ecoup themselves
with a surplus; or else (2) they may let the strike run longer, till
the men are tired out, take them back without concessions, and still
put the same tax on the public as in the other case.

_Effectiveness of Coercion as used against Non-union Men._--As a
peaceful strike has different possibilities according as it is used
against a single producer, a body of competing producers, or a
consolidation of producers, so coercion employed against independent
workers has correspondingly different effects in the three cases. When
it is used in the case of a strike of the first class, it enables the
men to carry their point more quickly, but does not materially
increase the amount they can gain. If the independent producer is
unable to run his mill till he makes terms with his original workers,
he will be in greater haste to make terms, but the amount he can yield
is limited almost as closely as before by the prevailing rate of pay.

In the case of a strike of the second class which runs through a
subgroup in which producers are still without union, coercion adds
greatly to what the men may gain. It may fix and enforce a rate of pay
which all employers must give, and circumstances will compel them to
charge it to the public in whole or in part. The marginal producers
who have no net profits must charge the whole advance to the public or
go out of business, and the result may be that some of them may go
out. The advance in the rate of pay conceded by others may come partly
out of their own profits and partly out of consumers' pockets.

With employers in a great consolidation the possible advance of wages
is at its maximum. The employers are in a position to charge to the
public all that they give to the men, and more. If the state allows
them to do it, they may thrive by repeated strikes. Whether their men
thrive or not depends on their power to bar other labor from their
field and to live without work long enough to induce their employers
to yield.

The effect of coercion on the wages of non-union laborers means a
lowering of their pay. It confines them to the less productive field
which is open to them.

-------
1. _______ Wages of union labor which monopolizes its field
and deals with competing employers.
-------

2. _________________ Wages obtainable by union without monopoly
approximating the natural rate.

3. ----------------- Level of pay