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Pag* $ 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. m ^A* *Atf > •• r ■> v P > *Atf WW *A* > v-^ >%V >vy ^»A* *A* WW ••• r r V v.i.v, >.*. V Patronize The AilvertinerM In The SOUTHERN ISRAELITE | They Make Your I'uhlieation PoMHihle *A* ±J\.e *A* V W *Atf *A* *A* '»Atf 1 a'a m