The Connecticut labor news., June 16, 1922, Page Four, Image 4

About The Connecticut labor news. (New Haven, Conn.) 1921-1925

Image provided by: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

                
Four
LABOR (Connecticut) NEWS
CONDITIONS OF LABOR AND
Weekly Statistics Gathered by
Government Bureau Shows
Some Interesting Doings.
BRAZIL
Rio de Janiero. According to re
cent press reports, the Brazilian Min
istry of Agriculture has received a
request from the Protective Immigra
tion Office of Berlin for the trans
portation by the Brazilian govern
ment of 10,000 German families, com
prising about 50,000 agricultural la
borers who are reported to be
refugees from Poland in Germany.
DENMARK
Unemployment. Although the gen
eral lockout has been settled and the
men in the different industrial lines
are gradually going back to work,
there are still 74,000 laborers out of
work, which is 5,000 in excess of the
number of unemployed at the same
period in 1921.
GERMANY
Labor School. Frankfurt has taben
the initiative in establishing an
Academy, of Labor, the first of its
kind in Germany, where such mem
bers of the working classes as have
manifested unusual ability and are
thought worthy of a higher course of
training that they have received in
public schools are given free instruc
tion. The academy is operated at the
expense of the state and the Univer
sity of Frankfurt, while the trade
unions bear the living expenses of the
students during their stay in Frank
furt. ITALY
Unemployment. With the excep
tion of the agricultural regions, the
number of Italy's unemployed is
gradually decreasing. Numerous fac
tories continue to work, either on
short hours or by the system of al
ternation of groups of workmen.
NORWAY
Bergen. Dutch miners, at the rate
of 50 a week, are passing through
Bergen en route to the mines of the
Nederlandske Spitzbergen Company,
which expects to ship between 40,000
and 60,000 tons of coal during the
summer season.
SPAIN
Madrid. The closing of the tin
plate plant of the Altos Homos Com
pany; various strikes and wage cuts;
and a movement to reduce the wages
of coal miners, form the principal
items of labor news from Bilbao,
Santander, and Asturias, respectively.
MOULDERS
(Continued from Page I.)
Local No. 126, John Fitzgerald, Nor
wich, Conn.; Local No. no, James
Larten, Bridgeport.
Rules Local 161, William Hering,
Stamford; Local no, Bro. Langan,
Bridgeport; Local 73, Bro.. Clancy,
Hartford; Local 384, Bro. Tearuel,
bpringheld, Mass.; Local 161, Bro.
Mica, Stamford.
Resolutions Local 167, Bro. Calla
han, Springfield, Mass.; Local 95,
Bro. Gibbens, Westfield, Mass.; Local
71, Bro. Conway, Ansonia; Local 295,
Bro. Dumphy, Florence, Mass.
Constitution Local 95, John Gib
bens, Westfield, Mass.; Local 73, Bro.
Conway, Ansonia; Local 71, Bro.
Warback, Hartford; Local 126, Bro.
Kelley, Norwich; Local 209, Bro.
Moriarity, South Norwalk.
Press James Eagan, Bro. Phelps,
J. A. Dunn.
President Sheehan then made his
report for the year and offered some
suggestion? for the benefit of the
board which will be put into practice
for the coming year.
Business Agent John A. Dunn was
then called on for his report and
called attention to several grievances
which have occurred during the year,
and of the good feeling that exists
between the Moulders and most of
the employers they have been doing
business with for years. He stated
that even in the recent troublous
times the moulders were able to reach
satisfactory adjustments and are con
tinuing along the line of arbitration
which they believe to be the proper
relation to exist between employer
and employe. He said he was glad to
announce that he had been able to
adjust all grievances with four excep
tions, namely: Howe Scales Works
in Rutland, Yt.. the Springfield Foun
dry, Springfield, Mas?.; the Ship &
Engine Co., of New London, and the
Farrel Foundry & Machine Co., of
Ansonia, Conn., which lias adopted
the so-called American plan. "I
might say that everything i going
along very satisfactory in all of those
districts and in every case we have
been forced to withdraw our men as
the conditions imposed were such
that no American citizen with honor
to himself could submit. However I
am convinced that before this con
vention again assembles that we will
have resumed our former relations
with those firms, as our members are
not going near them and in conse
quence of that they are having con
siderable trouble in making their cast-
ings. in tact tnree-tourtns 01 wnat
lias been made goes to the scrap heap
and causes the expense of making
them over which does not make for
progress. The day will arrive I hope
when all employers and employes will
fiave a mutual understanding whereby
the wheels of industry can be kept
moving with the best interest of the
community as a whole. I must repeat
that we have been very fortunate
taking in the territory from Stamford,
Conn , to Rutland, Vt., with very little
misunderstanding; or in other words
very few strikes. Thanks to the fair
ness of most of our employers we
have been able to reach satisfactory
settlements and adjustments to the
extent that we have a minimum wage
of 75 cents per hour and eight hours
per day, and there are other settle
ments of 77r2 cents per hour and still
some of our employers are still pay
LABORERS IN FOREIGN LANDS
ing 80 cents per hour, they feeling
that the 10 cents per hour reduction
of cue year ago is as much as the
moulder and core maker should stand
inasmuch as during the war period the
moulder in this country stood pat
and did not ask for an increase dur
ing that period, only in cases where
the foundry employer was slow to
reach the standard of wages estab
lished. "I desire to call your attention to
the fact that the worst is over, and I
find in the different localities that
r. orcmen are being employed every
day and the shop is working more
time, and I believe indications are
that they will continue to improve.
