Earlier in these proceedings I took the opportunity of stating
that the employers, by the attitude they have assumed in this
conference, are placing themselves exactly in the same position
as the I. W. W. The employers' group represented in this con-
ference have put themselves on record as against agreements
with wage-earners as such. The I. W. W. in its propaganda, in
its declarations, have taken the position that workers should not
enter into agreements with employers. The position in which
the employing group has placed the employees of America is not
an enviable one.
The preamble of the I. W. W. organization has in its essence
this: The working class and employing class have nothing in
common. Having nothing in common, they do not seek agree-



INDUSTRIAL AGREEMENT 283

ment, they do not seek a conciliation, they do not seek collective
bargaining. They seek the opportunity of taking advantage, in
every opportunity which may present itself at any moment to
break an existing arrangement or understanding, to fight for
another, and to declare as a fundamental principle of its tenets
the confiscation of the property of the employers.
I admit that our trade union movement is not perfect, but I
submit that there is not a single voluntary organization in this
or any other country which has contributed so much to a con-
structive policy within rational lines. The declaration which we
have proposed is rejected and repudiated by the employing group.
They want shop organizations, the employers' union. They are
building upon quicksand. They are resting their hope upon
flimsy ground, in their benevolent and solicitous attitude toward
the workers in their employ. An organization means something.
