The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-02
RULES COMMITTEE HEARS STORY OF
 STRIKE CHILDREN
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 legged concessions are an insult to oul intelligence and manhood, nine sep arate reports, one from each member of the meeting with the owners were made in Franco Belgian hall at Il o'clock by the subcommittee of the strikers. The reports were received with enthusiasm and strike commit tee members stated that this after noon formal action repudicating the taken.
 Declaring a joker turks in the 5 per cent. offer of increase to striking operatives by mill owners and that, in hard, cold figures, the Of fer means that a man who made $7 per week before the strike will be given a raise to at least $7.0s or pos- the mill owners and returns to work, the strike committee went into session today with every inter tiOn of flatly refusing the "concessions."
 It was pointed out today by strike leaders that it is true the mill owners made it plain they would give the operatives who have been on strike did not make it plain, say the strEik- CTS, on what figures they would base the five per cent.
 Briefly, these are the figures said William D. Haywood today, just be- fore going into the meeting. Before the strike, common laborers received $7 per week for 56 hours work. That was 12 1-2 cents an hour. When the 54 hour law went into effect, these people, with the rest, were cut two hours pay, which meant $6.75 per week. The mill owners have not made it clear whether that five per cent. increase will be based on the 56 n1r fhn n1/ based on the former it will mean that the g week man, under the five per cent. increase offered, will get $7. .33 3-4 per week. If based on the 54 hour week schedule the operatives will re- ceive $7.OS a week instead of $7.
 Haywood went on to explain that. if the 54 hour week was taken as the basis of the raise, the increase would be 1 14-100 per cent of what the operators were getting before the strike started. Although the owners have not made themselves saNSfactor- fly clear to the strike committee, they insist that, by the employment of their complicated graduating system the gross increase of pay to the operatives would be slightly more than 8 per cent. and the net increase about Is per cent
 Many of the operatives still believe that for their 54 hours work week they will be given 56 hours pay and five per cent. of that added. William M. Wood, president of the American Woolen Company's B mills throughout New England, however, made it plain to the strike committee which called on him in Boston yesterday at his solicitation, that this was not what his company meant. He tried to ex- plain, as the committee formally re- ported at today's meeting, that every one would get at least 1-3 per cent, but that the graduating system will give the $7 and $8 a week men a 10 to 12 per cent increase with this per- centage of increase lessening as higher salaried operatives were reached in the proposed adjustment.
 The reports of the committee of 10 described in detail that body's recep- tion, yesterday, by William M. Wood, president of the American Woolen Company and other mill owners. All were identical.
 Mrs. Annie Welzenbach one of the women members, said that when they entered the Boston offices they were asked who they represented and what they wanted. They said they repre- sented the strikers and called in an- swer to the request of President Wood that they go to his offices and discuss plans. for settlement. President Wood gave them a typewriter sheet asking that they sign it, before they began the discussion but they refused on the grounds that it would be representa- tive only of those strikers who work ed in mills they respectively worked