Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-31
IRON A LITTLE SLOW.
Regular Falling Off in Orders at
This Season of the Year.
JONES & LAUGHiINs' BIG RUN,
Effect Of Possible Reduction From Three
Turns to Two.
WORK SLACKENING IN MANY MILLS

The work in the mills in the. Pittsburg
district has greatly fallen off during the
past ten days The effect of the slack de-
mand for the product of the iron mills i!
being felt in all branches of work in the
mills. Some of the numerous plants have
been either closed down for the time being
or are running only part OF the time. A
great many men are being thrown out Of
employment temporarily. The work in the
steel mills continues almost unlnterruptedly
and is only slightly feeling the depression
in the iron trade.
For the past three months Jones & Laugh
Inns Southside mills have had remarkable
run. An unusually large force of men were
employed, and scarcely day was lost.
The plant was run to its full capacity, as
| the firm was OVERLOADED with orders.
Every mill under the Pinch was put on
triple turn, and the output of the works
was enormous This has all been changed
during the past two weeks, and there has
been general Stacking up oforders. Mill
No has not been working at all during
the past week, and many OF the others are
doing very little work.
Cutting Down the Product.
There are not enough orders coming in to
keep the plant working, and it is probable
that several of the mills will be closed
during the coming week for at least half of
the time The tinplate mill has been
closed for several weeks, but will be started
to-day to he run for short time to fill q
small order.
The workmen look with dissatisfaction
upon the present arrangement. Ever since
the mill was put on double turn there has
been fear that the output being so great,
there would not be enough orders to keep
them all at work. Inquiry among the
men yesterday revealed many who
found fault with the present arrange
ment. The concensus of opinion was
that with the expiration of the three
months during which they have been run
ming on triple turn the company would put
the various mills on a double turn.
The three months expire next Wednesday.
Those who will likely suffer by the change
claim that the company will have to con-
tlnue as 1t is, because of the Amalgamsted
Association rule under which the plant is
now being operated. There is no rule gov
erning the triple-turn plan in the laws of
the Amalgamated Association, so that a
P-AS "a VIZ vi AiASA SldIlu tue company
can do as it pleases without infringing on
any OF the rules between it and the union.
Become Entitled to All Privileges.
When a man has worked three months as
q union man he is entitled to all the rights
to be enjoyed by any of the members. As
this plant has been running three months
steadily on the three-turn plan, to have
one-third of the men thrown out bv a
change would cause dissatisfaction and
raise some important questions as to union
labor.
That there will be change many of the
men believe, but some think otherwise.
They say that the output of the plant has
been so great for some time that there will
not be enough orders to continue as in the
past and that the adoption of the double
turn will be a necessity. Should the triple
turn be continued the works will likely
have to be closed down part of the time.
Some stock is being stored in the mill yard,
but it is the intention of the company to
ill orders as they are received and as little
stock as possible will be kept on hand.
divers Fifteenth street mill is running
only part of the time. Little work was
done yesterday and the material is turned
out just as the orders are received. This
is the plan adopted by all the iron firms in
the district, as all are inclined to 60 verv
slow. The lack of orders is usually slack at
this season Of the year.