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The Southern Israelite
I |n/ni Weinstock, Of The Government’s Conciliation Service,
? /trought Peace To Strike-Ridden Multitudes In Tennessee
t M>ISTKIAL conflicts, especially
growing out of disagreements be-
employers and operatives, have
•hreatmed crises in many a section of
» h )< .viuntry of late. One of the most
;t( , situations arising from such
n ,| tii.ns was recently averted by a
l, Yes, settled by a woman! No
a . n ,|, r labor leaders, industrial ba-
r , n . and newspaper editors were
amazed as they pondered the causes
/ th- strike in the rayon and silk
f Klizabethton. Tennessee, and
th. further fact that mill owners and
'ticials, strikers’ representatives, and
,. Vt . n nn arbitrator from the Depart
ment f I.abor, were unable to bring
,r and capital together. No; it was
Mis- Anna Weinstock, a “pretty, 28-
.r Id representative” of the Secre
tary of I,abor, who went down into
•h- - >utheastern corner of the Tennes-
.... mountain country, among some of
•h. "fightin’est” of our pioneer stock,
,r.11 brought to a close a long-smold-
• ing and bitter controversy. For
wnks several thousand men and wo
men mill workers had been on strike,
t only at Klizabethton, but in North
and South Carolina. But conditions in
th. Tennessee city, it seems, were be-
ming rather critical, and units of
•he National Guard were on duty,
metimes with fixed bayonets.
Into this seething situation came
M * Anna Weinstock, of the Govern
ment* Conciliation Service, with or-
r- from the Secretary of Labor to
bring the rayon war to a close. Work-
• g anonymously, quietly, and almost
■tingle-handed, she succeeded in ob
taining from the head of the Bemberg
md Glantzstoflf mills a proffer of set-
• mi nt much more conciliatory than
1 ' >' theretofore put forward. The fact
’tat the strike is said to have been
ing the mill owners $40,000 a day
*>’ have had its influence, but the
’ ihethton correspondents of East-
^ ulies and press associations give
V ss Weinstock most of the credit.
M - Weinstock’s progress on the
‘te lated from her arrival in town,
■•he registered under an assumed
am.- at the hotel. At that time af-
t- were drifting to open warfare,
additional State troopers and po-
ha I been ordered out to reinforce
■ ' men then on duty.
" Weinstock hails from Boston,
* _'^ e ,irs ^ fame into prominence
! ' ; s when the big strike of the
• kwear workers took place. She
work as a stitcher in a neck-
ir tctory when she was 14 years
after graduating from the Hyde
'■rammar School.
he strike of the neckwear
*as settled, Miss Weinstock,
i' one of their most fearless
,* rs ’ " as made business secre
te union, and represented the
tra* , a ' e * e , Ka te to the Boston Cen-
. u " J ^ n ‘ on f° r a number of
„ ' ! "' fore suffrage was granted to
M,s * Weinstock was one of
t „ arrne3 t advocates and was for a
S m (r ^ a nizer of the Massachusetts
lkre Association. Afterward she
By LIONEL HILL
Reprinted by courtesy of The imericaii Hebrew
became president of the Boson Wo
men’s Trade Union League, which in
volved considerable legislative work.
In 1922 she was appointed to her
present berth (the first woman to be
so honored) and has been identified
not only with the adjustment of indus
trial disputes, but with conferences
concerning women in industry in near
ly every part of the United States.
She describes her erstwhile w 4 ork
with the Trade Union League as
follows:
"I found that
in one mill in
Massachusetts,
where a strike
had been in prog
ress for three
weeks before our
department enter
ed the situation,
we were able to
bring about an
adjustment in
three days,where
as there was no
question that the
strike would have
continued many
weeks longer
without our inter
vention. There
was no organiza
tion among the
workers. They
left the mill spon
taneously when
they disagreed
with the new sys
tem about to be
installed. When
they got out they
discovered that
there was no one
among them who
had experience
enough to prop
erly represent
them at a confer
ence. The result was that when the
employer really wanted to discuss the
issues with the strikers he did not suc
ceed in getting his message across to
the body of workers because the com
mittee that visited the office at his
request first failed to make clear to
him the real grievance of the five
hundred people on strike, and then
faild to make an adequate report back
to the strikers.
“All that was necessary for our de
partment to do was to bring the two
groups together in conference again,
see that the officials of the mill were
told all of the happenings inside the
mill that had contributed to the final
break and then see that the result of
the conference was reported back to
the strikers’ body in such a way that
they understood it. Both the employer
and the strikers learned the value of
negotiating across the conference ta
ble, and that same strikers’ commit
tee (now experienced) and the mill of
ficials meet at intervals to discuss all
grievances that arise in the mill and
they are adjusted before they accu
mulate, so that a real harmonious
spirit exists between the office and
workshop.”
When th<‘ time arrived for the La
bor Department's Conciliation Service
to include two women among its thir
ty-four Conciliation Commissioners,
Miss Weinstock was highly recom
mended. She satisfied officials almost
as soon as they talked with her.
Active and en
'jtlllHIIIHIUNIIINHIIIIMIIMtlllllHNIHIIIIilHIIIMIIIIIIHMMIIIIIIHIMHMItllllllMJ
Anna Weinstock, a comely fios-
tonian, whose princijuil avoca
tion, and diversion, in to nettle
labor dis/mtes. At the aye of
fourteen she wan a ntitrher in
a neckwear factory and, subse-
quently one of the most fearless
organizers of that industry.
She was likewise one of the
most ardent pioneers in the
suffrage movement in the state
of Massachusetts.
iiiitiiiiiiiiiHtiitiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiMimiHiiiiiHiiiiMiiiUifiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiHiiiiimiiiiir.
ergetic, she was
sent out in the
field immediately.
Department rec
ords show that
she has been as
signed to labor
disputes in many
States, principal
ly where women
workers are in
volved. Mixing
with garment
workers in New
York City, hosie
ry knitters in In
diana and shoe
workers in Mas
sachusetts, she
has achieved un
usual success in
dealing with the
special problems
of employers and
employes,and try
ing to evolve a fi
nal solution.
“What strikes
me particularly
about her,” a
friend said, “is
her frankness and
readiness to lay
all the cards on
the table. She
passes from em
ploye to employer and back again,
telling the respective viewpoints with
the lumost outspokenness, unless, of
course, some confidence is involved.
That policy is drilled into us in the
Conciliation Service, because Director
Kerwin believes that little can be ac
complished otherwise.”
Those who know Miss Weinstock
best say her work is her chief inter
est. Of a serious mien, her principal
diversion is studying the possibilities
in connection with her work. She
delves into books on sociology and
when she has time to spare makes
trips to enlarge her viewpoint. A few
years ago she went to Germany at
her own expense and traveled there
for two months in a study of concilia
tion methods and economic subjects.
Further work in connection with
disputes in the shoe, textile and up
holstery industries in New England
now face the woman commissioner.
She will be back in that field within
a very short time, working again as
quietly and efficiently as she did in
Tennessee. But, Labor Department of
ficials say, it is probable that little
■will be divulged about her endeavors
there.
It has now become known that dur
ing the time she was at work on the
Klizabethton strike Miss Weinstock
went to Washington to consult Secre
tary Davis, and also went to New
York, where, it is presumed, she talk
ed with the rayon mill interests and
with prominent labor leaders. Later
she went back to Tennessee and final
negotiations were undertaken.
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