Denver labor bulletin., 1917-07-28

L. OI Il. SdlQ tOQdy liidt II 1OI 1llcI
tions work, the steel making, the ship
building, etc. Then, if the administra-
tion is sincere in wanting fair condi-
tions established, there will be
chance to bring all of the supplies
factories under some labor agreement
also.
Union Supply Factories.
This matter of supplies is probably
going to be the center of scandals dur
ing the war, for the very reason that
there is no decent standard for labor
4 conditions or sanitary conditions of
production. Julius Rosenwald, of the
advisory commission, who is chairman
of the supplies committee, is said to
be fighting the plan for enabling wom-
en- of thirty-five years of age and
over to make the army shirts, under
a plan of union-standard conditions
and decent rates of pay which has
been worked out between the secre-
tary of war and the secretary of labor.
with the help of the national league
for women's service. The league has
opened small shops, with power ma
chimes, in towns near the Jefferson
vile, Ind, depot of the army, and there
the women are working. They are
paid as cents a shirt, which was the
former rate for hand sewing. Rosen-
wald says that he can get these
shirts made "in the market" for 2212
cents each.
| Rosenwald made his money as head
Of big concern which sells convict
made and tenement-made goods.
Metal Trades Gaining.
II an agreement is reached which
will cover the shipyards and the muni-
tons factories, it had better be hur-
ried along. Strikes are fiourishing
everywhere in these industries. The
metal trades unions are organizing
right and left, with total gains in
membership which outio anything in
their history. But in order to get
better pay and maintain reasonable
hours they have to keep tying up jobs
This is not pleasing to the government.
1t hinders the war preparations. The
sooner the necessity for these strikes
is removed, by concessions demanded
last March and April by all of the un-
ions involved. in their letters to the
government, the sooner the strikes
will cease.
Old age pensions for civil service
employees have again been urged upon
congress at a senate committee hear
ing. The same old arguments have
been made, the same objections raised,
and men like Arthur Holder. legisla-
tive agent of the A. F. of l., have
once more suggested that plenty of
men who have grown old in private
industry could stand retirement pen
sions, too.
Retirement Pensions
Among the witnesses was Thomas
F. Flaherty, general secretary of the
National Federation of Post Office
Clerks. He told of how the postmas-
ter recently appointed in Washington.
as soon as he took his seat, began to
dismiss the older empioyes-the men
who had spent twenty TO thirty years
of their lives in making the service
what it is-because they were too old
for efficiency" Flaherty suggested
that the workers have right TO a
stake in the industry, and he believed
example should set an example for 9TH
er American employers in the pay
ment of retirement pensions.
Senator Mckellar of Tennessee is
chairman of the civil service commit
tee which is running the hearings
Letters should be directed to him at
the senate office building.
Flaherty is on the trail, once more,
of Postmaster General Burlescn. Bur-
Lesson is trying to evade the law which
directs him to promote from the rate
of 81, 100 to 81 200 year at least SIS
per cent of the clerks in the former
grade, each year Burleson has i'm
posed test for promotion which will
prevent more than about per cent
from getting the raise.
Representative Tague of Massachu-
sets has introduced resolution pro-
viding that the 5 and 10 per cent
raise in pay granted other govern
ment employees by the last congress
shall be given also to postal employees.
This would foil Burleson, by giving
even more than 500 raise to the men
in the 81 100 class.