Waterbury Democrat., 1902-11-22

SS IN THE FIELD a
 s OF LABOR 3
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 The city employees of Norwich have been granted an eight-hour day.
 Regular meeting of Central Labor union at Buffers and Polishers' hall Monday evening.
 During the year ending October l, 1902, S,200,OOO labels were issued by the Broommakers' International un- ion.
 The Butchers union will hold spe- cial meeting tomorrow at 10 o'clock at which all members are requested to be present.
 Regular meeting of the Bartenders' union tomorrow afternoon at Pythian hall Matters of special interest will come before the meeting and members should make an extra effort to be present.
 The Drug Clerks union held an in- teresting and well attended meeting on Tuesday evening. The clerks of all the principal stores are now members of this union and the organization is prospering.
 The Buffers and Po1ishers' union of Meriden cleared in the neighborhood of $3,500 as a result of their recent fair. This will be used to a large extent in better organizing the metal trades of the state.
 m Probably the greatest victory in point of individual wages in the past year was that of the Ice Drivers and Handlers union of Chicago. Without a strike the drivers secured an in- crease of $240 a year aDd for helpers $224 year.
 A bill will be introduced in the next Massachusetts legislature looking tow ard the incorporation of labor unions The measure, it is said, is fathered by tile manufacturing interests of the state, who desire to place labor organ lzations in a position where they can easily be forced into litigation.
 Mother Jones, writing from the soft coal region of West Virginia, where the strike is reported as all settled. says: "We. have 1,500 families of coal miners thrown out of their homes and now camping on the highways. We should not talk so much about evic- ton in Ireland. Free America eclipses Ireland.''
 The meeting of the Painters and Decorators union on Monday evening was largely attended and proved an interesting session. Four new mem- bers were initiated and the initiation fee was increased to $20. This .or- ganization is now in better condition than att any time in it's history and perfect harmony prevails between it's members and their employers.
 A meeting of the Connecticut Valley Painters conference was held in Speedwell hall on Sunday last and was attended by delegates from near ly all of the Connecticut and Massa- chusetts cities which are. members. Meetings are held on the third Sunday of each month, the next one being at Springfield on December 21. Frank Moran and John H. Pratt are the Wa terbury delegates.
 At a meeting of the Buffers and Polishers' union held Thursday even ing it was voted to affiliate with Dis .trict council No 3.of the Buffers and Polishers. The council will keep an organizer at work in the state regu- larly and it is expected that the con dition of the organization will be bene- fited thereby. Seven candidates were initiated and seven applications for membership received at the meeting. 2
 NorWalk has been suffering from teamsterS' strike for the past three weeks and the feeling is growing very bitter. The coal dealers and whole sale houses are the principal sufferers. as most of the local truckmen and small contractors have agreed to the unions demand of $2 per day of ten hours. Other unions are preparing to aid the teamSters in their fight, while the merchants have formed an organi- zation for the purpose of fighting the unions. The contest has become so bitter that in many cases clerks in stores have refused to handle mer- chandise hauled by non-union team sters.
 A brief. strike occurred in the Brooklyn district one day this week. the cause being a non-union painter from Buffalo. He was approached by Business Agent Moran and given an application blank or the Painters un- ion, but refused to fill out the same As a consequence the union men were taken off the job. The foreman then held a brief conference with the man from Buffalo, who decided to fill out the desired document, and also depos- tied an x with the business agent, with the promise of the same amount two weeks later. The men then re- turned to work and the strike was over. Loss of time. 15 minutes.
 The Winchester Repeating Arms Go of New Haven has been laying off many men of Iate and the cause has