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Hospital service is rarely rendered except in case in the employment of the company, and as a gener free by the smaller companies. Only the larger quarters maintain company hospitals; the smaller ize the nearest public or private hospitals. In so panies have a yearly contract with some private the rate of cost is lessened to the company.

It is interesting to note, however, that the large an assessment upon all employees for hospital serv for medical service. The best examples of this are of the larger steel companies, where every employ cents a month for hospital service, and this acts as a on the part of the employee against the time wher require hospital attention. Nearly all of the themselves against damages for death or accident their own part, and some of them insure themselves cost of providing medical and hospital attention to in

The hospitals maintained by the larger operators ordinary circumstances and are well equipped. Und circumstances, such as in the case of a mine explosio tals as well as the many private hospitals are availab

Welfare work, other than that which may be medical and hospital attention and service, is confine providing of school facilities, and church and lodge welfare work in providing reading rooms, technical tion schools or classes, beautifying grounds, or effo toward cultural and esthetic development, is maintai the employers themselves indicated, intended. T companies in affording lodge and church buildings of the isolated mining camps, when the companies eith own expense a house for lodge meetings or supplem by the employees. The same is true of church bu company quarters on the outskirts of Birmingham an even this is not always done by the larger steel comp in the case of companies owning no company houses. trial community in the company quarters is large en churches of two or more denominations and several lo cases, the employees pay for their own buildings. Th ciple governing all companies in this respect is the deg of the communities composed of their own employees

The provision of schools by employees takes, in all form of supplementing the public school funds. In the of a camp, for example, the company applies to the lo authorities for a school which, on account of the numb pupils, is usually given them. Should the local distri be insufficient to provide for a building either wholly company usually provides the funds and in many ca arrangement whereby the building can be used for pu gious and lodge meetings. Separate schools for white are maintained, according to the Alabama laws, and s ings are thus provided.

The same policy is carried out in the supplementing funds for the maintenance of these schools. The public

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re opened only four or five months in the year, but in very instance, when this condition applies, the comment the funds so as to afford the children of the emht or nine months' session. One instance was found any assisted a white parochial school. In two cases it it the cost of thus extending the term was borne by a rata assessment of employees, according to the number a family, similar to that used in medical and hospital

of industrial communities within immediate reach of such as Bessemer or of Birmingham, the school systems es sufficient to take care of the children of all employees, panies do not contribute except through the regular

axation.

THE IMMIGRANT AND ORGANIZED LABOR.

ons are not recognized by employers in the Birmingham the extent of membership among employees is small. 3 table shows, by general nativity and race of individual, with trade unions of males in the households studied years of age or over and who were working for wages: ffiliation with trade unions of males 21 years of age or over who are working for wages, by general nativity and race of individual.

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Of 1,186 males in the households studied in this whom information was obtained, only 26, or 2.2 per ated with trade unions, the foreign-born reporti cent of their number, while the native-born repor cent. It is especially interesting to note the large vaks with union affiliations as compared with the Slovaks reporting 27.6 per cent, while the proporti Scotch, North Italians, French, Greeks, and South order named, range from 5.4 to 0.2 per cent. TH indicate, it would seem, that the employees of th industry with union affiliations in this locality are su bers of unions in localities in which they were prev and in which there existed a stronger organization d

LABOR DISPUTES.

Labor disputes, strikes, and all conditions resulting regarding wages and conditions of employment, have atively slight element in determining the character o tions in the Birmingham district for three reasons: First. All strikes have failed.

Second. The presence of so large a proportion of large extent prevented thorough unionizing of emp organization, therefore, outside of actual strikes has upon conditions of employment.

Third. While immigrants have been imported into strike breakers, a very small proportion of immigrant this purpose have become permanent residents. Labo as a result, had little effect upon the racial compositio These conclusions will, it is believed, be evident in of the history of labor disputes in the Birmingham di The first strike in the Birmingham district to affect immigrant employees was the coal miners' strike of 19 a strike in the coal mines in 1894, but as it was in the e industry in the district, it was of small consequence in occurred before the immigration of foreign-born miners ers had begun to any appreciable extent. The 1904 s bore a relation to immigrant labor because immigrants in to a small extent as strike breakers. A number of Poles, and a mixture of other races, so far as can be this date, were brought in. In only a few instances hav strike breakers remained in the district, the largest S nity being the most notable example of permanent imm result of this strike. Practically all other immigrants scattered to other sections of the United States as fast employees returned to work.

