New Britain herald., 1915-09-30
To the sTrumbull Flee. Mfg. Co
 Plainville, Conn.

l workmen do earnestly ask you to con- 1 slider the advisability of extending to your workmen the following schedule: First-That a working week shall l comprise fifty hours with sixty hours pay.
 1 second-Fire days of nine hours each with Saturday five working hours only.
 Third-That all overtime, shall be counted as time and quarter; ex- cept holidays and Sundays which shall be counted as time and half. Fourth-That working hours shall l be as follows: From a. m. to 12 m. with one hour at noon, and from l D. m. to D. m.
 Believing in the future prosperity and success of the company and that under this new schedule ,utiite as much will be produced as formerly. we earnestly ask that within a week from the date of the receipt of this petition your decision may be post ed.
 Respectfully submitted by the fol- lowing signers:
 A Herald man who called at the plant this morning seeking informa- ton regarding the attitude of the company was received by J. H.
  ident and treasurer respectively. They
 discussed freely the existing condi- tions and talked frankly concerning the petition and the answer they made to it. .. The Trumbulls admitted that they are anxious to avoid a strike at their plant. They declare that they have always made a honest effort to use their help we'll. Our employees" President Trumbull stated, have al- ways been met half way and we have ever tried to. do the fair thing by them. Good feeling exists between the company and the employees and I ex- pect an. amicable adjustment of the present difference will be arranged"
 Discussing the strike movement. the treasure admitted that he was not inclined to blame the workingmen for the stand they have taken. An
 opportunity to get something" he said, seems to have presented it. self and from their point of view it is right to take advantage of it." He would consequently offer no criticism throughout the country to get short CT hours and more money for labor. Continuing he said that the officers
 of the Trumbull company will have no complaint to make if eight hours or nine hours is made the standard. l Neither will they object if the wage l scale is higher, providing competi- tive concerns are similarly affected. An even shake is all we ask for" President Trumbull declared. "If | other manufacturing concerns making | similar lines have to pay wages as | high or nearly as high as us, we have | pete successfully with them. But if I we have to stand for shorter hours l and higher pay, increasing sub | stantially the cost of production, while | competitive concerns cling to the scale now operative, we will of course be 1 compelled to go out of business" During the past two years, owing to poor business conditions, the Trum- l bulls declared some departments in 1 the factory have been run at a loss in order that the organization might be kept together until more prosper ous times. Now that business is bet ter, we get a demand for an increase in expense Both officers expressed | willingness to give the employees the benefit of any change that might re- suit from the present agitation, but
 until sufficient progress in the coun-
 try-wide move has been made to in-
 dicate the standard that will be adopt ed they said they can of course do nothing.
 we have a small plant here and we shall have to wait until the big
 ger concerns set the standard. Then we can meet conditions" one of them said" Should we make a move now, subsequent developments will prob ably mean another change and from both the standpoint of the employees as we'll as ourselves, mistake would
 be made"
 The Trumbulls called attention to the fact that their company has all ways paid higher wages than other factories in this locality and has even given better pay then is received by the workmen in competiting corpora tions.
 The sincerity of the men as they discussed the situation was most ap-
 parent. They declared they were willing to have the viewpoint of the
 men published as we'll as their own. They would ask for nothing more than a square deal and a fair shake is all they would expect.
 Officials of the company and the men employed in the plant have been very intimate since the concern went into business number of years ago.
 Many of the employees have been in the factory for long time, are per- sonally acquainted, socially as well as business wise, with the officers and are on the most friendly terms.
 While the men have not intimated
 what their attitude will be regarding the response made to their demands, there was a feeling on the streets after the contents of the proposition gained circulation that an adjustment will be made without any trouble.