Let nie suggest that we go along
conducting ourselves in the future as
we have in the past and if we do, and
1 know that you wa will finally
convince those foundry men who now
feel that we cannot be trusted that
we are gentlmen and conduct our
selves as such all the time with the
final results that they will be forced
to acknowledge that we are a respon
sible party to do business with and
so finally enter into conciliation and
arbitration of any of the disputes that
n ay arise with a view of keeping the
wheels of industry going."
The convention adopted resolutions
endorsing the Non-Partisan political
campaign of the A. F. of L to sup
port our friends and defeat our ene
mies. Also that the recent decision
handed down by the U. S. supreme
court and written by Justice Taft
was an unfair ruling to Organized
Labor and in fact any volunteer or
ganization, as all will be affected by
it.
The convention voted that when it
adjourned it would meet again in
Norwich, Conn., next year.
Local No. 60 furnished a smoker on
Friday evening which the delegates
enjoyed very much and expressed
appreciation for the same.
Under the head of Good and Wel
fare Vice President O'Neil gave the
delegates a very instructive talk and
also commended the delegates and the
local unions for their loyalty to the
I. M. U. This talk was much appre
ciated by the delegates, who gave
him quite a hand and a vote of thanks.
Brother O'Neil is quite a favorite in
this section of the country.
Secretary Treasurer Michael Con
nor, reporting on the finances of the
board, said that considering the de
pression gone through the moulders
have done as well as expected to meet
all expenses wtih a shortage of $20
only which will shortly be cleaned up.
The folowing officers were elected
for the coming year:
President, Richard Sheehan, Local
167, Springfield, Mass.
First vice-president, William Hear
ing, Local 161, Stamford, Conn.; sec
ond vice-president, William Brew,
Local 95, Westfield, Mass.; third vice
president, Claud Van Guiler, Local
266, Rutland, Vt.
Secretary and 1 reasuref, Michael
Connor, Local 115, Holyoke, Mass.
Business Agent, John A. Dunn,
Local 60, New Haven.
There was no contest for any office.
The conference board is composed
of 24 local unions taking in all of
Connecticut and some of Massachu
setts and Vermont up the Connecti
cut Valley with a membership of
2,000. Its territory is from Stamford,
Conn., to Rutland, Vt. There axe two
other boards in New England, known
as the Boston and Vicinity Board,
with a membership of about 2,000;
and a board known asthe Eastern
New England Board, with a member
ship of about 2,700; in all about 7,000
organized moulders in the New Eng
land states.
ANSONIA FOUNDRY
STRIKE JPREADING
Roll Makers Join Moulders ni Walk
out at Farrell Co. Plant.
Ansonia, June 16. After 10 weeks
of strike by the moulders, during
which the firm refused to even treat
with the men, the roll makers at the
Farrell Foundry here were called out
this week' and while they are few in
number, their going out puts the plant
actually "up against it."
The moulders went out in protest
to the "open shop" policy adopted by
the foundry people and have con-
istently stayed aw-iy from the plant,
not even giving the anti-lanor
mem here a chance to intimate that
i - . '
tliev were interfering wtih the orlo.
Die Ioult drawn out strike was be
ginning to have tis affect on the rest
of lite plant, naturally and the other
workers getting restless. When the
call came therefore for the roll
makers to quit on Tuesday, they did
o with a vim. The result will soon
be the entire tie-up of the foundry.
