The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-14
GOES BACK AT The BUILDERS
<rtBBETT CITES ALLEGED IN
STANCES or GRiFTING.
uas to lie Uake-on of $4,000 In the
Metal window Casing on Nanamaker
DuldlnS hut II Rank outsider sp0iicd
the cane Blacklist and Boycott.

,te Buldin. Trade, Employers Associa-
non 10 the charge, made by Theodore
etarrett II the lhomp on-Starrett Com
,snr Nir Starre't said Yesterday
The chaos that exists IN the building
business was not brought about by the
sgyres-ions Of organized labor. What
thought abou, the chaos was the wfanglng
r.,ween the walking delegates and the
t,--e4 over the plumber they were getting
out az the owners. II was "A falling out
between the consplrators themselves.
-r.. concern. the Building Trad es
Association is the head centre Of the whole
combine Of the thirty local trades en-
Movers associations. Now what hap
pap, Ia these local trades employers
associations, Ring competition bidding
horIcn- m them-comrotition that * no
competition. Int conspiracy whereby the
lowest bidder is picked out all the rest
bidding above him. and all having a share
IN the rake-of That's one thing that
tappen. N them, and compacts with labor
unions 10 drive out competition that is
competition Is another.
let me give you an instance: Take
tho new Wauamaker building that ia going
up In Broadway. The law requires that
building over $50 feet high shall have metal
window frames. That involves the sheet
metal workers. 4 sub-organization Of
tfe Building Trades Employers Assoca-
non Is the Manufacturers Of Metal Cow
cred Windows and Sashes, and another
characterization is the Employers As
.ocauon of Sheet Metal Workers of Greater
New York
Bids wcrc sent in from this subsidiary
s..oeHtion for the Wanamaker sheet
metal window castings Whether that bid
was a ing bid YOU may Judge from what
followed. After these New York con-
tractors had put in their bids, along came
David Tupton'- sons Of Phlladelphia--rank
outsiders And they had the impertinenCe
70 Put in "a bid And what do you think
that bid was2 Well. Il was just $4,000
los than the lowest bid Of the bidders who
were not outsiders but very much insiders.
In other words the outside firm saw a
profit. and presumably a good one, in
doing the work for $4,000 less than the
lowest New York bidders. Does that look
a. though there had been collision among
the bidders here in New York or not? Ii
IS a ploughed field. The burrows are there
before YOU. You may follow where they
lead and If they lead you 10 the belief that
that Bidding here in New York was not a
colihIooded jon OF ring bidding, then You
may be prepared 20 believe that statement
Of the Building rrades Employers Associa-
ton that it has done absolutely nothing
10 restrict free and open competition
OF course it may be said that the Head
Centre Association, a. an association.
wac not represented in this bidding If
YOU are innocent enough 10 believe that
the Head Centre does not know what is
going on in the subsidiary organizations
~ which II Il composed why, then. YOU will
81.
thing a. compacts with labor unions for
the suppression Of competition exists
And ia that connection let us follow
the adventures Of the firm Of Supton's
Sons after they got that Wanamaker job.
Just this happened 90 them. that every
sheet metal worker in New York struck
the job from the start They could not
get q single member of the Sheet Metal
Workers Union to do stroke of work for
them Thew would have been absolutely
at a -tlnd-til II the locked-out carpenters /
md i1.ners had not come 20 their relief /,
And u is carpenters and ioiners who are
doing thar sheet metal window casing
work on the Nanamaker building right I
now
Another instance Our company built |
this Atlantic Building whore We are sitting, |
under contract for $4,000 | figured |
on the steam heating and estimated that |
II would be worth about s4S 600 ! showed /
nv hgure- TO Wells of Wells 4 Newton,
and be thought they were all right He
sand they would do the job for that sum
Afiorward the architect drew some speci-
hcdiluus increasing the steam heating work
a little and invited bids The lowest bid
was that OF Baker Smith & Co. for 500 $50
Then Wells began 10 get shaky. He did
not care 10 take the job. He Is a member
of the Steam Filters Association | was
determined the other fellows should not
get he lop AT nearly 10000 and told them
so To let " ell, ONT sniff the iob in Two !