Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-21
WOOD WORKERS FORM UNION
Prepare to Wage Their Strike Against
Union Pacific systematically.
PIECE WORK CUTS DOWN MEMS EARNINGS
President Conn Says New Scale Re
duceS Pay for Building a Pilot
from Fifteen 10 Less Than
Three Dollars.

Locomotive wood workers and steam fit
tiers who left the Union Pacific shops Mon
day because an attempt was made to
force piecework upon them have already
formed permanent organizations and have
made all plans to carry on their strike in
a systematic manner. Already the men OF
both trades are just as determined as any
machinist, boiler maker or blacksmith that
they will never accept the premium scale
system.
Yesterday the wood workers took out
OF the shops all but one of the seven men
who had remained in Monday. So they
now have a total Of fifty men, and this with
the twenty pipemen makes seventy new
men on strike. The company will, IT is un-
derstood, take men from the car shops to
do the locomotive carpenters work, but the
latter say the scheme will never do, rs the
work on the engines is so foreign to that
OF the car men that they will be unable to
do It.
Permanent organization Of the locomo-
tive wood workers was completed Monday
night at Labor temple. c. E. Conn was
made president. George II. Crager. ST., vice
president; G. A. Walker secretary and Fred
Fisher treasurer. The title chosen was the
Locomotive Wood Workers of the Union
Pacific Railway. a press committee Of
three was appointed.
To Join Federation.
Already this organization has arranged
for admission into the American Federation
OF Labor. and that will soon be brought
about. The lodge is thought to be the first
of its kind anywhere. It has fifty members
and a widespread organization of this trade
may follow from this lead.
I'VE had known for aoma fine that tboy
would try piecework on u.s." said Presl-
dent Conn. Last week whiteford, Burt's
piecework organizer from the east, was
around our shop all the time and Saturday
came the announcement in the papers that
the new rules would come Monday. We
had never been organized, as they had let
us alone, but It was time to do something,
so we held a meeting Saturday night in
O'Neil's hall at Sixteenth and Cunning
streets. There we effected a temporary
organization and determined not to submit
to piecework.
"At the meeting Saturday night there
were forty-four present. Last night we
had fifty. We took out the three over at
Council Bluffs and we have wired the men
at Cheyenne and North Platte that we have
gone out and will write particulars. They
will doubtless stand with us, as the road
WHA 80 " bhh iibNtNpAh uh lutm dlsO.
How Premium scale Works.
THAT premium scale they scheduled for
us is something awful. Take a few ex-
amples: / am a pilot builder, and It takes
me five days to make one. That is SIS in
wages. On the piecework scale they
offered 1910 for one pilot. You could
hardly carry the lumber in for that money.
Again, they give so cents for taking off the
pilot. That job takes three men two
hours. or SO cents each an hour.
II understand they have takon some Of
Nef's men and some car repairers to do
our work. They can't do 1t, anyway, but
/ don't like to see the car men go in like
that. When they struck last summer ths
road tried to get us to do their work, and
we refused. They should not be willing
to do ours now"
Among the leaders of the boiler makers
and machinists the new strikers are well
coined, OF course, but are not regarded as
Of great significance. Said one official:
The main way these strikes help us is
that they cheer up the men who are already
out and have been so long. And don't
doubt that il will embarrass them at the
shops considerably"