New Britain herald., 1914-11-18
UNIONS MAY T|E-UP
 WORK ON SUBWAYS
Labor Men Demand lS,0O0 Alien
 Workers Be Discharged.

sit systenl, throwing out of employ ment Is,eO0 men who are drawing $2,o00,000 a month, tying up the city's great investment and delaying the subways until court contests can be decided. is threatened by the &C., tion of labor unions, revealed to the Public Service Commission yesterday. To each contractor building the dual system the Bricklayers union, in concert with all the other unions af- fected by subway and elevated work, has sent a letter saying that any contractor who continues to violate the labor laws will be prosecuted" Alleged Violations. The violations complained of are the employment of alien workers and the payment Of less than the prevail ing rate of wages" Ninety per cent of the laborers are not citizens of the United States. The subways can not be built without alien labor.
 But assuming that the unions have the law on their side until the courts decide otherwise, one of the contract ing firms, the Oscar Daniels company, stopped work on the elevated line in White Plains road, the Bronx.
 Contractors Met Last Night.
 What the other contractors will do was decided last night at a meet ing in the United Engineering So- cieties building in West Thirty -ninth street Some of them have already informed the commission that they oy,1yy los, i1lN holds them liable for violations and subjects them to the danger of fnc and Imprisonment. /
 Chairman Mccall of the Public Ser vice commission Monday night de- scribed the situation as serious The commission and it's counsel are plan the law.A statement from the com mission said:
 Danger of Complete Shutdown.
 "If other contractors should take the same view as the Oscar Daniels company work on the new rapid tran sit lines would apparently be in dan ger of complete shutdown unless the law is amended or unless the courts declare the provision in ques- tion unconstitutional"
 The "alien labor section, No. A. of the state labor law, was passed sev- enteen years ago. It not only says that only United States citizens shall be employed on state or city work but that preference shall be given to citi- zens of this state. It compels each contract in a city of the first class to keep a list of employees, setting forth whether they are naturalzed or native. Violation is misde- meanor punishable by fine of from $50 to $500 or by from thirty to nine ty days imprisonment, or both.
 Treated as Dead Letter Law.
 It has been treated as a dead letter law. AS to it's constitutionality, the | minor courts which have passed upon | it have differed. The superior court of | Buffalo declared it unconstitutional as ! contravening a treaty with Italy and | with personal liberty. On ! the other hand the county court of | Orleans ruled in 1911 that the state | has the right to say who shall be em- Iloyed on public works, the treaties do not cover the employment of alien abor on public works and that the section is valid.
 Tn this city the unions have been for several months for g. fight. The General Contractors asso- citation knew last summer what was coming and arranged a test case, but there have been no indictments. The unions have meanwhile showered the public service commission with com plaints against subway contractors. The bricklayers, the masons, the elec- -rical workers an dothers figured in
 
 Central Federated union was behind he agitation.
 Four Classes of Grievances.
 Four classes of grievances were al- ( eged-violation of the eight hour re- luirement, failure to pay the prevail ng rate of wages, the employment of ourneymen mechanics, ostensibly as ,elpers and the employment of aliens.
 In some cases the commission or lered the contractors to discontinue violations In the present case the Oscar Daniels company has taken it's tep voluntarily, saying that it is un- wiling to incur the penalties of possible prosecution.
 Here is a. sample of the letters which John Gill, business agent of the 'ricklayers and Masons union, has ent to contractors:
 Violating Labor Law, "I beg to notify you that your com any and sub-contractors doing work re openly and wantonly violating the abor law of this state, with regard to mploying men on your work who are Ct citizens of the United States and ,ith regard to paying laborers and radesmen wages less than the pre- ailing rate; also with regard to com lying with the labor law, which re- uires that the contra ctor shall keep le name of each workman, and if citizen the date of citizen nip, and the court out of which his apers were issued.
 "I hereby demand that you make |