New-York tribune., 1908-04-05
FIFTY THOUSAND OUT
Paris EMPLOYERS ACT.
Threaten to Eatend Building TRADES
Lockout to- 9OO, 900 Men.
Especial by French Gable to The TribuHe-l

ICopyrght 1908. by The Tribune Association
Paris April 4-The conflict between tie i@7
ters and the Iaborers in the building lnous'ly
which besan on Nav /. 1906, and has simmered
along with intermittent strikes and sabotage vi
obstructionsm on the part of the workiisii'ei.
incited bv professional Socialist pohticlahs "i
the General Labor Confederation. to-day as
sumes proportions likely to prove severe TAX
upon the fertile resources OF the CieH'e
Cabinet The lockout declared by tue ihds'oiS'
to go into effect at O'Clock this afternoon pu'S
fifty thousand masons out OF WORK anu VI.
lemin president of the Buhoahs oS
states that IL this measure does not bring the
rnasons to accept the terms offered on Nai0ii =
it will be followed up progressively with iurlhe'
1ocLou+s against the carpenters painters
n1unbers plaziers Iocksmths. chimney bulld-
ers electricians gasmen and each OF the COT
poration's category of men engaged IN houSe
building.
This would put two hundred thousand men
ont of work in Paris alone. NJ. Nillernln States
that this is the first time in the history OF tiie
building trades in France that a genuine lock-
out has been resorted to, which, ne aIiirih''
is fully justified by the circumstances NiIeiiiii
saws that the agitators of the five LABOR ulhoiiS
tvrannize over the workingmen and prevent
them from accepting the terms ofered' ana To-
dav the walls of Paris are covered with notices
anneaIinp directly to the r1asons to signify indl-
1-iduaIIv their acceptance and thus end the two
years conflict The terms offered in the posters
are an increase Of 20 per cent over the wages
that prevailed at the time of the strike III I'oo-
This would give the masons ~ cents an houI'
the stone decorators 20 cents an hour and other
classes in proportion. The terms also allo" d
working day of ten hours during eight months
Of the wear. nine hours during November and
February and eight hours during December anu
January with Sundays and holidays Inc EN-
plovers reserve the right to engage all indus
trious workingmen whether they belong 10
syndicates OF labor unions or not
The masters declare that these constitute the
maximum concessions they can make On the
other hand the labor unions demand working
dav Of nine hours with the exception of eight
hours during the three winter months, ana an
increase of per cent over the wages offered by
the masters They also insist that no man not
belonging to labor union shall be employed
NJ Nlcolet secretary general of the labor unions
says upon this issue they have resolved 70 make
war, and that the workingmen are determined
and prepared to fight it out on these INES. even
should the lockout last six months Several not
headed leaders of labor unions declare that TINS
is the beginning of the social revolution NJ
CIemenceau Prime Minister and Minister of the
Interior. and his colleague. NJ. yiviani, Minister
orTabor have received and listened delegates
from both Sides but at present there are only
faint hopes of reaching a compromise The
struggle is being watched with the greatest Of
interest as it is the first time in France that a
lockout has been resorted to on such an I'M
portant scale Meanwhile the average law
abiding citizen of Paris, such one meets in the
streets cafes, tramways, etc, expresses SYM
athy with the masters and not with the work
ingmen in the present conflict. c. l. B.