The Portland daily press., 1886-03-16
FosTNlcHrLY PAYMENTS.
Settlement of the Trouble at Quinn
& Co.'s Works.

Fifty-seven men in the employ of Quinn C
Co., boiler makers of this city, struck yester-
day, and the work of the firm was at stand
still during the day. The cause of the strike
was demand on the part of the men that
they should be paid every week instead of
The following communication,
signed by the men. was sent to the firm on
the Sth inst. oo
Messrs. Quinn d Co.:
We the undersigned, employees Of the firm OF
Quinn s. Co. respectfully request weekly payment
hereafter, said payment TO take place every
Saturday.
To the above communication Quinn & Co.
made the following reply:
PORTLAND March 10, 1885,
For the past two years, owing 70 the duil tmes
and close competition of work, the business mas
been done at a considerable loss and has not paid.
Some work has been taken for the sake OF keeping
the men employed when from the first 1t was
known that the price was losing one. The work
now being done was contracted for monthly pay
ments, but with any work taken hereafter the
question regarding the change in payment OF
wages will be fairly considered. The managers
of the Portland Company have the same matter
under consideration, and whatever plan they de-
eide upon will be adopted by us.
(Signed,) QUINN & 20.
The Portland Company received similar
request from their employees, and after con-
sidering the matter allowed their foremen 10
announce that payments would in future DC
made every fortnight. This was accepted Dy
the Portland Company's men, and MI.
Quinn, in accordance with his reply TO the
communication from his employees, maze
them the same offer. The terms were not
accepted by Quinn & Co.'S men, however,
some of whom said that every concern
should settle its own affairs without being
governed by the action of others. A long
conference between the firm and its men
Saturday evening did not effect an agree
ment and the men accordingly did not go to
work Yesterday morning.
A member of the firm said to a PRESS re-
porter yesterday that they now have hard
work to compete with Boston parties, and
strike if persisted in would drive large
amount of work from here to Boston and
Bath. The firm pay their men wages rang
ing from $1.50 to $2.75 per day. The repairs
being made on the steamer New Brunswick
are the most important work now on hand.
The firm did not know whether their en-
ployes belonged to the Knights of Labor
and said they did not care whether they did
or did not belong to the organization.
The men said that the matter of weekly
payments was one of great Importance to
them. Some of them were members of the
Knights of Labor, but in the strike all acted
simply as the employees of the firm. They
met yesterday afternoon, and their commit
tee presented to them an offer from the firm,
which was accepted. The offer is that the
firm will hereafter pay their men every two
weeks, the pay day to be on Tuesday, and
the back pay now due to be settled on the
second day of April. 1t has been the GUS
tom of the firm to pay on the 18th of every
month for the work done during the month
preceding, and the back pay referred to is
the amount due the men for their services
from the 1st to the 10Th of March. Having
accepted this offer, the men. will return to
work this morning, and express themselves
as satisfied with the agreement and their
treatment by the firm.
The offer of the Portland Company to their
men was to pay them every other week. the
payments to be made as early in the week
as possible, and not later than Thursday.
The ten days pay which has been held back
under system similar to that of Qninn 81
Co. will be paid on the first Thursday in
April.