Source: A Union Leader Sees Worker Regimentation, 1883

Q. Can you give us some instances of the obnoxious rules of which you speak?

A. Yes; one instance was on the part of a large firm of carriage manufacturers at Rochester, N.Y.- James Cunningham, Sons & Co. Just a year ago this month their men rebelled against certain rules that they had established in their works-rules degrading to human nature. For instance, the faucets in the water sinks were locked up, and when an employee wanted a drink of water he had to go to the foreman of his department and ask for a drink; the foreman went and unlocked the faucet and gave him a cupful of water, and whether that was enough to satisfy his thirst or not, it was all he got. When the men entered in the morning they were numbered by checks. A man lost his identity as a man and took a number like a prisoner in a penitentiary.... Another obnoxious rule was that if a man was half or even a quarter of a minute late he was shut out. They had a gate and it would be shut down upon a man even when he was going in, sometimes so quickly that he would hardly have time to draw his foot back to keep it from being crushed by the gate, and that man would be kept out until nine o'clock, so that he would make only three- quarters of a day's work. The rule was that the men had to be in the works before the whistle blew....