Railroad Union Delegate Denied Pass
A local railway mechanic is denied travel to a national summit, highlighting tensions in the American Railway Union.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Pat C. O'Dowd has been sent to St. Paul by the local union of car builders as a delegate to the meeting there between the receivers of the Northern Pacific and the delegates from the various unions represented by the employed. P. B. Egbert, organizer for the new order of American Railway Union, says: 'Although O'Dowd was the regularly elected delegate of the carmen, Master Mechanic Warner refused to issue him a pass, claiming the car builders had no grievance. Accordingly we paid his fare to St. Paul. Delegates have been sent on to St. Paul by the car builders at Sprague, Missoula, Fargo and other places, and it was in order for us to send our delegate.'
“Although O'Dowd was the regularly elected delegate of the carmen, Master Mechanic Warner refused to issue him a pass.”
The struggle for union recognition and transportation benefits is a classic labor history moment. It illustrates how railroads, as the primary employers, held significant power over the personal movement and political organizing of their workforce.
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