The evening times., 1897-05-20
DEMANDS Of THE TA|LORS
Conditions Upon Which the
Strike viii End.
WANT A MEDIUM WAGE SCALE
Other Demands Are That They Work
Only Fifty-four Hours a Week and
Work by the Week-AIso That
Union Hands Be Employed in the
Shops.

New York, May 20.-A mass meeting Of
the striking East Side tailors is sched
uled for this afternoon, at which the de
maGds formulated by the executive com
| mittee will be presented for adoption or
rejection. The demands VIII not be lade
puijlic in full until after the meeting, but
the general tenor is, about as follows:
The tailors demand that they shall work
not more than fifty-four hours IL week,
instead of the sixteen or eighteen hours n
day which they hayesecently been required
to put in They insist that they snail
work by the week, and that the present
task system shall be absolutely abolished
They also require that union hands shall
be empIC yed in the shops where they are
engaged.
These three demands are the basis OF
the conditions upon which they will de-
clare the strike at an end As to what
wages shall he paid TO them for a week 8
work the tailors have not yet determined
They are willing to leave the scale Of
wages to he adjusted at conferences be-
tween themselves and their EMPLOYERS
a
scale, and that it shall he sufficiently
high to keep them from starvation.
It developed this morning that the
strike now in progress may have the effect
OF revolutioniZing the clothing trade sys-
TEN of tits city 1t is among the possi-
bities that it may be the means of doing
away with the contractors, or middle men, q,
altogether A representative of the manu-
featuring rirm OF FIeisheiiner, Fischel &
Co, one Of the largest concerns in the city
called yesterday upon the executive board
OF the brotherhood OF TaiIOrs and asked for
IN explanation of the causes and demands
of the strikers.
Mayer Schoenfeld. the leader Of the tail
ors, explained them to him in full. Then
the representative said to Schoenfeld that
the majority Of the manufacturers were
actually in sympathy with the strike ann
hoped that il would be successful He re-
allied he said, that the condition of the
tailors was almost pitiahle and said that
every one ackno wledged that SoIno thing
must be done TO better it.
He said that his firm was considering
the plan Of doing its work .inside;'' that
is. Of empIo wing its own tail0rs and ha wing
the medium Of the contractor He said
that there were a great many other firms
that contemplated a similar move
He told ScRoenfeld that he would confer
with the manufacturers and report to him
later what action they would take. The
odoptiCn of this ystem would be of benefit
to both the manufacturers and the tailOrs.
The news that such change had been
broacbed by the manufacturers caused the
tailors more JOY and gave them more con-
fideuce than anything which has occurred
since the strike began.
For the frs, time since the strike began
on last Sunday. this uiUiIn ng 81 " few al
ditions to the strikers ranks A few men
who had not hitherto been reached were
called out. A number of women for want
of work were alsD Obliged to leave their
places. The numhcr of 10th, however lid
not exceed goo. 1t is believed, however,
that at least two or more organizati ms
will strike this afternoon, forcing about
3. 900 more men into idlcness
The Progressive T3ilors arranged to
hold meeting ct Liberty HaH this after
noon for the purpose Of deciding what &C
tion they Will take, and the Lithuanian
tailors win also meet for the express pur-
puseof ordering n strike
The striking tailors Hfon the first vic
tory Of the battle t4as morning when the
first surrender OF q cQBtractOr was re-
corded. Abraham Cohen, Of 800 East
Broadway, has agreed to increase the
wages Of his employees 90 per cent and
fixed the hours Of work at nine hours a
day He has $50 men in his shop.