Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-30
THE CARRIAGE BODY MAKERS.
They Talk About Their Strike and
WHY They Think They are Right.

They Talk About Their Strike and
why They Think They are Right.
A carriage body maker said yesterday: I
see that some of the Bosses say we make and
can make from So to 81 per day. Now,
have worked at the business for years and
can say with the utmost truth that the aver
age pay of body makers is not $12 Per week
and that many men slave life and soul and
can make but $40 week and they are old
hands. Men have to give four or five years
to learn the trade and it costs them all the
while for new tools. One man-and one of
the best workmen-is lead poisoned from the
use of white lead which is now used daily in
the work and has to be on the benches. I
know men who cannot stand it to work the
way they do to make $40 week. The work
uses them up. It is hard work and a hard
life to have to strain every nerve
and muscle 80 as to make a living.
know whereof I speak. And
then, too, the business is taxing, as there are
constantly new styles and new designs to be
mastered and to ''get the hang Of" This is
no small item. Body makers have to use
brains as well as chisels in their work and
the best men, the top men, the fastest men
can earn only $19 a week and they have to
make the chips fly. The work we do is
WOEIu YO d udy LII LAo dNCA15o WOAh11dA. 10
takes years to learn the trade and it costs
money to keep the tool kit up
We have not given the press represent
atives much about our side of the case, being
afraid to do SO as it might not be to our in
terests in the future. We are right in what
we ask and will meet the bosses in the right
spirit and the fair spirit.
In an official communication the body
makers said in yesterdays Register:
Our association arranged a scale of prices for
first-class work, mostly heavy work such as is
built by Killam, Armstrong. Manvile, Kean &
Lines, Cruttenden, Hale and Hookers These are
the leading shops here, and demand and will &C.
cept nothing but perfect job 1t is work that re-
quires clear head and the highest kind of me-
chanical skill. Dealers and consumers regard it
the best to be had in the country for style, dur
ability and finish (see your editorial Of the 22d),
and are willing to pay for it as SUCH
suppose that the men who built this work would be
well paid for it, as they should be. One manufac-
turer says his body makers last year averaged
S3 to SO day. while the fact is that of his
Oldest and best workmen did not average more
than $40 week during 1885, while his fastest body
maker land there is faster in the country only
made $11 while the average pay of his body makers
was about $3.50 per man for 1885, and the general
average would fall much below that were his two
Another manufacturer claims we are paid more
IMAM the mechanics in any other department of the
business and says we make from 50 to 81 per day.
NOW dear public il such is the case, there must be
mistake between his books and ours
.6entIemen, Will you please accept challenge
OF the 1sd, and If we have made what you claim
Inen IN justice pay us the balance due Our books,
Kept In your own handwriting and including the
above named Shops only foot up an average Of S1R
per week for 1885.