Telegram-herald., 1890-04-19
THE BOSSES STAND
They'll Fight Eight Hours GO the
Bitter End
BUSINESS ALMOST lIl STiyDSIILL
Active Prsp@FAsasas fer the Coatsst-
Plaza Tor Baiidisx OpsF.tisas bslas
Deferred Ustil After ths Qaes-
zion IL sstGied-sstes

There Vas 40 msetingo OF the Builders
Exchange yesterday and, As a eOnse-
quence. the demand Of the carpenters
and IOiners for the sight-hour day w2s
not taken into consideration, or, for
that matter, unsealod. The notice Vas
not served On the exchange until forty
eight hours after IL Was published lr the
Nscs. Ii vas received lAst evening at
the exchange, addressed 70 the newly
elected president. W. u. NInton, and It
from the south
The feeling on the exchange Is decid-
~ against allowing the elght-hOur day,
anS expressions practically amount 10 a
declaration that the demand will be
opposed u the bitter end. This
morning the members of the ex-
change. who are contracting builders,
brought out the reserves OF their argu-
mentative Opposition. They said: I've
can not Kermit the establishment OF the
eight-hour system In Detroit. IL Is pre-
posterous 10 tnInk OF il for a moment.
Ii would ruin the builders exchange
members who made contracts with
union men. The truth Is, the exchange
has been and still Is hard pressed by the
contractors who are not members of the
exchange, who hire non-uniOn labor,
and VINO have got practical monopoly
of suburban building. Contractor Wis
ger, one of these outside contractors,
has, by reason of the employment of
uOn-uniOn men, beaten the exchange
Tor the contract for the extensive new
work and repairs upon the Cadillac
Hotel. Ii u because Visger got this
contract that the union men put in
protest against hiring non-union men.
But Daniel >cotten, who made the con-
tract with Nisger, was not IN position
20 say who Nlsger should hIre.
The exchange, owing 10 the agita-
ton among the workmen. has been at
dead st,tndstlll for the past thirty days.
Plans that AT this time would be under
consideration, are laid aside. No work
IS gong on and none is contemplated
that has Involved the question of more
than ordinary time.
mo member of the exchange ex-
poets, however. that the strike will ex-
TEND over thirty days from May l.
They say they have all been there be-
fore and know how it Is. They are per-
fectly confident that they will win, for
the good and sufficient reason that ali
of the carpenters will not strike. and
that IL is sheer nonsense amounting to
madness 10 suppose, IN the light of past
experience ia strikes, that any body
OF Detroit strikers VIII hold out longer
than five days.
They say, too, that they can get
along with the work With one-third OF
the carpenters and Ioiners OF Detroit
and that more than Onc-thl-d OF the
men IN Detroit are nOn-unOn men.
There are from 270O 10 300O carpenters
and Jolners in Detroit, and at the very
outside there are no more than 1900
union men. But all the union men are
not IN for strike by good deal. So
that the resources of the contracting
carpenters amount ~ half the carpen-
ters of the city. which - quite equal 10
the amount Of work presenting itself
this season"
IL Is understood that the members OF
the Builders Exchange have for the
past thirty days done effective work IN
the way OF inducing persons desiring TO
build and make extensive repairs this
season To put 1t oft till later on. when
the strike IS defeated, or to defer 1t
until next season. THIS will naturally
assist the exchange in the pending
battle Detroit Nesrs