaved streets, and the practical destitution of many of the workers.The strikers made an attempt to send children to other towns so that they might be better cared for.After several groups had thus been taken away, the city of Lawrence interfered, claiming that many children had been sent without their parents' consent.On the 24th of February, when a group of forty children and their mothers gathered at the railway station to take a train for Philadelphia, the police after due warning refused to let them depart.It was then that the Federal Government was called upon to take action.The strike committee telegraphed Congress: "Twenty-five thousand striking textile workers and citizens of Lawrence protest against the hideous brutality with which the police handled the women and children of Lawrence this morning.Carrying out the illegal and original orders of the city marshal to prevent free citizens from sending their children out of the city, striking men were knocked down, women and mothers who were trying to protect their children from the onslaught of the police were attacked and clubbed." So widespread was the opinion that unnecessary brutality had taken place that petitions for an investigation poured in upon Congress from many States and numerous organizations.
