The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-01-23
CHOCOLATE GIRLS
ORGANIZE UNION
Strike at McDOnaId'S Candy
Factory Results in Action
by Federation.
DECLARE CHILD LABOR IS
BEING LARGELY EMPLOYED
Demand Flat Salary of $40 a
Week for Work Days Of
Eight Hours.

The strike of chocolate dippcrs mt the
Mcdonald Candy factory resulted Sat
urday in tho organization Of n union
Of dippers The organization was cf-
fectcd at meeting in Federation of
Labor hall. The charter for the new
union will be issued BY the American
Federation of Labor, aud the girls un-
ion will become a part of that great
labor association.
The new union is called Utah Choco'
late Dippers' union No. !. These Off.
GERS were elected. Sarah Rindheish,
president: Emma Marcroft, vice-presi-
dent; Lila Teberg. recording secretary;
Ella Roscoe, treasurer; Lillian Cooper,
sergeant alarms, The new organization
starts off with n membership Of about
n score,
What Girls Want.
A brief statement was issued by the
officers of tho new union after the
organization In this statement they
deny the assertion OF Mr.. Mcdonald
that the dippers earned from 50 to Sl4
week. Mr.. Mcdonald referred to
payrolls. which. he said, would show
that the payrolls referred 10 were for
the months Of October, November and
December, when the dippers worked
from ten to twelve hours n day. and
Feven at that cannot make over Sl2
week. -
The girls ask for an eighthour day
and fiat salary of $40 week. In
the various cities Of the country, It is
set FORTH q ~Dcrs receive 50 to Sl4 a
week, and "living expenses arc from
Is TO 30 per cent higher in Salt Lake
than elsewhere.
"The Mcdonald dippers havo the
assurance of dippors in other factories
that they will JOIN the union" says
the statement.
AS to Child Labor
"Mr. Mcdonald says he is running
his business on charity said one of
the officers Of the new union. "If that
is the case, it occurs to us that he
would better discontinue the practice
of employing mere children IN his fac
tory at ridiculously low pay. Some Of
the little girls arc not more than twelve
years, and from this these helpers run
up to fifteen years. All of them ought
to be in school, and if there is. any law
that touched this condition, it ought to
be enforced. 1t is certainly scandal
Gus scheme to keep these babies-that 8
all they are-worklng long hours every
day, even if they do have a permit from
the school superintendent to stay out
of school.
"I asked ono the other day if she
didn { go TO school. and she burst out
crying. saying that she would dearly
love TO go TO school, but that she
couldn Il afford it.
"Lf Mr.. Mcdonald is running his
business on charity, it seems to US that
he might send these children to school
that would be real charity.
Children Take Strikers Places.
"We all felt sorry for these little
children, and we tried to show them
how TO dip. The result of this has
been that they are now working in our
places and trying TO do the work that
experienced work women have been do
ing. The product shows it
The girls also desire to call atten-
ton to the machine dipped chocolates,
There. is machine for dipping choc-
olates.' said one of the girls, "and,
Of course, IT. IS much cheaper to turn
out chocolates that way than it is to
hire experienced hand djppers. The
public is entitled To know this. and
we ask the public TO buy only hand
dipped chocolates, because the differ
snce between the two is very marked
indeed. The public pays the same for
hand dipped chocolates as it does for
Ihe machine dipped product, and the
public is entitled to the best when they
pay 40 cents for their Chocolates
The girls say that, instead of six
'r seven girls being out at Mcdonald IS,
rs stated by the management, there
are fourteen experienced dippers on
strike.