Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-08-09
BELLOWS FALLS NEWS
Agreement for Settlement of
Paper Makers Strike

Concessions Made by Both sldes-Inter.
national Mills viii All Be In Operation
by Monday-Resut May Be curtau-
ment Of Business Here.
The unfortunate strike of the employees
Of the paper mills, which has been a mat
fer Of deep interest and great local loss
over two months continuance, was set
tied Tuesday as far as the International
parer company is concerned and that
company is now gradually starting up
It's various mills. BY Monday all will be
In operation again. Both sides have made
some concessions, and the terms of the
agreement are in substance as follows:
The voluntary increase of pay to all
classes of employees, which the company
made on June l, is to continue. No dis
elimination is to be made by the company
against the strikers. The men, upon
their part, go to work upon the old basis
Of two tours until October IA, 1907, when
the company will change to the three
tour system demanded by the men, the
pay TO be the same as now with the two
tours The company do not agree to keep
an their local mills running, and as their
contention has been that they could not
operate their local plant at a profit with
three gangs instead of two 1t is proba bic
at least a part of the mills will be shut
down in October perhaps permanently.
The company had asked that the date of
adding the third gang of men be set as
Jan. /, but the date was changed earlier
to compromise.
The agreement was the result of various
conferences with the committees of
strikers held in the New York office in
the past weeks, each of which resulted
in hardly any advance This week Mon
day Treasurer Burbank and Manager
hn
came here and after various meetings the
agreement was reached Tuesday fore
noon as above.
The settlement and the return of the
men to their work is a cause of graft
hcaton but opinions vary widely as to
wherein either side has gained any adj
vantage by the loss of over 900 in
wages, the inconvenience and loss to the
mills, the giving to Bellows Falls the
widespread reputation for unsettled la
bur conditions and the possibility, not to
say probability, of the result being the
material curtailment of the business of
the International Paper company here,
and transferring it to their other loca-
tons.
Regarding the mills of the Robertson
Paper company, Moore & Thompson Pa
per company and Blake &, Higgins, each
Of which mills have been idle the same
as the International Paper company, no
arrangement has been made for resump-
ton Of work, but without doubt the re-
turn of the international Paper company
employees will tend to settle those mat
ters also. They had heretofore offered
to adopt the three tour system whenever
the International Paper company did
but they hold out strenuously against
any treatment with the strikers as labor
ORGANIZATIONS, but make liberal conces-
sions to the men as individuals. The
workmen now demand the acknowledge
ment of their union, and thus far have
been refused.
The mills of Wyman Flint & Sons and
John T. Moore &c Son adopted the three
tour conditions and the men have kept
at their work, as have also John Robert
son & Son. In the latter mill no trou-
bic was had with the men.