The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-02
F|GHT-H0UR LAW
TO BE ENFORCED
Prosecution of the CLAIM Com
pary's Foreman.
m TEST THE NEW LAW
coxPLAINT SWORN OUT BY ONE
OF THE STRIKERS.
TO TEST THE NEW Law

7,sn Everiu foreman of the y. 2.
clam Construction company on the
,3-.-bsrn street sewer ditch, is to be
-,s5s defendant in a case instituted by
county Attorney Christensen to test
tba right Of a contractor to allow men
., work more th21 eight hours a day
On city contract. This proceeding IS
rr5er the law passed by the last legis-
1orura which provides that no con-
tractor on city, county or state work
sFeU contract for more than eight
bours as a days labor.
The complaining witness is August
Never one of the men who quit work
IN The sewer Wednesday when Fore
nan FveriU acting under instructions
from his superiors, declined to pay 50
per dav of eight hours. County AttOr
nv Christensen is of the opinion that
tbe law has been violated and that
Technically EverilI is guilty of a mis-
GemeanOF.
Never claims that Everil hired him
f0r So a day and compelled him to work
ten hours in order TO earn the money.
Thu defense of Everiu viii be that the
men were hired for twenty cents an
hour. with the privileges of stopping
st the end of eight hours if they chose
In that event however, they would re-
ceive but 81 so for their days work,
Men at Work.
Yesterday twenty-five men were
working on the ditch at the rate of s.
for ten hours work. Engineer Ehrhart
sale that ne would put as many more
90 work today ON the same terms.
When it was suggested to him that he
might be violating the law by con-
tracing for ten hours work in one day,
h said he didn't see how a law could
be made to interfere with a mans
right 10 work ans number Of hours he
chose. from two to twenty.
ct don't want to antagOnize anybody
IN Salt Lake" Mr.. EhrhaTt went on
but It certainly does seem to me that
men have a right TO work ten hours ar 20
cents an hour if they want to. We
wouldn't discharge a man if he wanted
% quit for the day at the END Of eight
hours, but we certainly would only pay
him Sl.6o. No law can fix the wages
that contractors must pay"
Piece Work Proposed.
The engineer is thinking of doing the
sewer work by another plan. anyway.
Il expect he said, "to lay off a GER
tain amount of work for each man to
90 every day. I viii take a fair aver
age man and see what he can do in
N---4N A-INaleF Alltl I ~ III assign a SINH
lar task to every man on the work and
pay him s. when he finishes it.
If he gets through IL sIN hours it
VIII be all right with me. If ii takes
ten hours he viii get the same money.
Ihen / suppose if a man who can do
his task in seven hours wants to go
ahead and do half or all Of another.
and so earn double wages, somebody
viii want to step in and prevent him
by law. 1 don't believe it can be done.
though
We viii fight the case of Mr.. FveriII
TOO, he is a foreman of our conDanv
ana was acting under our instructions
Nhen ne employed these men at 2O
cents an hour / don't anticiDate anv
trouble AT all about the matter"
Meyer, the complaining witness. said
yesterday afternoon that he had mo
grievance at all against EveriU. m
could not be proven that Ehrhart nj
U-ann hired any men, and for this rea.
son the complaint was made on
against lHe foreman. We want to tes
me law. said Meyer. II a cOntractor
mas the right TO compel men to worL
zen hours IN order to earn a dav's
wages we want TO know it. That is n
way / was hired, and the others WIND
eull were hired The same way"