Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-05-21
THE BAKERS Want A RAISE
And Emphasize Their Wishes
by a Strike.
SHORTER HOURS AND MORE PAY
And Free to Board Where
They May Desire.
Loaves Must Henceforth Wear Union
LabeI--There Was "a Scarcity of the ''staT
of Life" Tuesday Morning.


A committee of union bread bakers ar
rived here from Philadelphia Monday
afternoon and inaugurated strike among
the journeymen bakers of this city. They
hired two coaches and called ut each of the
30 bakeries, notifying the employees that a
strike had been ordered and requesting
the men to repair 90 the Labor l4yeeum
Association building at Jackson and Front
streets. II was intimated also to the boss
bakers that their presence would be nc.
ceptable at the same time, in order that
they may listen to the nature Of the com
plants and also to what the journeymen
bakers demand.
Up. m, the time when the call was
made all the local journeymen were abed.
About % of them on being aroused obeyed
the order and gathered ut the Lyeeum
Hall, They left the dough as it stood and
consequently there was u comparative
scarcity Of bread OF the public breakfast
table Tuesday morning.
| The boss bakers Of the city are called on
to sign the following
Contract OF Bakers hnd Confectionery
Union, No rs, Of Wilmington, Delaware. made
this 18TH day of May with the boss bakers of
Wilmington:
We, tho undersigned boss bakers, do hereby
promise and by our signatures do bind our
selves to grant and strictly fulfill the following
demands made by the Iourneymen BAKERS
and Confectioners Union, No. ~. oil Whining
day Of May, 1891, and is to be in effect one year.
The iourneymens demands are COM
prised in the following items:
Firstly. Ten hours shall constit to a days
work except from Friday TO Saturday when i2
hours shall be reckoned Six days shall con-
Secondly. The wages shall be sid to Sl6 for
flrst hands, $40 to sl2 for second hands and 81
to So for third hands.
Thirdly. Each hour over 10 hours work shall
be paid at the rate of 90 cents per hour.
Fourthly. No baker shall board or room with
his boss.
Fifthly. None but union bakers shall be en-
ployed and each boss must take back his old
hands.
sixthly. Each boss baker must make his
bread with The union labels. The union will
furnish the labels free Of charge to such boss
bakers az employ one or more journeymen. A
boss baker who employs no hands must pay
for these labels at the rate OF 30cents per 1000.
Tho labels shall remain in the care of the
journeymen employed in the various shops.
Among the bosses who have already
complied with these demands are the fol-
lowing w. L. Gilbert, Tenth and Pine
Streets John Hirzel, corner Ninth and
Poplar Streets julius Guenther, No. 2l7
West Second; Henry Miller, No. 600 Or
ange NJ. I. Dannenberg, Twelfth and
Walnut; II. d. Deverell, Seventh and Tat
nall; Hermann Guoth, Eleventh and Tat
nall; ]. j. Schrade, No 20i West Eighth.
As regards wages there is no demand for
any Increase Inc cDleI question Is the
long hours Of work. The journeymen also
demand that they be allowed TO board
where they please. The strikers are most
emphatic, however, in regard to the re-
quirement of having the label placed on
all the bread they bake. Upon this point
they will listen to no compromise what
ever
Tuesday IL of the % strikers returned to
work with the eight boss signers of the
compact, This leaves 16 men yet out, The
union committee has telegraphed to Phila-
delphia, New York and elsewhere, warn
ing all union divisions to anticipate the
boss bakers in attempting to get aid. The
local union claims to have sufficient funds
to maintain the strike and if not the Cen
trail Union will extend aid.
The bosses were at their wits end Monday
night to get themselves out of their pre-
dicament. The cake bakers and others
were pressed into service and the bosses
themselves put OH aprons and stood at the
dough trough. At several of the bakeries,
however, no bread was produced at all on
Tuesday morning.
Several of the bosses stoutly declare that
they have not the slightest intention what
ever to comply with the strikers demands.
They claim they have been suddenly and
unfairly left in the lllrch. On the other
hand the strikers assert that repeated de-
mands had been made for redress and that
the bosses thoroughly understood the
whole situation. There are about 40 boss
bakers in the city and about 60 journey
men, of whom about somewhat more than
one-half are union men.