Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-02
MAY DAY BRINGS A STRIKE
Three Hundred Men Make a Demand for
an Increase in Wages.
IRON WORKERS IN CHICAGO QUIT WORK
General Suspension I'm the building
Trades Likely TO Follow nm At
tempt to Employ Nom
union Men.

| CHICAGO, May lin accordance with n
| decision reached late last night about 300
structural iron workers, employed prin-
| cipally on the various elevated roads in
course of construction, struck today for an
increase of wages.
The old agreement between the employers
expired yesterday, and in the new agreement
the ven demand an increase from S7lb to As
cents an hour and double pay for all over
time, they having heretofore been paid time
and a half for over eight hours work and
double time for sundays and holidays.
Two small firms employing about fifteen
men, have signed the agreement.
The structural iron work in Chicago is
completely tied up. The Bridge Workers
union belongs to the Building Trades coun-
Gil, and should the contractors attempt to
put non-union men to work 1t is feared a
general strike Of the building trades will
follow. No disturbances have occurred.
MILWAUKEE, May 1.-The mattress
makers at the bedding factories in this city
went on strike for higher wages. They
belong to the American Federation of Labor
and demand cents higher all around on
piece work.
SAN FRANCICO, MAY 1.-At conference
today between the members of the grievance
committee of the building trades council and
the walking delegates of the associated
unions IT was decided that the card system
should be vigorously enforced in this city
hereafter. Every district of San Francisco
will be patrolled by committees to investi-
gate the personnel Of all mechanics employed
on building jobs. Any committeeman is en-
powered to require employers to adopt the
card system and to dismiss non-union work.
men, Upon the refusal of an employer to
comply with these demands the committee
may order strike on the job forthwith and
the union mechanics must Immediately COM
ply with such instruction.
PlTTSFlELD, Mass. May, IA general
strike was inaugurated by the building traces
union here today on account of the refusal
of contractors to grant a nine-hour day.
PORT HENRY, N. Y. May 1.-Seven hun
dred men are thrown out of work by strike
today of the employees in Sherman & Co.'s
iron mines, whose demand for an increase of
40 cents day was refused. The mines were
shut down.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind, May Livery
bituminous mine in Indiana, with the ex-
ception of three, is idle today. The three
operators whose mines are still in operation
and who paying the old scale are mem
bers of the association, but did not sign the
agreement at the Indianapolis meeting to
reduce wages. Their trade is purely local.
The struggle will be a protracted one.
KANSAS CITY May 1.-At a meeting
held tonight the plumbers and gas and steam
filters decided to inaugurate a strike Monday
next, the Employers association having re-
fused their demand for an eght-hour day
at the same wages that has heretofore been
paid for nine hours. ----'--
LINTON, Ind, May ALI the mines in
Greene and Sullivan counties have suspended
work and 1000 men in this part of the dis
trict are idle. Both miners and operators
say that no concessions will be made and it
is a fight to the finish. Neither has made
any money the past year and the indications
are that the operators will shut down in
definitely until they get reduction of the
wage scale from last years prices, which
were 60 cents per ton.