The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-09

and at the Sierra Nevada, Granite and
Commercial mills all remained, being
union men. on May 81 open shop
cards were posted in every mill in Salt
Lake, and the union men continued to
work under these cards. We are in
formed by members of the union that
they were to be permitted to do this
until the mills were compelled to en-
play oil union men, when the open
shop cards would be ordered out by the
union. Developments indicate that
other demands were waived for the
time being until the two mills against
whom the fight was being waged
should surrender. when they would be
again pressed as at first contemplated
"On Friday morning the president OF
the union was discharged by his en-
ployer for using indecent language, and
he at once called out all the union men
in that mill, and the following morning
all union men throughout the city
walked out.
Relative Strength.
1.-The sum total of all mill men en-
ployed in Salt Lake City is less than
100. OF these about fifty are union
members and have all quit work. There
men and about a dozen apprentices
making a total of more men working
as nOn-union than there are union men
out If all the mill workers, union and
non-union together, were put into one
of the manufacturing plants in any
producing center they would not fill VI
one-quarter of the places in one mill
so that the whole affair seems rather
a tempest in a teapot Sufficient men
can easily be procured i'm two weeks
time to replace every striker, but the
mill owners have deferred action in the
matter because they realize that most
of the men have families and are resi-
dents of the city, and there is no de-
sire whatever to force them out OF
work. From sentiments expressed by
the strikers themselves they would
never have gene out had they been left
alone, and would return to work If al
lowed TO follow their own convictions.
Few of the manufacturing centers OF
the United States in this line of bust
ness employ union men; most of then
employ boys at less than a dollar &
day, and the best wages paid in the
middle states to cabinetmakers do not
not exceed $3.50 per day. In Salt Lake
helpers and apprentices are paid about
50 per day, and mechanics from So. so &c
s., with the great majority getting s.
or better. Mil men work the veal
through, are never laid off fer ba6
weather or change of jobs are not sub
iected to inclement weather or bad
places to work, and can earn consider
ably more in a year than an outside
carpenter at so cents per day more
The freight rate on manufactured ar
ticles in our line is usually less than
that on raw material, and the weight
a "a en no 70 of har
on a large scale is utterly impossible
under existing conditions. and little
other mill work is done than such as
cannot for various reasons be imported
Where Real Trouble Lies.
Your mon seem to have no other
grievance at present than recognition
of the union (althOugh Mr. Spalding
said they were not asking that, and
while to some that may seem a very
little thing for us to hold out against
in eality it means very much to the
business interests of Salt Lake City
Recognition of the union will mean i'm
possible wage demands (now carefully
sidetracked) and other pFohibitive con-
ditions which we do not care 10 mention
at present, but which would raise the
prices of our product beyond the power
of any dealer or consumer in this city
to pay.
1.-THE lumber dealer and material man
gets all the blame for the present high
cost of construction work, but if condi-
lions are carefully considered 1t will
be found that labor conditions have
much more to do with it than is COM
monty supposed. Hundreds of thou
sands of dollars worth of work that
was contemplated in Salt Lake this
summer has been postponed because OF
the cost, and the mill men do not care
to be responsible for stopping what lit
tie work out of the lot has to be under
taken. AS an illustration that the la
boring man Is not very badly hurt, we
wish to give the wages paid to some OF
the men now on strike by one of the
mills for three weeks preceding the
strike For the three weeks one man
was paid s45.95, s51.45, $40. Another re-
ceived $40. s47.25. $42.45 The average
paid to ten men. all of whom are now
on strike, for the three-week period was
SIS per week 1t will be seen that two
men were paid an average weekly wage
of more than sl5, and the ten men aver
aged s3S per week. These men are now
on strike. They state they do not ask
for more wages. Remarkable, is it not
Had the mill owners been properly
consulted any reasonable demand
would have been considered. but it is
probable that open shops would have
been issued upon, and this Mr..
Spaulding said he did not object to-
Since the men have gone on strike with
no reason or fairness it is doubtful
whether union men will be employed
as such at all in the future"
--s-e-e-