The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-01
UNION PACIFIC'S
SHOPS MAY CLOSE.
General Strike Order 0beyed by
Most of the Machinists.
EVANSTON MEN AT WORK
PRESIDENT BURT SAYS STRIKE
WAS CAUSED BY AGITATION.

1 ance with a prearranged plan,
formal order was issued early~to-
day by President T. L. Wilson OF the
International Association of Machinists
for a general strike OF Union Pacific
machinists, which order went into ef-
feet at 1o'clock, The mems demand
is a per cent advance in wages and
that the company abandon the recently
adopted piece work system.
The number of men who walked out
at the large shops of the system was
not great, but the order was generally
obeyed. Already the number of men
at work had been greatly depleted by
the closing down of shops at Omaha,
Cheyenne, North Platte and Arm
strong, Kan, and the curtailment of
work at a number of small shops by
the company The machinistS, how
ever include as strikers the entire
regular force of all these shops, and
have begun paying strike DEMENT'S 10
all OF their members who We're en-
ployed by the closing down of the
shops.
Vice President Wilson said benefits
would be paid to nearly 1,500 men. To
this number 200 boilermakers are added,
making the total number affected LOO.
Railroad officials declare these figures
are too high, but have given out no
estimate. Reports were received at
railroad headquarters by General Man
ager Dickinson that the men at Grand
Island, Neb, and Evanston, Wyo, had
refused to strike.
The machinists tonight sent COM
mittee to Evanston. Wyo. Strike lead
hi ie "a nj nOlI7f
that the men there do not fully under
stand the position of the union. The
committee expects to have the machin-
lists out at Evanston in day or two.
President Kennedy of the local organ
liza ton of boi1ermakers said today that
there were but three boilermakers at
work on the entire system The train
and engine men will not be drawn into
the strike.
Leaders of these branches of the
service say it is not their fight and
that no thought has been given to the
question of a sympathetic strike The
maehinists also agree that they do not
expect to receive any assistance from
any other labor organizations, content
ing themselves with the statement that
the railroad cannot run its trains for
any great length of time without ma
chinists and boilermakers, which, they
say cannot be secured
Pickets will be placed at shops and
passenger stations to keep the officers
fof the union notified of the arrival OF
new men, and at all the large cities
committees will keep the local labor
officials informed if new members are
hired to come to this city.
Burt Makes Statement.
A representative of. the Associated
Press called on President Burt today
and asked for statement of the com
pany's position with regard to the
strike of the boiler-makers and ma
chinists. $50
IF you were to ask me why these
men are striking, I could not tell you,
said Mr. Burt. I'VE have a most excel
lent class of men in our employ. and
they are receiving the highest scale Of
wages paid by any railroad in the
country. The car builders and black
smiths, and, in fact, all the employe:
! in the various Others departments ART
satisfied with the wages they are re-
] ceiving.
.aThe demands of the machinists ar.
| that they receive an increase of 10 pei
! cent in wages and that the company
/ do not adopt the piecework system
| These demands are unreasonable Tit
| company now pays about 10 per cen
higher wages for this class of wori
than other roads, and the pieceworl
| system, instead of injuring the men
will give them an opportunity to make
money.
This strike Is the result Of work OF
| the part of agitators, who have no othel
! means of making a living. 1 believ'
| that after the men have had time Z
| think it over, they Will see their mis-
| take and return to work. The Uniol
Pacific railroad is not antagonizins
| union labor; this their employees know
/ from past experience"
Asked if the road was hiring new
men, Mr. Burt said:
mo, we are hiring no new men a
| present. We expect most of the oil
men to return to work, and, general.
speaking. all good men will be takel
| back at the present scale Of wages eX
| cept the agitators, and these who hav'
| made themselves particularly obnoxf
| Gus. We have sufficient machinists an,
boiier-makers to attend to the curren
work. and the road is not suffering
and we do not expect it to suffer from
| the effects of the strike
| We have a large number OF locomo
! tiYes, ordered some time ago, on tn
way from the east. and there are abou
| sixty lying idle at this time which cal
| be used. if necessary"
Mr. Burt repeated his statemen
| that he believed the men on strike ha,
| been 'misled by agitators and designin.
men who live by that sort of employ
ment. No details were at hand. h