The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1901-10-21
Six Trades Out.

Six Trades Out.
The 100 men out to-day include carpen-
ters, bricklayers, steam filters, painters,
tile workers and plasterers' helpers. The
plasterers withdrew from the building
trades council about year ago and are
under no obligations to obey the orders
of the council. Their helpers went out,
however, and work in the plastering line
standstill for the present. The marble
settlers are also not affiliated with the
council and the few men employed in that
line at the new city hall are still at work.
The contracting firms involved in the
trouble SO far as it has extended to-day
are Pike & Cook, Haglin Co., T. P.
Healy and McMullen & Cheny.
Messrs. Kelly and wilkins say they have
the sympathy of all the contractors and
SO long as their cooperation can be of any
avail they expect to be able to command
it. There is no talk as yet of any official
action by the Master Builders association.
No meeting has been called and so far as
known there is no intention on the part
Of the association to take sides in the con-
troversy, unless events should so shape
themselves as to make it necessary in pro-
lection of their own interests.
Both Sides Talk.
Both sides to the trouble declare their
intention to continue the fight and consid-
er no compromise.
Says Phil Carlin, secretary of the Build
ing Trades council:
We are going to fight this thing out with
the offending employers If it takes all sum-
mer. They have repeatedly broken faith with
us, and patience has ceased to be virtue.
The two concerns against which we have a
particular grievance promised us that when
the plumbers abrogated the agreement to
work for none but master plumbers that they
would put all of the union men to work and
let the nOnunion imported men go. They
have utterly failed to live up to the agree
ment, after we had made the desired conces-
sion, and now we are going to insist on fair
play. The men of the different allied trades
have acted with gratifying unanimity. They
walked out to a man this morning In no
case was there the slightest indication of dis
sension.
Ddlu nelly.
AS we stated in our communication to the
Building Trades Council last Thursday. we
are not opposed in any way to the Plumbers
and Gas Filters local union. but we do NOT
believe that men outside of the union should
receive different treatment from what they
would expect themselves. We offered the
members of the local union $3.50 per day, or
so cents more a day than was being paid
elsewhere. This would cost us at least 81, 500
a year. However, we were willing to do this
rather than to have a strike, as all strikes
are expensive to both parties, as well as a
big drawback to other mechanics in the city.
They refused this proposition from us, and
consequently the only course left was to get
men elsewhere. We have paid railroad fares
and other expenses and the loss to our busi-
ness has been in the neighborhood Of So 900.
We have done everything in our power 10
make settlements during the summer and
have made propositions to both them and the
Building Trades Council, and If the local
union plumbers had broken their agreement
at the proper time we could have adjusted
matters with our men; but they said they
would never give in until they had forced
US back to the organization or until the
expiration Of the time of the agreement, which
| is May ], 1902. That was all very we'll when
they had plenty of work, but now that the
winter Is approaching and some of the men
as we understand, are idle, they break the
agreement because they find they are to be
the losers. They want US to entirely ignore
the rights of the men who helped us out
during our trouble. The mechanics on the
different buildings who were obliged to leave
their work to-day have but the one thing
to state, namely, that it is a most unjustifable
strike.
A special meeting Of the board Of court
onH 0itV hall
been called for tomorrow afternoon to
consider ways and means Of dealing with
the situation at the new city building.