MICKIE, THE PRINTER'S DEVIL
9$3fe n rf VJOELL. GOESS VOOlO B XSH TOO F NOP WOTlVI U-GJf ' 0 thg&U
W&L 1 P ZW ( I AA! TVV ELEVATOR AT WASHINGTON WOUOMkltt JT " JSr
1 J f mh Poor, uyyle J H is usreo Atf i Stawteo to hoop w o? -cvem v--V NHMDKNr W3i
i'Vllll -l o. -T Mi fcov S YWM A. r-xE: 9CXD SYePS AM GAME OUT MVAEV MOSfc HOOFED YT EEgg
i Wi I V Mx AW C: l vjur uv over eooPs Orfl OOVWM AGWM J Igl
I f, J. A L PJ- ofooV " " "
Gary's False Claim Shown
Up By Engineers; 12-Hour
Day RujesJUl Steel Mills
Assertion of Steel Trust Chief That Only 14 Per
Cent. Are Employed on Long Shift Analyzed.
He Includes Corporation Employes in
All Other Industries to Make Show
ing That Will Mollify
Public Wrath.
International Labor News Service.
Washington, D. C, June 16. Tal k about changing from a two-shift to
a three-shift system in the steel in dustry of the United States is circu
lating as a result of the recent cele brated Gary dinner to the steel in
dustry at the White House, because of President Harding's suggestion
that it would be a nice thing to do.
If the change is made it will be be
cause the steel manuiacturers are
convinced that it is good business to
do so or because an organization of
workmen force the change.
In Europe the trade unions forced
the manufacturers to establish the
three-day shift. The argument re
garding its profitableness persists
there, but meanwhile the workmen
have an eight-hour day.
In the United States most of the
scientific societies are convinced that
a three-day shift would be better and
the manufacturers that have made
the change are convinced of it, but
because the steel industry is unor
ganized, the two-day shift and the
12-hour day still prevail.
There are enough Bourbon-minded
men in control of the steel industry to
prevent action on a program which
extends any benefits to the workmen.
A 12-hour day destroys a man's
initiative and efficiency, according to
the engineers, but the point of view
of some employers is that it also
keeps the laborer down where he
belongs." The point of view deter
mines whether this is a vicious or an
ideal system.
Mr. Gary's statement that 14 per
cent, of the employes of the U. S.
Steel Corporation are employed 12
hours a day is misleading in any dis
cussion of the two-day shift in the
steel industry because the 14 per cent,
does not apply to the steel industry.
It includes all employes of the Steel
Trust.
Of the 260,000 men employed 70,000
are not in manufacturing plants at
all but are employed in coal mines,
ore mines, or on railroads, ships, etc.,
where union organization has forced
the adoption of the eight-hour day. A
society composed of employers inter
ested in the science of management,
the Taylor Society, says in a recent
report:
"The truth of the matter would
seem to be that, so far as concerns
those continuous operation processes
which make up the heart of the steel
industry, such as the blast furnaces,
the open-hearth furnace, and most
types of rolling mills, together with
the various auxiliary departments
necessary to keep these processes
going, and make a complete plant,
the bulk of the employes work 12
hours. The proportion of 12-hour
jobs in these places is not a full 100
per cent.; for the reason that in many
departments there is a certain amount
of work, usually of a common labor
or mechanical type, which can be
concentrated in' the daylight hours
and is commonly performed on a 10
hour basis. But all the shift men, all
the men whose presence is essentail
to the carrying on of the processes,
from the chemist and bosses down to ,
the lowest helper the technical
graduate, the American-born roller, I
and the unskilled foreigner all these, !
witn very tew exceptions, work 12
hours."
It is obvious, therefore, that the 12-hour-day
in the steel industry can not
be glossed over by its apologists who
contend that it applies only to a few
laborers in the steel mills and that
these men prefer to work 12 hours.
The reason for the 12-hour day in
the steel industry is discussed in the
report of the Taylor Society, which
says:
"Individually men in all walks of
life are tempted to give up their
lei sure in order to earn a little more
money and raise themselves and their
families a little higher in the social 1
scale. Tut when men are organized
in unions (or even shop committees)
ele-ithev come to i eel that it t
ev all agree
10 wotk a sranuarci uay 01 reasonable
length i ll will he as well off relativt
to one another as before, and the
larger measure of leisure will more
than counterbalance the reduction in
weekly earnings, if such there be.
