Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-18
CARRIAGE MAKERS, STRIKE.

m The Body Makers In Eight of the
 Large Shops Strike No Action
 Yet Taken-A Schedule of Prices
 Submitted.
 The many carriage manufacturers in this city are at present in quandary as to what to do about business, as most of the body makers in town and many of the black smiths are asking for more wages than the manufacturers say they can afford to pay, and the manufacturers say they will have to go out of business if they have to pay more than their business will allow for work. Yesterday all the body makers in half dozen of the largest shops struck en masse for more pay. The shops where they struck are Henry Hooker 6 Co.'s, Henry Killams, Kean 6 Lines, Cruttenden & Co.'s, Armstrong's, Demarest's and Henry Hale & Co. IS. MT. Henry Hale said last evening regarding the strike when asked about the matter: ''The men get now even more than we can afford to pay them for the amount of business we do, as good carriage body maker can make from S3 to $4 day, which for the times is pretty good pay. Now these men ask for an increase in wages from 10 to 50 per cent, which we can not afford to pay, and no one can tell what the result of this will be as the carriage bus mess cannot begin to stand the demand. Business ought to be good at this time of the year, and early in the winter I thought it would be, but these strikes have put an end to that and at present business is very flat and it will prob ably keep growing so as carriages will be made to cost so much that one can afford to pay for them"
 MT Kean of Kean 6 Lines, when seen last evening" said that he had been sick for the past four weeks and did not ca @ to talk about the matter, but when told what Mr. Hale had said, he said he agreed with the latter gentleman in every particular. The body makers at this firm still out and the company have not as yet decided what will be done in the matter.
 The body makers at Manville 6 Co.'s have also gone out, they having asked for the new scale of prices adopted by the New Haven Carriage Workmen's association.
 MT. Page, of Hale & Co.'s, said the sched- ule of prices asked for was increase of nearly 100 per cent. on day work and from 20 to 90 per cent. on piece work. He said neither the times nor the business warranted any such increase, but there had been no concert of action by the carriage makers in the matter and he did not know as there would be any.
 Mr. Frank Hooker, of Henry Hooker & Co.,, said Our body makers presented us few days ago with a request for an ad- vance which we were considering when yester- day they went out in body evidently upon general agreement with those in the other shops. Last evening MT. Hooker said: ''We have taken no action yet in the case"
 Another carriage maker said: ''The de- mand is steep They ask for an increase of 100 per cent. on day wages and 40 to 50 in oap%5 ho,1,. for day work instead of $2 or $2 50, the old prices. We would like to pay the men $10 day if we could afford it, but carriage ma kers here have hard work now to compete with the West, where the makers have the timber and the iron at hand, while we have to bring both a long distance at expensive freightage and then ship our carriages for the western trade long distance at further heavy expense. I don't see how the shops can pay the increase. They certainly can't afford it. All we can do is to shut up shop if this goes on."
 day on schedule of prices and in eight shops-these being all among the large shops we went out in body. We don't get enough pay. The work is hard and we ought to have more. We ask also for equalization, especially as regards Killams shop, where they pay much less than elsewhere because of the large of machinery. We claim that they cut off too much because of the machinery plea, and ought to raise the price paid considerably to equalize the pay. The best carriage body makers used to make just before tn e war times from S25 to $50 a week. Now the very best can't make over SIS, and the average man but from $12 to $15.''
 On the other hand partner in one of the carriage concerns said: Before the war we had big part of the carriage trade here in New Haven. Now the West is making an immense number of carriages, and it has big advantage over the East. Hence we can't pay the old high wages and keep our shops open"
 A prominent carriage maker said last night that probably the heads of concerns would meet to-day and take action regard ing the strike.