New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-29
Staff of Life Causes STRIFE
But Bakers. Cheer! for Help Is Here; Tour
Female Cohorts Know No Fear.

and shut de door on top Of US But some
say: Sure We will help.
Then the little woman. who had done
washing and cooked two meals that cay
trotted out on her mission.
we captured a 'scab' the other day ana
had him here for couple OF hours, MIS-
Alien remarked. He made me feel as III
never wanted to eat bread again. He was
the worst sort of degenerate, unspeakapiy
filthy. and he is kneading bread In one OF
the largest shops in the city for people 10
ee, That is the sort of men some OF the
bosses are willing to employ in their hgnt
against decent living conditions for bakers
.'only the union can secure and enforce
,,ese conditions for bakers; only the union
,ar make New York what it Is not nova
city of sanitary bakeshops. or course,
things are improved since lSs4-the year OF
the first bakers strike-when out Of $500
bakers only twelve were married. because
bakers worked eighteen hours out of the
twentv-four and had-could have-no home
but the bakeshop. and frequently no BEDS
but the kneading benches. They were SO
sick. so sodden. from their life that 1t Is
marvellous il was possible to organize them
Conditions are improved, but twelve hours
a dav and seven days a week are the rule in
non-union bakeshops. Overtime Is frequent
lv REQUIRED, and the men work, naked and
perspiring, in temperature OF from 50 to
100 degrees-work sometimes twenty hours
at stretch. AS to sanitary conditions,
much of the bread sold In New York fs
made in cellars. j know Of one shop where
about fifty men are employed; IL Is In
cellar: above it is a place where wagons
are kept and above that is q stable. The
horses are brought down inclined plane
TO the floor where the wagons are. and
stand there while being harnessed. There
are cracks in the floor. and the stable
moisture drips through and falls In the
bread troughs, and is kneaded in with the
bread And no one need think that because
bread is sold in a clean, big place 1t is
made IN a clean place. That's no guar
antee.
The only guarantee Of clean bread is
the union label. Every uniorf' shop must
permit representatives OF the union to visit
1t at any time, and these representatives
go for the purpose Of seeing that the con-
ditions are sanitary. And In union shops
no sick bakers are employed. The union
takes care of its SICK
Mrs. Allen has q committee of women
working with her-Mrs. Alice Cassidy, Mrs
NJ. M1chaels. Miss Pauline Newman, Mrs.
Mary Oppenheimer, Miss Helen CasseIl.
Miss Kate Dabronyi. Miss Caroline Van
Name and others. These are directing the
work Of the canvassers. Each canvasser
when a grocer promises to handle union
bread, asks him for some of his business
cards Then the legend. Union bread sold
here" is stamped on the cards, and one is
handed TO every housewife In the neigh
borhood. wrapped in the appeal headed,
Are you eating unclean bread?'
I'm sorry to say that we get no help
from the Board of Health said Mrs. AL
len. When We told officials in that de-
partment that in a certain bakery in this
city the workmen-'scab workmen-are
sleeping in the flour room. we were told
that unless we could supply the proof no
action could be taken. Isn't it time for the
women of this city to act?'