The evening star and Newark advertiser., 1908-01-29
Unions Enter PrOteStAgainst
Employment Of Inmates
Of RefOrmatOry.S
TO ASK GOVERNORS AID
Delegation Receive No Satisfac-
ton at InstitutiOn..Will Bring
Up Subject Tonight Before
Local Building Trades
Council.

Labor organization men in this State
are deeply incensed over the alleged
employment of prisoners at the Rah-
way Reformatory on work which they
claim should be done by mechanics
who earn their living at the trades in
vaded, but who are at present unable
to get employment of any kind, owing
to business conditions, and who be-
lieve the State is depriving them of an
opportunity to earn living
The labor men say that the greater
part of the steam fitting work which
is being and has been done at the insti-
tuition is being performed by prisoners,
who act as helpers to the steam filters
and are said to be receiving twenty
cents an hour, while the prevailing
rate in the trade is thirty cents an
hour.
Another charge is that the board of
governors has purchased A00 worth of
sheet metal for ceiling, which is going
to be put up by prisoners.
A third charge is that among twenty
two men employed by the Pauly Jail
building Company there are several
prisoners among the number.
While it is admitted by the labor
representatives that the prisoners so
employed may be men on parole, yet
they contend that convict labor should
not be used in preference to men who
are sadly in need of work, and are
walking the streets. and in many cases
hungry for the want of food.
They also denounce the employment
of prison labor on general principles as
most unjust to law-abiding citizens.
For several weeks past organized
labor men in Newark have been get
ting reports from the reformatory that
the prisoners in the institution were
doing lot of the work on the addition
that is being made to the reformatory.
Representatives of several building
trades, including steamfitters, metal
workers and riggers, went to the re-
formatory yesterday, and today they
stated that they were informed by the
man in charge of the steamfitting
work that he had one steamfitter and
four helpers at work, and that the
helpers were prisoners.
When the man was asked by the labor
representatives why he did not employ
helpers from outside the institution he
replied that his firm had been told
when it got the contract that all help
ers needed would be furnished from
the inmates of the reformatory, who
would work for twenty cents an hour.
The labor men also say that they
were informed by the steamf1tters
foreman that his firm was requested to
use prison help.
The labor men state, also, that they
learned that the board of governors
had purchased $400 worth of metal cell
ing for the old part of the reformatory,
and that it was the intention of the
managers to use prisoners to do the
work. When they entered a protest
they were informed that as it was only
repair work no objection should be
made by the unions.
The labor men, finding that they
could not get any redress, came back
to this city, and today they called upon
former Assemblyman Simon Hahn,
chairman of the Assembly investigat-
ing committee of last year, with the
request to take up the matter He
said that he could not do anything Of
ncially.
1t was finally decided by the labor
men to bring the matter up at meet
ing Of the Building Trades Council to-
night, when formal action will be
taken.
1t is the intention of the labor or
ganizations to call the attention of
Governor Fort to the conditions, and
he will be requested to put a stop
to it,