Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-05-01
LABOR WORLD
First of May Did Moi Bring as Many Labor Disturbances
 as in Former Years
TROUBLE ON STEAMERS

New York, May May day found the workingmen in comparatively few of the trades in this city ready to assert any demands for increased wages and in consequence strikes were few Chief interest centered in the possibility of strike to-day of the first, second and third officers of the coastwise steamers who have made demands for $10O a month for first officers, $50 a month for second officers and $60 for third. They are now receiving an average of $40 per month less than that amount. Up to this morning seven of the seven teen lines of steamers having ter minals in this city had accepted the new schedule and their steamers were unaffected. Luther B. Dow, general manager of the American Association of Masters, Mates and Pilots, who represented the officers, held several conferences with repre- sentatives of the companies last night in an effort to secure the ad- vances demanded, but was unsuc- cessful in the case of ten of the lines. The department of commerce and labor at Washington sent two of its representatives, Michael J. Reagan, industrial moderator, and John Lun- drigan, deputy commissioner, to this city to try to avert the strike.
 The general manager of the Con- solidated Steamship lines, owned by c. w. Morse, offered s90, s60 and $50 respectively for first, second and third officers. but the offer was de- clined by the representatives of the officers. At the offices of the Nal lory line 1t was said to-day that their officers had not gone on strike, but there is a strike of stevedores on about the Mallory and Ward line docks. The places of many of the men were refilled and some of the ships were loaded with cargoes.
 Negotiations were still in progress between the officers and the com panies to-day and up to 10:30 a. m. most of the companies declared that their men had not yet gone out. It was said that the officers would not attempt to enforce their demands un- til the moment of sailing.
 The most peculiar among the minor strikes in this city was that of several hundred truck drivers who go to the three piers of the Pennsylvania railroad to load pro- duce for the wholesale grocery firms. They struck to-day to protest against a rule enforced by the Pennsylvania and the police which requires the men when they are unable to secure a full load at one pier to leave the water front and form in line a block away from the next pier before going there to complete their loads.
 The journeymen painters have been on a strike for few weeks, de- manding an increase in wages for plain painting from $3.50 to $4 per day and for decorative painting from $4 to $4.50 per day. and are still out. They had hoped for sympathetic strikes on the part of the building trades to-day to help enforce their demands. but no such move was made by the allied unions.
 Thirteen hundred carpenters in Newark. N. J., struck to-day to en- force demand for an increase in wages from 47A cents to 50 cents per hour.
 In Paterson, N. J., 1000 carpen- ters went on strike to-day for an increase In wages from $3.50 to $4 a day. The building operations in that city were at a standstill.