“As a last resort the committee representing the union has forwarded to Traction Manager Green a communication suggesting arbitration, and the officers are authority for the statement that this is the last move the men intend making in the negotiations with the company. No reply had been received early this afternoon. The agreement expires tomorrow, and unless a settlement is reached before then, the men on the three roads will be called out on Saturday morning, with the probable result of a complete tie-up in the traffic on the two suburban and the city lines.”
Times August 23 1906
The likelihood that there would be a strike involving the Cataract company and the workers on its three transit lines seemed to change almost on an hourly basis. For the company there seemed to be a rock solid commitment to the position that it would not negotiate with the union which claimed to represent the approximately transit worker. Instead the company wanted to have three separate deals, one with each of the lines.
As for the union, a large number of the drivers, particularly the younger men, were fed up with the company’s approach and wanted a strike immediately. Older drivers and union leadership, both local and international negotiators preferred a more cautious approach, contending that both sides should continue communications. If a complete breakdown of negotiations occurred, arbitration should be the next step.
Both sides of the dispute continued to present their positions through letters which were published in the local press. For example, the Company argued that it could increase salaries because it was losing money in the transit side of its operations:
“The men smile at Mr. Green’s statement that the Cataract Company is not in the railway business. They point out that the company was reorganized sometime ago as the Hamilton Cataract Power, Light and Traction Co., and say they have ample proof that it owns the street railway. The claim that has frequently been made that the street railway is not making money is another idea that is looked at doubtfully by the employees. Representatives of the company have on different occasions stated that they felt like giving the men more money, but for the heavy burdens imposed by the city. The employees argue that because the company has a bad bargain with the city is no reason why money should be held back from them “
A mass meeting of transit workers was scheduled to start at midnight, Saturday August 25, 1906”
“A mass meeting of the employees will be held at the Trades and Labor Hall at midnight, when the facts will be laid before them and a vote taken. Unless some proposition is received from the company before then, a decision to strike will probably be unanimous.
“ ‘Does that mean that the men will be called out in the morning?’ Mr. Sinclair was asked,
“ ‘No, there will be no strike in the morning, but there may be in the afternoon. The men may be asked to run their cars to the barns then,’
The following account of the meeting was published in the editions of the Times which hit the streets later that day :
“The threatened strike of the employees of the Hamilton Street Railway, the Radial line and the Hamilton and Dundas Electric Railway, will not take place before Tuesday morning at any rate as a result of a decision reached this morning by the union men’s general committee not to call another general meeting until Monday night
“Practically no progress has been made since yesterday towards a compromise, and although the union has conceded points, the company has remained firm in its determination to stand by its original position. If anything, both sides are further apart than ever and indications still point to the men being forced to bring the thing to an issue by walking out.
“There was a general feeling after the statements issued yesterday that the union men at the mass meeting last night would in event of not receiving a proposition from Traction Manager Green, unanimously vote to strike on the three lines today or tomorrow.
“After being in session from midnight until 3:30 this morning, a decision was reached, after a vote had been taken, to make one more attempt to effect a settlement with the company and the Canadian representative of the Amalgamated Association says that this was done on the advice of wiser heads, many of the men urging that no further concessions be made and the matter brought to an issue by an order to strike today or tomorrow.
“President John Theaker, of the local union, presided and over two hundred members of the union, comprising employees of the three lines, attended and took a lively interest in the discussion. The majority of the men during the early part of the meeting were overwhelmingly in favour of making the company show its hand, but older members.
Following Monday August 27 1906
“Some concession on the part of the company this afternoon is, the men say, the only thing that can avert a strike of the employees of the street railway, the Hamilton & Dundas and Radial lines. It is almost certain now that the men will vote at the mass meeting at midnight in favour of a strike, and that traffic on the street railway and the two suburban lines will be tied up before tomorrow night.
A lot of speculation about the continued, if briefly paused march to a strike was rise among Hamiltonians during Sunday August 27, 1905. However, no one seemed to know what was going on between the contending parties;
“A rumour on Saturday that a compromise had been reached received an authoritative denial from both the company and union representatives.
A new element entered into the matter when Hamilton Mayor Biggar made quiet moves to bring in soldiers from non-Hamilton militia units to aid local police should a strike be called and violence ensued.
Speaking to the press about the possibility of soldiers being brought into Hamilton, , a key union negotiator, Sinclair said :
“If it is true, it is a surprise to street railway men and organized labor generally that the mayor should hasten to interview the military authorities. I only hope for the mayor’s sake that it is not true. We don’t want to strike, because the company wants us to. We don’t want to play into its hands if we can help it,’ he added.”
It was also understood that the Cataract company was bringing in strike breakers, housing them in secret east Hamilton locations:
“As evidence of the company’s determination to stick to its position was shown on Saturday when non-union men who were brought here from outside, it is said, were put on the Radial cars with the union men to learn how to run them. Mr. Sinclair admitted that this was so.
“ ‘But we appealed to them to take them off,’ he said, ‘and Mr. Green ordered it done right there.’
“It is said that strike breakers are quartered in the east, and that the intention is to use them only on suburban lines.
The union also was adamant that from all three lines should be represented by one union”
“Green says the companies are operated under one management and for the sake of economy,’ added Mr. Sinclair. ‘We say we operate our organization from one office and central point for the sake of unity, and fraternity, and that, in doing so, we harmonize the interests of the men. It is also fair to say it harmonizes the interests of the company. The company will not concede to us the right to have our organization operated from one central office, but they want to divide us into factions.’
The following was published in the Hamilton Times of Monday August 28, 1906:
“The street railway situation is unchanged there being no indication of the parties getting together to negotiate, and if there occurs nothing to lead the men to change their minds, they will quit the cars tomorrow unless their demands are granted. This would be greatly to be regretted, the more so as the issues, so far as they affect wages, hours and condition of labor are such as should easily be disposed of in a reasonable conference between the parties interested.
An editorial in that edition of the Times called for the issues between union and management to be resolved without any strike action:
“Let both parties pause before causing trouble . The people don’t care a cent about Sinclair, or whether he gets glory out of the matter or not. They don’t care about the Company’s feelings or whether they are hurt or gratified. They do care that the men as Railway employees should be fairly treated and well paid, and that the cars should be regularly operated.”
Ultimately both sides in the matter wanted widespread public support. However as shown by this brief item, the Hamilton Street Railway was by far the most unpopular:
From the Woodstock Sentinel-Review
“The employees of the Hamilton Street Railway are threatening to strike. If the company give no better treatment to their employees than they give the travelling public, there is evidently good reason for the men striking and they will no doubt have the sympathy of the best-thinking people of Hamilton.’
(To be continued)
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