Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1907-05-04
Walk Out of Hello Girls PrdC.
tiCdlly ParalyzeS Tel.
ephone System.
1900 IRON WORKERS
= DEMAND SHORTER HOURS
Carmen Hold Stormy Session.
Tie-up Of Street Railways
Is Feared.

san Francisco, May 4.-The out
look in the labor situation here is not
particularly bright and no chance for
the immediate settlement of any ques-
ton now involved is at present ap-
parent
The telephone strike has crippled
the service so much that last night
the whole system had practically come
to a standstill.
The operators are now securing
support from all directions, and as
result ii is fe/'ed that the linemen
will so out in sympathy with the
hello girls, which will further COM
plicate matters.
The iron workers still stand firm
in their demands, and the proposition
for a settlement by arbitration has
been abandoned.
The car men will meet tomorrow
and vote on the questions of a strike.
The outlook is generally considered
Unfavorable and the worst is feared.
What the Union Demands.
The demands of the hello girls in
clude a fiat rate of $50 a month for
girls who have been employed for. a
year or more, and the abolition of the
sweating process, which the COM
pSny has been using to win the girls
from the union.
The advance in wages is a big jump
and means a heavy increase in the
COMPANY ) pay TOli. Inc SlTlS are
paid from 81 to $2.75 a day, but the
majority receive less than 50.
Ever since the formation of the
union the company has been making
every effort to break it up. On the
last monthly pay day the girls were
taken into room twenty at a time,
and with their pay envelope were
given a printed resignation from the
union which they were asked to sign.
The company offered to take the mat
ter out of their hands and conduct
all negotiations if they would sign the
papers. Some of them were kept
waiting In the room for over an hour
in an effort to wear them down, but
the majority of the regular operators
have remained faithful to the union.
The head operators, however, have
nearly all been forced to withdraw by
the very heavy pressure whicn has
been brought to bear on them.
Garments Union.
The meeting of the members of the
Carmen's Union during the early
hours of Thursday morning at the
Central theater was far more stormy
and replete with wordy affrays than
was supposed. There were three fac
tiOns-those who wanted to strike inn
mediately, those who wanted to defer
the strike and make further negotia-
tions, and those who did not want to
strike at all.
constant babble reigned. Men sprang
70 their feet leaped upon chairs and
hOwled out the contrary motions
which were clashing with them. At
times it looked as If a riot would re-
suit Often fist fights were only pre-
vented by the alert sergeants-at-
arms, of whom the chairman appoint
ed a score, and by the incessant ham
mer of the gavel and cries of "Order!
Orderi"
The meeting broke up after the ap-
pOintment of a committee, whose duty
il is TO report on the advisability of a
strike A report of this committee
is expected today.
Iron Workers.
settlement of the iron workers
strike, however, is expected. The
union officials claim that their strike
cent Of the men having been granted
the eight-hour concession. Several
large plants are said to have informed
their employees before quitting time
Tuesday evening that they might re-
turn to work on the shorter hour
basis yesterday morning, although
they had shown no signs of conceding
Irior to that time.
A largely attended meeting of the
san Francisco Lodge, No. 6S, Inter
national Association of Machinists,
was held at Eagle hall and reports
to the number of machinists on strike
Tor working eight hours. 1t was as
Certained that in this one branch of
iron workers between 800 and 1000
men were out At the Union Iron
Works 400 machinists quit work and
at the Risdon 1875. Several lively
speeches were made, showing a deter
mination among the members to re-
main firm,
Contract With Former Strike.
The inevitable comparison was fire.
quently made by the strikers yester-
day between the present walkout and
the long strike of 1901, when the nine
hour day was won after a ten-months
fight, during which 1000 men were
idle. Instead Of concessions being
made by half the shops, as I'm the
present difficulty, none of the plants
granted the nine-hour day until near
the end of the ten-months period.
Since then the number of shops has
Increased 30 per cent.