The labor world., 1914-12-19
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Duluth Man Re Elected Al
Winona Convention to Third
Vice Presidency. ii.

T., Vace Presidency. -. ;....
Fred Gittzkowski, sxof, Duluth, was
reelected as third vice president of
the Minnesota. branch of the Brick:
layers, Masons'S and. Plasterers' IN
ternational union, during the closing
session Of the state convention held
in Winona December 8. Among the
officers reelected was President A.
E. Hilker, of Austin, first vice presi-
dent, Sam Blondell Of Red Wing and
second vice president, Frank Muirt-
niger Of zWiriona. :" >'>1'' <>.,' va
The Following account Of the open
ing session of the convention. is taken
from the columns of the Winona In
dependent Of December g., 49,.
A state Inspector of masonry win
be named bv the Forthcoming legis-
lature If. aTreconlIhendation q adopted
Masons, sBFicFiayer. sfi ana Plastgrers' se sn;
International union is carried out
In Winona yesterday at the opening
session Of the annual convention, the
delegatesJ gave consideration to this
topic. The, peeting Was 4 held xat
Wakefield hall and a. E. ~Hilker, Of
Austin, presided. ..i
To Place All Blame.
1t was argued by those behind the
plan that frequently workmen are
blamed individually: for defects in
construction of state structures;
where as a matter of fact, they
should be traced rather to the method
Of superintendence. "A mason, of at
least ten years experience; it was
agreed should be named to the pro-
posed state office and it should be
MS duty to sdirectlv inspect all state
buildings. The inspector, it was con-
tended, would secure for the work.
men greater recognition for efficiency.
E1ght-Hour Day Lost.
The matter of establishing a state
VIDE eight-hour schedule for all men
IN this organization was brought up
but the vote for its establishment was
lost by a large majority. The dele
gates from st. Paul. and Minneapolis
sought to have the eight-hour sched-
ule In force throughout the entire
state. However,, the men from the
smaller towns set forth that such q
measure would be Impractical be-
cause the small town unions are not
large enough to enforce it. They
declared that there are so many
open shop" men and so few union
lists except in the large cities that the
union men would be thrown out of
work by men who would be willing
to work nine hours.
railing in this vote, the Twin City
oI{ b.
t1on submitted to a. referendum vote
to have every Individual member
in~ the state vote upon it. If this
request were granted the small town
men thought that the eight hour
schedule would win because there are
more union men IN, the large cities
than in all the rest Of the state. The
request was put to q. vote and lost.
Tomorrow the branch will elect
officers for the coming year:
Banquet Last Night.
Good fellowship was the all-pervad-
ing influence at the banquet OF the
mortar workers in. the dining room of
the philharmonic hall last night. Be-
sides the thirty delegates to the con-
vention from various parts Of the
state. the local unions, the plasterers,
stonemasons and Tbricklayers, partici-
pated. About hundred attended.
A series of toasts' were given before
the dinner was served. Postmaster
H. i. Buck, Representative Henry
steen, and several officers and men,
bers Of the state: union, Mr.. Hilker,
president, Hugo Kratz of Winona, H.
NJ. Furtney, secretary: of Rochester,
Fred Gittkowski ,of Duluth, Matt Lell-
man of Minneapolis, Mic Korth of
Mankato, William, Towner: of Duluth,
Samuel Blondell lof Rcd Wing and
William Berg Of owatonna, gave
short talks. 80
At the. banquet, which followed the
speaking, Verkins' orchestra furnish
ed music. This feature Of the an
pual convention had been looked for
ward to by every. delegate present,
and none of them was disappointed
in the arrangements which had been
made for their entertainment. They
were very complimentary to:the COM
mittee in charge OF the, program. The
members, of the, committee were:
Frank Murtinger, chairman, Hugo,
Kratz and Carl Wachholzy of the
Bricklayers'* localsNo. L. and Mic ver-
suth, John Sontagyand Herman Tiets
Of the ;Stone1nasons' local No. 6. = -
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