Evening star., 1901-05-13

President O'ConneII's Statement.


machinists and Indirectly !o","oo men in
metal trade is expected to take place May
20, unless some arrangement is effected in
the meantime. This was the statement
made last night by President James O'Con-
nell of the International Association of Ma
chinists who has his headquarters in this
city The demands of the men, the refusal
of which threaten to precipitate the strike,
Mr. O'Connell said, are for a working day
of nine hours and an increase of l2i2 per
cent in wages. or in other words ten hours
pay for nine hours of work. The matter.
he said, has been under consideration for
some time and every effort has been made
by the Machinists' Association to avoid re-
sorting to a strike, but such action. he
says, is now necessary. If the working men
hope to attain the end they are STRIVING
for Some time ago through the efforts OF
the International Association concessions
were secured from the National Metal
Trades Association, the employer of about
- per cent of the men who would be af-
fected by the strike by which general
work day of nine hours was to become
operative May 20 of this year.
Wage Question Unsettled.
The question of an increase Of
wages, however, or it's equivalent, the
granting Of ten hours pay for nine
hours of work, remained unsettled.
The representatives, of the Metal Trades
Association and the International AS
sociation of Machinists held a conference
In New York Saturday, at which an at
tempt was made to reach an agreement
on the wage matter SO that the strike pro-
posed for May 20 could be avoided. Ny
O'Connell however, says the employers
refused to arbtrate the question of wages
nationally but that they expressed will
ingness that this matter should be settl@ I'd
by employers locally, each individual case
to be treated such. This method is IN
satisfactory to the representatives of the
Machinists' Association. who express the
opinion that this would prolong indefinitely
the settlement of the question. Upon MS
return to the city Mr.. O'Connell promptly
prepared the order for the strike, ma 1t
was sent out by mail yesterday.
Mr.. OConnell says that about 200 firms,
whose employees represent prOba bly, 20 per
cent Of the. $4,000 men who will be affected
hy the proposed strike. have signed agree
ments for the reduction In hours of labor
and the increase of pay, so that the aslta.
ton on the subject already mas p2nen.ea
them materially.
For prudential reasons the executive CON-
mittee has determined not to. apply the
strike order TO the railroads at this tine
Whether 1t will be done in the future " III
depend altogether on developments.
President Gompers of the A r. OF L.,
wnO was present with wee Ffesldehs
O'Connell at the conference above referred
to- returned to Washington today. 1t was
learned that the action of the mach1nlsts
grew out of resolutions adopted at the last
convention of the American Federation of
Labor. TO the effect above outlined.
At the same time the president of the
AmericarSs Federation of Labor was in
structed to advise all general and local or
ganiZers of the American Federation of La
Dor to assist the international Association
of Machinists wherever possible to bring
about more thorough organization Of the
trade, and to cooperate and assist the in
ternational officers of the above association
to the end that the ninehour day may be
successfully inaugurated. This instruction
has been complied with