The proximate cause of the 1904 strike of the coal determination on the part of the operators to institute ce in wages, hours of work, and time of wage payments. the operators had based the rate of pay upon a slidin operated in conformity to the price of pig iron. The n prior to the action of the operators was 47 cents a ton f coal when iron was selling at $8 a ton. They now propo the minimum to 40 cents a ton when iron was selling at

n for coal when iron was selling at $9.50 per ton, and a 55 cents a ton for coal when iron was selling as high as or over. They also proposed to do away with semidays and institute monthly pay days instead, and to e-hour work day. These changes meant an hour longer , and a reduction of 10 cents per ton for the minimum ed coal and 7 cents a ton for the maximum. Another osed was the payment of "outside men" by the hour the day.

- smaller companies, having signed a temporary agreehe miners, were not directly concerned in the strike. ed Mine Workers of America met the proposition of the demanding a contract for two years, the eight-hour day, nthly pay day, the contract of the previous year with tes of remuneration to be continued, and a few changes classes of employees. In a statement quoted in the t the time, a member of the national board of the United ers stated that for the past ten years the miners had het and formulated some scale which they presented ators, and that the operators prepared a scale which they sented to the miners. Two weeks, or even less, he said, fficient for the operators and the miners to come to some In 1904, however, he stated that when the operators to meet the miners on any terms, and dissolved the operiation, the miners offered to submit to arbitration, which fused. This statement in its detailed showing of the facts have been correct, but the truth was that the operators up their minds to refuse to recognize the union in any operators' association, which had existed largely as a ford of discussing the wage scale and other matters with the therefore dissolved, and the furnace operators, all of whom ed mines, decided to stand on their own grounds after a cision was made.

ke was accordingly called on July 26, 1904, by the United ers of the Alabama district. It affected about 8,000 men, uded practically all of the miners in the State, with the of about 500 men in the commercial companies which had - agreements.

t few months of the strike constituted the really critical During that time many instances of lawlessness and dis1 violence occurred. The strikers, especially the white native origin, were supported by the union, but the negroes istrict in large numbers for other States. After the first s many of the strikers, especially the negroes, violated ement with the union and returned to work, and the operared all strikers, except those who were strike leaders or who guilty of violence to return under the terms of their original on. Practically all of the remaining commercial companies, ost part very small operators, soon signed agreements with , and left only the larger operators, who were also furnace , in the fight against the union. As soon as it was definitely that neither side would vield the operators brought in

native whites, as strike breakers as fast as they cou These immigrants were used largely to take the place both in the mines and in the tipples, and while bro one company largely, many of them spread to other e immigrants were largely direct from Ellis Island, and v very unsatisfactory except for the most unskilled laborers and miners were brought in from the min West Virginia, and the mill districts of New York, Ne sylvania, and Baltimore. The latter who were nativ used to take the place of the native whites who had g It is difficult to ascertain just how many men b union were on strike at any given time, The report o treasurer of the union on April 30, 1905, stated that 1904, there were 9,122 men on strike, but at the time made the union had on its membership rolls only 3,6 state that thousands of union men came back to work, reports indicate that many of the strikers left the work elsewhere. Both statements are probably true is that after the first few months, many of the immigr well as imported native white laborers went away fr as local negroes and native whites returned to work. two years comparatively few either immigrant or in laborers were present; the operators were dictating the wages, the union had not been recognized, and thin down to their normal condition.

The union organization found itself in a badly dis dition, and as the price of pig iron went up in Janu wages of the pick miners were raised by the company ton, which was the maximum-a fact which made th of the strike on the part of the union very difficult. T wages, as based on the price of pig iron, had started as ber, and soon after that time all deputies for the preserv were found unnecessary.

About the time of the coal-miners strike of 1904, ther of furnace men in the blast furnaces and steel mills, bu sympathetic movement. In fact it started earlier, its being as early as October, 1903, but it was declared 1904. The reduction of wages of the open-hearth men day and 6 cents a ton before the closing of the mills in the a fixed wage of $3 a day and no tonnage was the cause The men demanded $3 a day, with 4 cents a ton add strike caused a cessation of work in all of the departme for about two weeks, and involved about 60 furnace n sions were made by both sides and work was resumed No immigrants were involved, and the strike did not as tions large enough to necessitate the calling in of skilled men from other sections. No union was involved, as men were not affiliated with any labor organization.

One result of this first period of labor dispute in the district, so far as immigrant labor was concerned, wa foreign-born unskilled laborers were left in the district erable number of them had, during the whole period of been brought in; but the large majority of them scatte

sections of the United States as fast as the old mon dosent

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