"The unions are not always able to
keep their individual members from
striving for overtime and greater
earnings at the expense of hours, but
Is it all talk? What are the facts?
the union movement has unquestion
ably exercised a good deal of pressure
towards the shorter day. . . . The
steel industry has for the most part
escaped the union. . . . That the
acquiescence of the steel workers in
the 12-hour day bears some relation
ship to this lack of unionism would
seem to be indicated by the fact that
until recently almost all of the tend
encies towards shorter hours in the
steel industry have been in those very
few branches, or in those almost in
finitesimal areas, where labor organ
ization did have its precarious foot
hold." CONVENTION
(Continued from Page One.)
are men and women created with
certain inalienable rights, the right of
life and liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
"The mayor referred to this gath-
ering as a conterence, ana, it my
memory serves me well, he added that
conferences are the great distinctive
advance which has been made by the
human family as against the exercise
of force to compel obedience to the
will of one. Amen to that and to that
declaration. This is a conference or
a congress of the chosen representa
tives of the rank and file of the men
and women of toil who are working
today in all fields of human indus
trail activity, and they come here wtih
a mandate and credentials of their
constituents to express the views and
principles in which they so heartily
believe, and the aspirations which
they so devoutly aim should be ac
complished. "We meet here in annual conven
tion for the purpose of arriving at
results which shal represent the corn
posits, average view of the tailing
masses of America. In our trades
unions, in our qther labor organiza
tions, in our city central bodies, our
state federations, our national and
international trade unions, what we
ask of employers is that they sit with
us around the table not in any jug
handle movement inaugurated by
themselves in which they dominate in
face and in sprit but to meet in con
ference with us and there around the
table, they as employers and we as
workers, the chosen representatives of
Who's Here!
WE ARE DOING
ALL KINDS OF
rinting
AND
DOING IT RIGHT
Which means
Quality and Service
Prl
ces,
The Ornburn Press
(Incorporated''
286 York Street, Near Elm
Try Us On Your Next Job.
By Oiarles Sughroe
Western Newspaper Umoa
LOOK
P
the workers, to discuss, to ascertain
and determine, for some reasonabel
period at least, an agreement govern
ing the matters which affect both
factors of industry, and not forget
ting the rights of employers and of
business, but having as the most es
sentail consideration the human
equation in industry. We want con
ferences. "The 'open shop,' as our adversar
eis term their antagonistic movement,
when they cloak it hypocritically, the
'American plan,' robbing patriotism of
its most glorious name and commit
ting a devilish act, is not the result
of conferences. There can be no
genuine conference between employ
ers and employes unless the employ
ers and employes stand upon an
equal footing of responsibility and
power, fearless of the lash of unem
ployment or discharge because of
their consistent attitude toward the
people they represent.
"For the first time in the world a
conference was held a few months
ago in the capital city of our natoin,
caled to discuss a limitation of arma
ments of the nations of the world.
Men and women of this convention,
let me call your attentoin to a fact
which may have escaped your notice.
At our Denver convention the execu
tive council of the American Federa
tion of Labor, in a report our council
submitted, recommended that the
American Federation of Labor in con
vention assembled shoudl call upon
the officers of the American govern
ment to invite the -nations of the
world to a conference for the pur
pose of "discussing how far the lim
itation of armament could go. And
our convention did make that declara
tion. It was almost a month later
when the government of the United
States sent its invitations to the na
tions of the wordl to attend an in
ternational conference in our capital
for the limitation of armaments.
"There were not very good results
accomplished, counted with that
which still exists, but a beginning has
been made, and the consistent course
presented by the American Federa
tion of Lahpr for peace and the aboli
tion of international war has been
sustained, though to a smaller degree
than we hoped, by that Washington
conference. I don't know how many
of you are fight fans, but I think
those of you who have been at box
ing matches know that you have seen
just as good matches between ban
tams as among heavyweights, and
that applies equally to the dread
naughts as to the little submarine
chasers. I think I am doing but
scant justice to the claims of organ
ized labor when I say that in every
country in the world it has been the
greatest contribution toward that
purpose."
The big national guard armory, far
removed from the city's business
district, is the seat of the conven
tion. Delegates, forming in parade
downtown marched on it in a body
for the opening of the session. A
thousand flags formed the decora
tions, and a band of 100 pieces played
the accompaniment for delegates
DO YOU WANT TO
I wmA
Where there are Fields, Trees and Country
Roads and yet within 20 minutes from cen
ter of city? Only One Car Fare. Golden oppor
tunity for working" man to Own His Own
Home. Buy it with your rent Easy Terms.
