The Washington times., 1912-06-10
WATERS SEEK TO
ORGANIZE, BUT Do
NOT PLAN STRIKE
Hotel Workers Get Support
of Cooks in Crusade Now
Under Way.

you are here to break up this meet
ing, and the sooner you leave the bet
| ter" said Paul Guttzeit, OF the Hotel
Workers Union, to Vincent Gregor dur
ing the mass meeting at the old Masonic
Temple yesterday afternoon. Gregor
left. He claimed to be representing the
walters. and charged the union organ
| !zers with trying to start an unjustif-
able strike in Washington. Guttzeit de-
clared that their mission was not to
| strike, but to organize.
This incident was typical Of many
| occurring in Washington since the New
York hotel strike began.
Several men have been sent from New
| York to recruit walters in Washington.
| They have been unsuccessful. One of
the men sent here Is said to have told
the union workers that he did not care
whether he got walters or not. as he
| could collect money for getting them as
soon as they were put on the train for
| New York, and that II they skipped at
| Philadelphia it was none Of his busl-
ness
The union men, assert that efforts to
get walters here to go to New York
and to get them from New York to
come here have been equally futile.
| Plan Cnlcago Strlke.
There is a report among the. local
members of the union that a big strike
will be called in Chicago during the
week of the Republican national con-
vention unless the demands OF the walt
ers are complied with.
| Washington walters are paid SEQ
month. In one hotel there is n sick
benefit, and for this 81 Is taken each
month from the wages of every waiter.
| The walters complain that they have no
hand in supervising this fund. and 10
| not know what becomes OF II.
The fine system in Washington has
been practically what It is in other
large cities. II a waiter uses a napkin
he is fined Is cents: for dropping a
cream pitcher, 25 cents; for dropping a
butter chip, 10 cents; for eating In the
pantry, 80 cents; for being late, 20 cents;
nothing fer being early, however; for
talking to a guest. 81. and for the sec
ord offense a discharge; for smoking
cigarette, 81; for talking too loud in
the kitchen, % cents; for carrying more
than two orders. 25 cents: tor rafting
silver, % cents, and for smiling at the
| store girl, 81. Romance below stairs
comes as high as talking to guests In
| the dining room.
| 1t was formerly the custom to lut
| slips showing the amount OF the fines
received his pay. A very few fines
would make fearful inroads on sal
sry OF only 81 "a day.
| However, one waiter or being dis
charged threatened suit for these fines,
| and the hotel management paid the bill.
| refunding the fines, and since then. In
stead of waiting until the end pf the
| month to collect fines collects them In
cash the moment the offensc Is commit
ted.
1.-The amount of tips received by wait
| ers in Washington hotels has been over
stated" said one of the men at union
headquarters yesterday. The waiter
who has a good place in a Washington
hotel does not average more than s2.2j
day in tips"
Must Enforce Discipline.
1t is asserted on the part of the hotel
management that fines are necessary in
order to enforce discipline. The wait
ers make an illuminating reply.
The managers simply don't know
their business. They think they are en-
forcing discipline and making money
by imposing fines. Instead of that they
force men to lose interest in their work
and this means waste. A waiter can
waste a pound or two of butter day.
he can break glassware and china II
he Is so disposed and can do more dam.
age In an hour than his fines would
amount to in month. Walters are
only human and IL they are oppressed
too much they will retaliate in one way
or another"
The Walters Union is interested in
hotel architecture and Is especially op-
posed to the below stairs kitchen.
There are hotels in Washington
where waiter must travel nearly two
blocks for dish or q spoon. He Is
supposed, in serving 81 drink, to take
only two straws with him. II the
guest wants another the waiter must
walk twelfth OF a mile to get It,.
Most walters arb Cripples at forty
They go dead on their feet Heavy
trays and long stairs do the mischief"
Cooks oJin Union.
From the walters standpoint the most
encouraging feature of their organiza'
ton campaign in Washington has beer
that cooks are joining the union. The
, cook Is the heart of a hotel, and wher
; he quits the whole establishment Is
: momentariy out of business. The pur'
; poses of the union are set forth clearly
in French for the benefit Of all the
. chefs.
, Starving in the midst of plenty would
seem to be a specially of walters, ac
cording to the tales related by them
They are permitted to eat only II
; helps hall" a narrow corridor ordi
nariiy with shelf on either side a
, which the walters eat standing They
are fined for eating elsewhere. During
, rush hours they have no time to eat
and the men who are organizing the
hotel workerS In Washington say tina
a waiter recently tainted in a dininI
! room for lack of nourishment. They
:, credit the management in this case
l.