Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-27
PULLING In HARMONY
A Conference to be Held Between
Labor Leaders and Grocers to
ARRANGE A DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE.
Salesmen's New Scale in the Hands of the
Executive Board.
BOXMAKERS DESIRE SHORTER HOURS

An important meeting will be held in this
city next Thursday. An alliance, offensive
and defensive, will be entered into between
the Retail Grocers' Association of ALLIE
gheny county and representatives of organ
ized labor. The object can be shortly stated
to be for mutual protection and support.
This coalition is one which has been in
contemplation for some time. An effort
made to accomplish the purpose at the time
of wellknown bovcott by labor organi-
zation failed. At that period certain men,
bers of an organization Obtained many hum
dred dollars credit for groceries on the
strength of their standing. but repudiated
their Indebtedness when settlement was
requested. When the Grocers' Association
was approached by the labor organization
for support in the direction now indicated,
the latter was told in effect: "You can ex-
pect assistance from US only when you
oblige your members to nay us what is ours. F"
THE SUM NEARLY RAISED.
The officers recognized the justice of this
remark, and determined to place themselves
in position to solicit support from the
grocers on more level footing. An as
sessment was levied to liquidate the grocers'
claim, and at this date sbut small amount
of the original sum is outstanding.
The object of the conference on Thursday
is of pretty wide scope. A formal agree
ment will be entered into between the con-
tracting parties, whereby mutual advantage
will result to both. Grocers have long been
the prey of INSCRIPTIONS people who seemed
to suffer from constitutional disability to
pay their legal debts, though financially
able so to do. They now propose to obtain
the assistance of organized labor to this end.
They will ask the representatives to see to it
that their mem bers pay u D their old accounts,
and to agree with them that all goods fur
nished members in the future shall be duly
paid for. They will also ask that
t'union" grocers-by which term is meant
dealers who are within the association
alone shall be patronized by organized labor,
to the exclusion OF those grocers who do not
see fit to become members. On their part,
the grocers will agree to sell none other than
goods made by union men, or sold by whole
sale grocers who recognize tie unions.
A MEANS OF FORCING HANDS.
The labor organizations, without excep-
tion, are favorable to this alliance. They
see in it means of forcing the hands of
man ufacturers and traders who have de-
clared themselves as prepared to do with
out the assistance o? unions. These firms
are so we'll known that any re-
capltulation here is unnecessary. Lists of
other firms and houses, not so we'll known,
will be prepared, each by the organization
with which they are most concerned, and
members osthe organizations will be warned
not to deal with them. In this connection
a distinct line will be drawn by the organi-
cations between those houses which recog-
nize the unions and those which do not
Where the necessaries of life are concerned,
members of those bodies will deal only with
those stores which belong to the former cate
CORY. This system has been in vogue, but
not vigorously enforced, in connection with
the clothing houses. Some eight or ten of
the largest have conformed TO regulations
suggested by their union employees, and as a
result have increased their trade to point
they could not have reached otherwise. In
other words, union men have been support
ing union stores to some extent in the past;
in the future it will be made matter of
honor and of principle, having official sane
tion and support.
The Retail Grocers' Association includes
about two-thirds OF the grocers in this city
and probably an equal number in Allie
gheny. OF organized workers, there are
about 60, 900 in the county.