Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1904-02-05

another place and substituting VIII
liam Sprevey in his place. The men
returned to work.
Another reduction in the wages OF
puddlers and finishers of the Amalga'
mated Association of Iron, Steel and
Tin Workers has been made. Pnd'
dlers who are now receiving $5.75 q
ton for their work were cut to $5.25,
which is the heaviest cut since last
July The wages of finishers were
reduced in proportion to the puddlers
cut.
Striking members of the Picture
Frame Workers Union and their of
fcers were made the defendants in an
injunction issued at Chicago by Judge
Brentano on complaint of the A. H.
Villas Company. The defendants are
restrained from congregating about
the company's plant, picketing OF
patrolling the premises, hindering the
employees or by threats or intimida
lions causing any of the employees to
leave their positions.
The labor troubles in the coal fields
of Carbon county, Utah, have beer
practically settled as result OF the
conference between G. w. Kramer
vice president of the Utah Fuel Com
pany, and Attorney S. A. King, repre-
senting the strikers. By the terms o.
an agreement satisfactory to bott
sides the camp agrees to lease for
period of six months all of the 22s
houses erected by the miners on the
companys property, paying therefor
the lump sum of $4,000.
Employees of the Austin Manufacture
ing Company, Harvey, ILL.,, who wish
to retain their positions must sign in
dividual contracts. These provide fol
a ten-hour day and a pledge that the
workmen will suggest to the company
ways of cheapening the output and in
creasing the profit. Every employe
must deposit certain sum (not less
than $500 as security that he will full
fill the agreement. If the company
decides he mas not he will be dis
charged and the deposit confiscated.
The works of the IllinoisPacifit
Glass Company in San Francisco were
closed Jan. IA and 1000 employees
men, women, boys and girls. made
idle by strike of the glassblowers OF
the works. The trouble originated
over the right of the men to leave the
factory at their will during working
hours. The glassblowers are allowed
n Of fftpnn minutes pDIlp(
tempo" at stated times during work
ing hours. During the "tempos" il
became the custom of the men tt
leave the factory.
Thirty days before the employer:
at Harvey, ILL.,, locked out their EN-
ployes they flooded the town witt
workmen from other Cities" declared
J..J. Kepler of the Machinists' Union
'They placed advertisements in ev
cry city, and in them were the infor
nation that there was no trouble
| This was true at the time. The OBJ
ject was to avoid the state law pro
viding that workmen cannot b.
brought into the state to take the
places of strikers unless informed
strike is in progress"
Several of the most thoughtful labor
leaders are discussing the question O.
preventing local unions from rushing
into strikes recklessly because
some small personal reasons. Ere
quertly the cause of the strike is the
discharge of one of the union work
men. Sometimes the cause is a griev
ance against the foreman. But in al
these. reckless strikes the whole flu
/ ture of the organization is put II
!. danger by few hot-headed members
|. No, matter how small strike maj
:be, it cannot be considered purely
local affair."" says Henry White, secre
tary of the United Garment Workers
Union. I'VE will tolerate no strike
until every means has been exhausted
to avoid It,"
The growing dissatisfaction among
the ranks of the members of the loca
unions of the Amalgamated Associa
ton of Woodworkers threatens to pre-
cipitate strike that will evolve the
900 employees of this class working
in the various mills and factories OF
indianapolis. The dissatisfaction has
been the outgrowth of proposed
plan upon the part of operators Of
woodworking factories and mills tt
change the conditions Of employment
from day work to piece work. In large
concerns throughout the country gen
orally this change is being tried ant
the. agitation here is in line with the
suggestion of employers associations
The men claim that the change. should
it become effective, will bring about
a reduction in their earning possibili
ties of 40 per cent. This, they say
is an injustice and a move they viii
not countenance. 49,.
Benjamin Schlessinger.. interna
tional organizer and president of the
Ladies' Garment Workers Union
which was recently chartered by the
American Federation of Labor. has
left Chicago for six months cam
paign of organization in New York.
Bricklayers' hall at West Monroe
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