New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-05


TIN MEN WHO WERE DISCHARGED RE
crNrLY-THE LEADERS OF THE EN-
p1.oyEs SAY THEY WILL STRIKE
ONLY AS A LAST RESORT.
o &c possibility of serious trouble be-
the Metropolitan Street Railway Company
.rnnloves. which may terminate in gem
'~., strike and tie-up of the multitude OF lines
s,,h are controlled by the company. On the
va" =, the men il is said that if the fight does
pa u will be for the recognition of their or
N,,,,ion while on the other hand the officials
,,s company declare that il will be FOR
". rnboldng of necessary and judicious rules
~ tho nroper conduct of it's business.
THO nresent trouble, it may be said. has been
..o,,,ng for some time The men say that it
,oar several months ago, when it was rumored
.hat they were organizing. or about to do so.
rhev allege that the company has had detectives
onr,oved 10 ferret out the men who Joined the
aorizetion and that these men were dis
oharged on trivial charges from the companys
.n,rIov without previous notice or warning. The
o,,rnanvs officials deny the statement. and de-
,,o that they are not opposed TO unions and
Re va m objection TO the employees joining organi-
otions They insist that all that is asked of the
.r,nloves is that they shall do their full duty at
al zines and shall not disobey the expressed
rules Of the company.
r. this as il may the differences between the
compsnv and It's employees have apparently been
aggravated within the last few weeks. in which
neriod the men, IT is said. have perfected their
organization. and it now includes nearly every
street railway empoye in the city.
THE CAUSE OF APPREHENSION.
The direct cause Of apprehension of serious
trouble is the fact that committee of five. rep
resenting the employees of the Metropolitan street
Railway Company. called on President Nree-
land on Friday afternoon, and requested the rein
statement Of ten who had been discharged
from the companvs employ. The request was
refused on the ground that the men had been dis
charged for good and sufficient causes On the
other hand the men allege that they were dis
charged because they were prominent in the new
organization The men began to organize nine
weeks ago. and II was said yesterday that 10
per cent of the employees of the Metropolitan street
Railway Company are now members OF the Anal
eamated Association Of Street Railway En-
poyes Of America. c. W. Archibald and Thomas
McCullom general organizers Of the association
have been in this city for seven weeks, having
como here from Philadelphia. The association
now has branches in forty-hve Of the principal
cities The headquarters are In Detroit ana the
nresident Of the association is W. d. Mahon, Of
Philadelphia He was the leader Of the street
railway strike in the latter city few weeks
ago. The local organization in this city has
sent for Mahon. and he is expected to arrive to-
day. II is said that there are $4,000 members IN
the railway association.
The headquarters Of the men in this city nave
been at No 22O West Forty-seventh-st. The
god yaV one Clarendon
IN East Thirteenth-st. yesterday
NO CALL FOR HASTY ACTION.
The members of the committee and the gen
eral organizers. Archibold and McCullom' when
seen yesterday, TAXED freely of the differences
between the men and their employers, but de-
clared that there was no necessity for hasty
action. Archibold said that there no In
tention of calling a strike He said he did not
think the company desired a STRIFE anS more
than the men did. A strike would be ordered
only as a last resort
Archibold then gave short history OF 'he
association which ne represents and then SAID;
when the committee called on President Nree-
land ne received them courteously, and advised
them not 10 be hasty or rash. He refused 10
tell them, however. the reason for discharglhs
the meI The company ha9 no right to discharge
men without cause. The ten men had peeh III
the conpany's employ from two 10 four years.
Nine of them were notormen and con-
ductor II is strange that the company should
now decide that these men were Incompetent
One Of them was called into the managers ONCE
onlv three days before his discharge and compli-
mented on the way he did his duty The trouble
Is that these men. the company discovered are
prominent in our association and that was the
cause OF their dismissal from the company
employ While we want to accommodate the
public We also desire that men shall be per
mit.ed TO earn living wages and keep up our
organization without being interiered WIN
While we do not wish to order strike, think
that We could tie-up the Broadway and LeXlhS-
tonave lines Ia three hours II we desired H.
But we wish 10 avoid trouble. If possible ana
We desire 10 arbitrate. We willing that the
company shall select arbtrators and we chooSe
an equal number and that the Arbitration CUM
mttee selected shall settle the present uoupie'
The men have a number Of grievances among
them that there are trippers in the coihpahS
employ who little as Sc cents Day buu
the present Issue is the recognition by the com
pany OF our organization.
"Of course | cannot say as yet whether there
will be strike or not. but do not think there
Will be anything Of the kind for several days
at least The matter is entirely in the hands OF
the Executive Committee of the local organza-
tion, and the committee will meet tonight
STRIKE ONLY A LAST RESORT
Thomas McCullom. the other general organizer
said:
First we are for council. second for arbitra-
uon. and third for strike. There will not be
strike until all attempts to bring abodt
arbitration fail"
There was considerable activity about the
cable Building at Broadway and Houston-st
yesterday. Personal interviews with the onciais
were hard TO obtain. President Vreeland was
IN and out In the course Of the day. but was
extremely hard to catch He Is not only pres-