The age-herald., 1900-04-07
UNION LABOR CLAUSE
 TN BUILDING CONTRACTS
Trouble Between Building Trades Council and Cook & Laurie Contractors-B Both
 Sides of the Question.

A clause in building contracts that only
 union labor shall be employed is the latest achievement of the Building Trades Coun- ell, it being reported at the last meeting of the council that this clause had been in- serted in several contracts recently signed.
 The reports of the business agents of
 the council were satisfactory, and showed
 that the interests of the organization were being closely looked after
 The trouble between the council and
 Cook x Lauree, the contractors of St. Vim
 cents hospital has eliminated in a dec-
 laration against the contractors, who
 claim that they have not been inconven- fenced, and that they are not antagonistic
 to union labor.
 At late meeting of the council the fol-
 lowing resolutions drafted by a special
 committee were adopted:
 Whereas, The firm of Cook & Laurie,
 contractors of Birmingham, have per
 sistently refused to employ union labor upon their work; and
 Whereas, every honorable means has been exhausted in an effort to induce the
 firm of Cook & Laurie to employ union
 labor; therefore, be it
 Resolved, That we, the Building Trades 1Ouncll or blrlnillSHdHl ulSlTlCl, III regular session, April 4, 1900, do hereby declare said firm of Cook & Laurie, contractors in the city of Birmingham, unfair to union la Dor; and be it further
 Resolved, That all trades affiliated with the Building Trades Council and those in sympathy with them are hereby notified not to work upon any buildings that are now under construction or to be construct ed hereafter by the said Cook &; Laurie til such time as the said firm shall be de- clared fair to union labor by the Building Trades Council.
 The officers of the council say that they are not unfriendly nor are they making fight against the Sisters of Charity.
 The Contractors' Side
 Regarding the trouble, Theodore Poull, manager for the firm, said yesterday:
 Cook and Laurie entered into a contract a little over a year ago with the St. Vim cent Hospital association and the plaster
 CTS wages at that time were 8 per day for nine hours work and the firm figured
 the work on that basis. Now the plaster CTS demand $4 for eight hours work, which demand Cook and Laurie refuse to give, but are willing to pay $3. 50 for nine hours work on St. Vincents hospital and $4 per day for eight hours on all the other work. We have ten plasterers at work now and the work is progressing nicely. 'J. R. Wade, representing the Hospital association, and myself did attend the meeting of the Plasterers' union on last Wednesday night and the plasterers ask ed MT. Wade to make a statement relative to the trouble existing between the con tractors and the plasterers. MT. Wade said in substance that the Sisters were badly handicapped in their present location and urged the plasterers to take the offer Cook and Laurie made them, as he thought it fair one, and to help a good cause also that he was going to build an addition to the hospital. by the day, and if the plasterers demanded $10 per day from them he would pay same. This ap- pears to me to be queer way to urge the plasterers to go to work on St. Vincent's hospital.
 Tt seems to me that it is unfair for the Building Trades Council to say that Cook & Laurie have repeatedly refused to work union labor on any work in Birmingham, as out of about sixty or seventy mechan- cs at work, there were only three or four non-union men, which was unavoidable. It seems the Building Trades Council is talk | ing up this fight to cripple Cook & Laurie. We have met all the demands of the me- chanics on this work, and have paid them more than we figured when we took the contract for the same. We have also pro- posed to pay all union labor the union scale of wages on alls we are figuring on, and have never refused to work a union man.
 'I have understood that a number of the committee appointed by the Builders Trades council to adjust the differences between the plasterers and Cook & Laurie were heard to state that they would not agree to any settlement of said differ ences unless Cook x Laurie would sign an agreement not to take any more work in Birmingham. This, in my opinion, is to
 crush us in Birmingham.
 "I will further state that we wish to do right by all men, and are willing to adjust differences in a reasonable manner |" If you want results. try an ad in The Age-Herald