The Minneapolis journal., 1901-04-13
Master Builders So Decide
This Afternoon.
BE EFFECTIVE AT ONCE
Work by Union Carpenters to Stop
- Tonight.
SASH AND DOOR MEMS PLANS
They May All Dispense With the
Union LabeI-Carpenters'
Position Defined.

the 300 or more in the employ OF the Mas
ter Builders association at work Monday
morning. At meeting of the association
this afternoon it was voted unanimously
to yield not a single point in their con-
tentions with the carpenters union, and it
was agreed to announce TO the men to-
night that they would have no further
need for their services until they stood
ready to work under the rules of the Mas
ter Builders association.
The carpenters on their part at their
meeting last night voted with but single
dissenting voice to hold steadfastly to
the rules of their own organization.
Neither side will give an inch and the
issue is joined.
Carlfn Hopes.
Phil Carlin, secretary of the Building
Trades Council, still hopes for an am
icable settlement. President H. N. Leigh
ton of the Master Builders association does
not see how 1t is possible now.
Il look for a general strike said he
this afternoon, following the announce
ment OF the result of the associations
meeting Not a single man in my employ
will be working after tonight until they
come to the terms named in the rules OF
our association. Some of my men have
been working for me for all the way from
twelve to twenty years.
The order affects all alike. We will
pick UP men where we can and get along
as best We can. Fortunately, there is no
very pressing work on hand among our
members. I don't know what the sash
and door manufacturers are going to do.
We are not CO. operating with them"
A report is current in building circles
that all sash and door manufacturers of
the city have signed an agreement to dis
pense with the label of the Woodworkers'
union after May 1. While 1t has been
impossible to secure admission OF this
from the manufacturers, their close
friends in the Master Builders association
say that this is their understanding Of
the situation. While there may not have
been any actual meeting between the
builders association and the mill owners
there are several indications that they
are pulling together.
WOOdwOrkers Meet Tonight.
A meeting of the woodworkers' organi-
cation will be held this evening to dis
cuss the question of wages already raised,
also the nine-hOur provision. The inten
tion of the factories to dispense with the
use of the union label will doubtless be
vigorously opposed and the matter is sure
to be one OF the subjects the meeting will
discuss. 1t is understood that the wood
workers will appoint a committee to con-
fer with the mill owners.
Sash and Door Men to Meet.
The owners have no organization of any
kind, but all those operating union shops
are willing to meet their employees for
the discussion of any question Of mutual
interest, and it is more than likely that
there will be well attended meeting of
the sash and door men next Monday.
All the sash and door concerns in the
city, except the Bardwell- Robinson COM
pany, ]. F. Wilcox and H. S. Johnson,
stamp the output Of their factories with
the union label. Most of them are accused
Of harboring decided intentions to aban-
don this practice as soon as the present
one-year agreement expires. Two influ
ences are operating to influence the mill
men to ignore the union-the expressed
wish of the master builders and the COM
petition of the sash and door, works of
Oshkosh, who do considerable local busi-
ness through jobbing houses.
Boys In Competition.
In Oshkosh much of the machine work
Is done by boys, and even girls, while here
Dnly men are employed, and naturally cor
respondingly higher wages are paid. The
contractors want to buy the Oshkosh
products, but they do not carry the union
label, and a contractor who uses them is
Immediately involved in more or less seri-
order that they may buy house material
wherever they see fit, the local builders
insist on the labels being abandoned.
Possibly no threats have been made, but
it is quite plain that the significant wish
on the part of the members of the master
builders association, that there be no re-
strictions to free purchase anywhere, has
unquestionably set the mill men to think
ing.
What One Man Says.
One of the leading sash and door men
Of the city denied that there was any
hitch anywhere either among sash and
loor people or with any of the organiza-
lions interested in building and building
material. There had, he said, been no
meeting of the mill men, none had been
called, but if the woodworkers wanted to
confer, their wish would be granted
There was nothing to be said about the
label except that the agreement with the
union would be respected until May 1, and
some decision regarding the coming year
would probably be reached before that
time. He did not, however, say that his
firm would continue or renew the present
arrangement after May 1.
The Master Builders association seems
to be the chief actor in the labor difficult
ties. If it stands by the letter of it's
ultimatum, serious lockout or strike
may follow.
Miss. Valley Lumbermnn's View.
In an editorial on the local conditions,
the Mississippi Valley Lumberman, which
speaks for the manufacturers, says:
with the situation as it is. it is not
surprising that the contractors hesitate.
If they agree to use only factory work
that bears the union label, building will
have to stop, for there will not be a sash
and door factory in the west from which