Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 62, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 March 1917 — Labor Federation Pledges Support to Brotherhoods. [ARTICLE]

Labor Federation Pledges Support to Brotherhoods.

Washington, March 14.—Full cooperation to make a strike effective will be given by the American Federation of Labor if the railroads reject the demands to be made upon them tomorrow by the employes’ brotherhoods. No immediate sympathetic strikes are contemplated, federation officials said tonight, but the brotherhood chiefs have been assured of prompt and hearty support in every other way possible. ■Officials of the federation’s railway department, representing over 400,000 shop employes, switchmen, telegraphers and maintenance of way laborers not affiliated with the brotherhoods, conferred at length on the situation during the day. Although no formal announcement was made, it was said the first move, if the strike comes, will be to admonish all union men not to offer their services to take the place of strikers. When the brotherhoods threatened to call a strike last fall, railroads prepared to meet it by enrolling other classes of workmen to act as engineers, firemen, conductors and trainmen, and many of these were to have 'been shop employes or switchmen. Since then, however, the four brotherhoods, long not on oyerfriendlyterms with the federation, have effected -a working agreement, with its leaders.