Morning journal and courier., 1886-04-15
THE STRIKE AT PICKS.

The MouIders Go out in a Body and
 the Core Girls and Boys Have 60
 FoIIOw-About Eighty Out of Three
 Hundred On Strike-What Caused
 the Fuss-BOth sides Tell Their
 Story-A Committee Waits Upon the
 Firm-The FOreman's Action Sus-
 tained-The New Regime That Was
 to Have Gone Into Effect To-day.
 The hands employed in the moulding
 rooms of Peck Brothers nanufactory on
 Franklin street to the number of thirty-fve
 or forty quit work yesterday morning. The
 men, who are all good moulders, have been
 employed by the Peck Brothers concern for
 some time and have always been treated
 very fairly. Owing to their action in leav-
 ing the foundry twenty-four girls and sever
 al boys employed in making cores had to
 stop work, as had number of helpers to the moulders. When the group of moulders,
 girls, boys and laborers marched from the shop many of their fellow-workmen watch ed them from the upper story windows in the several factory buildings, wondering what the trouble was. By noon it was known, however, that strike was in prog ress in the hop. Mir. Millett, the foreman, said regarding the affair last evening to COURIER reporter | that the difficulty was because, acting for | the best interests of the business, he asked Michael Tracy and William Wrinn, both | moulders, to change furnaces. Wrinn want 1 ed to do five Cheats" day and Tracy did not want to do but four. Wrinn's furnace would draw as we'll as Tracy's and Tracy ! could do his four heats day all right on Wrinn's furnace and Wrinn could get out ! five heats day from Tracy's furnace | AT fn yn 1,aaf
 use of the furnaces. It was only ordinary business policy. Our work | is all piece work. The more work a man does the more pay he gets. The orders were l disobeyed. Wrinn didn't like to take Tracy's ! furnace because he said it would make bad ! feeling and Tracy refused point blank to do | as ordered and take Wrinns furnace. For | this the men struck. I was not harsh with | Tracy, I simply told him he must obey or ders.
 Said gentleman last evening: Look at the strike at the Peck Bros.' Here the con- cern yielded Ia short time ago) to have their | books looked over by a committee. They further yielded to the demands and raised pay, although they could not we'll I do it. They are well known for l treating these men with the utmost fair | ness. And yet the business of a large con- | eern is stopped and forty men ''get on their | ear" just because simple reasonable change | like this is asked.
 l Said gentlem Il last evening: It appears | that to-day is the day when the new ar 1 rangenent at Peck Bros. 6 Co.'s was to take I effect. In further response to the wishes or 1 demands of their employees the firm had | consented to abolish the contract system and l substitute the appointment of foremen in- l stead. This was another kind and generous | concession to the men.
 1 One of the moulders said that Tracy was a l popular man in the shop and that he had, he 1 thought, good right to have as good a l draught furnace as any other man even if he I didn't use the furnace to turn off as much | work as the other man did. Of I course the more work a man does the more pay he gets because it's piece work, but | Tracy thought four heats day was enough and ought to be satisfactory, and if the other | man had poor draught furnace and did l have to work hard to get out five heats 8 day it was not Tracy's look out.
 The firm were waited upon after the strike by committee consisting of Captain Sucher of the City Guards, Maurice Clapp and John Craig, all meulders employed by the concern, who acted as a committee at the desire of their fellow workmen. The concern up to last evening had taken no action in the case, and gentleman having means of knowing said that there was little doubt that the de mand to reinstate Tracy would not be ac- ceded to. There are about 200 other hands employed at Peck Bros. & Co., besides the strikers and the girls and boys who were thrown out of work by the action of the moulders.