86 Lots 14 Houses, Modern conveniences.
These lots and homes must be seen to be appre
ciated. Take Quinnipiac Ave. Car
To Palmieriville
OUR AGENT WILL BE AT 1534 QUINNIPIAC AVENUE
For More Detailed Information, See
FRANK A. PALMIERI
CALL EVENINGS
singing America as the first item on
the program.
After prayer by the Rev. Father
Peter Dietz, the program centered
about a series of welcome addresses
by Governor Harry L. Davis, Mayor
George 1. Carrel, Secretary T. J.
Donnelly of the Ohio State Federa
tion of Labor and others, ending with
Adolf Kummer, the temporary
chairman, presenting a gavel, made
by Cincinnati carpenters, to Mr. Gom
pers. A resolution was introduced by the
Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, and
proposed that the "American Federa
tion of Labor take the necessary ac
tion toward bringing about the re
quired solidarity with the ranks of or
ganized labor, and that as a first step
in this direction that the various in
ternational unions be called into con
ference for the purpose of arrang
ing to amalgamate all the unions in
the respective industries into single
organizations, each of which shall
cover any industry."
One proposed that the American
Federation of Labor take "sides with
the farmers in their controversy as
to the acceptance of the "Ford bill"
for the Muscle Shoals project.
Several dealt with Russia.
A resolution by Sara Conboy, sec
retary of the United Textile Workers,
and others, proposed that the con
vention reaffirm the declarations of
the last two conventions that the
Federation is "not justified in taking
any action which could be construed
as an assistance to or approval of the
the Soveit government of Russia as
long as that government is based up
on authority which has not been
vested in it by a popular representa
tive national assemblage of the Rus
sian people."
On Wednesday Senator Robert M.
LaFollette electrified the conventoin
with an address attacking the su
preme court fo rtis recent decisions
against Labor. Asserting that by a
"process of gradual encroachments"
the federal courts of the country have
"wrested sovereignty from the peo
ple," Senator La Follette proposed an
amendment to the Constitution de
nying the power of lower coutrs to
set aside a federal law as unconstitu
tional and providing for the nullifica
tion of any such decision by the su
preme court by re-enactment of the
statute.
Citing the recent decision of the
supreme court holding unconstitu
tional the child labor law as "typical
of the conduct of the federal judic
iary and particularly the supreme
court, whenever Congress has sought
to enact progressive and humane leg
is lation which was offensive to great
IN TINS
IVE?
131 FRANKLIN STREET
Well, What Else Could a Feller Do?
financial interests," Senator La Fol
lette declared the supreme tribunal
of the country was "today the actual
ruler of the American people."
'"The law is what they say it is,"
the senator continued, "and not what
the people through Congress enact.
Even the Constitutoin of the United
States is not what tis plain terms de
clare, but what these nine men con
strue it to be. In fact, five of these
nine men are actually the supreme
rulers, for by a bare majority the
court has repeatedly overridden the
will of the people
"The nine lawyers who constitute
the supreme court are placed in po
sitions of power for life, not by the
votes of the people, but by presi
dential appointment. Ex-President
Taft was made cheif justice by Pres
ident Harding. Thus a man was In
vested with the enormous prestige
and influence of chief justice by
presidential appointment who had
been repudiated by the voters of the
United States on his record.
"No one will contend that ke could
have been elected chief justice by
vote of the people. And yet Chief
Justice Taft wrote the opinion that
annulled the child labor law. He
wrote the opinion in the Coronado
Coal company case. In making this
observation I level no criticism at
the personnel of the court. I am not
concerned with personalities. I am
dealing with fundamentals.
"The time tfias come when we must
put the axe to the root of this mon
strous growth upon the body 6f our
government. The usurped power of
the federal courts must be taken
away and the federal judges must be
made responsive to the popular will."
Yesterday without opposition or de
bate the convention killed a resolution
proposing a radical change in the
form of the organized labor move
ment in the United States, by the
amalgamation of all unions into sin
gle organizations, each covering an
industry.
In reporting the resolution adverse
ly from the organization committee,
Sara Conboy of the United Textile
Workers, said the departments of the
Federation were created along indus
trial lines.
Atlantic City asked that it be se
lected as the seat for the 1923 con
ventoin, it being the first 'city to sub
mit an invitation.
Violation of wage contracts was
condemned unanimously adopting the
committee report charging that em
ployers in many instances had "de
lberately violated, broken, and can
celled working agreements" during
the lastyear and added that "once the
pledare of labor is given it must be
kept."
aIN LOAVES
PHONE LIBERTY 8209