The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-21

been reached.
 Three hundred ironworkers walked out. of the Remington Arms & Ammu- nition Go. buildings July 12 due to a
 dispute between the crafts as to whether the rni1lwrights should be members of the ironworkers GOT car penters' unions.
 This was the first strike trouble of importance and it is the one that was the first of many strikes that were
 caused in rnunition plants in Bridge port and in many other places in the country The general strike at the. Remington Go, followed and when that was settled unrest became gent eral.
 On Wednesday, July Is, 100 mil1-- wrights at the factory went out on strike. This halted the construction on the new buildings of the Reming- ton Arms; on Boston avenue, and also brought to the city, J. J. Keppler. vice president of the International As- sociatioh of Machinists, John A. John. ston, organizer Of the Structural Iron Workers, and Vincent sDeFaIco, inter national organizer of the hod carriers, who were affected by the strike.
 The announcement on the night of l Wednesday, Ju1yt14, of the institution throughout it's massive plants in this 1 city and sIlfon, N Y., by the Reming- ton Arms & Ammunition Go, and the iOn1On -MeLa111C EOoIETlQS0H 0O.s Ol II1S eight hour day for all employees was l the first of the many concessions
 granted in this city. It was institut- l ed August 1. This was a change from
 the Q hour day with five hours on
 Saturday,, to the eight hour day. Thus at one tap, 10000 persons in
 Bridgeport received better working fcondftions. The action of the Rem 1 ington Arms & Ammunition Co, made I a great irnpr ression on the Manufac-
 turers' association and a hurry call was issued for special meeting to
 consider the critical situation that had Harisen- At. secret meeting it was
 decided to allow each manufacturer 1 to decide for himself
 Eight international labor heads held a conference in the Continental
 hoteI, Thursday July 19, with Sam.
 ua1 Gompers. president of the Ameri- i can Federation of Labor, at which
 Daniel J. O'Keefe, deputy comnnis-
 sioner of labor at Washington, was lpresent representing Commissioner of Labor Wilson. The labor situa ton in Bridgeport was. considered.
 The first step in the general cam 1 paign to obtain better workings and. salaries for all the machinists in the city was announced July IT by J. J. lKeppIer and George J. Bowen, the ilatter business agent of the Interna-
 tfona1 Association of Machinists here.
 This followed the refusal of Major <. Waiter O. Penfield of the Remington plants to consider the demands made l by the machinists of the Remington 1 plants, which were recognition of the l union, a guarantee of a permanent eight hour day, no reduction in wa ges and reinstatement of all men who
 might be called out in the event of a
 strike. A strike had been planned
 for the next Monday at noon, in the event of his refusal. sss9s On Monday July g the nanufactu-s lrers of the city, after a. snap meeting,
 declared against the closed shop policy and asserted they would sup
 port the open shop policy of the Arms
 Plant This indicated that at that
 time the manufacturers underrated 1 the labor movement in Bridgeport and believed what had been accom-
 plished was merely sporadic. 1 The biggest development since the beginning of the strikes occurred on
 Tuesday, July 20, when walkouts were I ordered at four plants. All the fac
 tories of the Remington interests in
 this city, the Bridgeport Engineering I Co, the Columbia, Nut & Bolt Co, the sGaynor Manufacturing Co, and the 1 lsBuIard Machine Tool Co, were the ones affected.
 I The result of this was that the eTil- I p1oyes of the Gaynory Co. received bet l ter working conditions almost inn l naediately, the Bridgeport Engineering g l Co employees received and accepted an adjustment of their difficulties, the l Bullard Machine Tool Go. granted the eight hour day August 2.
 l The Bulfard concessions gave to 700 persons better hours and the same
 pay they received before One hum l dred others in the other factories re- ceived the same benefits.
 The Columbia Nut & Bolt Go. was
 officially declared off the strike list ] July 21, when the company renounc-
 ed its contracts with the Remington plants.
 I On the same day, several hundred IAgirls and TO machinists joined the 1 ranks of the strikers at the Union Metallic Cartridge Go. The employees of the Grant Manufacturing Co. and the Coulter & Mackenzie Go. walked
 out this day.
 By July 22, several hundred brick l layers had quit work on the construc-
 ton at the Arms plans! The next 1 day more machinists and toolmakers joined in.
 Samuel M Gompers came to this city July g to attempt to settle the 1 jurisdictiona1 dispute over the mill l Wrights. He conferred with many 1 labor leaders of national prominence. 1 It was unsuccessful.
 Friday, July 23, the ironworkers voted to end the strike at the Rem ington plant The machfnists also voted to end the strike, having re- l ceived a satisfactory and definite l working agreement.
 The following Monday, when the | n1achinists attempted to return to l work on the strength Of the agree