New Britain herald., 1917-02-15

men are we'll acquainted with this de-
 tail and what the supernumeraries
 desire is to have the safety board
 act with them in having the ordi-
 nance repealed or pay of the supernu-
 meraries raised Chief Rawlings ex-
 plained, if the ordinance is repealed,
 the supernumeries assigned to hall
 jobs will receive $1.50 unless there is
 overtime, for every hall job as the or
 dinance was passed about a. year ago
 to allow supernum meraries an increase
 of fifty cents. Policeman Pierson re-
 torted that the increase only affected
 the men assigned to theaters and, if
 the ordinance is repealed, the men as
 signed to dance halls will still re-
 ceive $2.
 | t Berlin Fair Grievance.
 Anent the grievances of men ars-
 signed to the Berlin fair. Chief Raw
 lings explained that petition for an
 increase in pay was in abeyance at the
 time sand, because of this, the men
 assigned to duty at the fair were of
 fered the scale that had been in
 vogue in previous years and had ex-
 pressed themselves as satisfied He
 saidf the men were offered s3 for duty
 from 1 D. m. to 8 p. m. and expressed
 themselves as satisfied. He further
 contended that nothing was said about
 overtime pay Consideration was
 shown in that the men did not have to
 go until 1 o'clock, instead of II
 o'clock, as in former years. He ex-
 plained that this change was made so
 that the men sent would not have to
 lose half a days pay in factory or
 shop. House Officer Malone said that
 he personally presented the offer to
 the men, told them they did not have
 to go, unless terms were satisfactory
 and the men who went told him per-
 sonally that they agreed to the scale. Policeman Kerin contended that the men who went to the fair claimed
 that Chief Rawlings offered $3 from 1 to 8 p. m. and overtime after the latter hour. This the chief denied and was supported by Policeman Ma lone.
 If there was dissatisfaction, why wasn't 1t aired at the time and not after this long delay ?' asked the chief. Answering the question him. self, he said "why, simply because the men had no case because they had agreed to the offer before going to the fair grounds Supernumerary Kerin asked if it was not true that Supernumerary O'Keefe had been in- formed that there would be overtime and said O'Keefe so claimed in a meeting of the supernumeraries Off, cer Malone said that he had dealt with O'Keefe personally and that there was no mention of overtime. He explained that O'Keefe was working nights and when he came to the sta- tion was informed of the detail provision and said he would think it over. He said O'Keefe was told there would be $3 in it from 1 o'clock on. O'Keefe said he would think it over and later agreed to go.
 Commissioner Howard M Steele thought that possibly there was mis- understanding relative to overtime but Chief Rawlings replied that there was mo misunderstanding" Super numerary Souney entered into an ex- plana4ion relative to the Berlin fair, saying that some time previously a committee of supernumeraries had conferred with Chief Rawlings to in- quire whether it is necessary to go out of the city on duty and contended that the chief had replied in the af- firmative. This Chief Rawlings de- nied, saying that the men had not been told that they must do outside duty but that he expected them, as po- ! licemen, to respond when wanted. Commissioner Steele thought that out-of-the-city duty is up to Chief Rawlings and the upernumeraries and l is not for the board to take super vision. He believed that the chief should get the best scale possible and l it is up to the men to accept or re- | ject.
 Supernumerary Kerin spoke rela- tive to hall and theater work but said he had no personal grievance because 1 he gets his share He thought some men do not, contending that some men make $40 and 50 a month with out losing time from their regular work while others sometimes get $2.50 a month and lost time by hav- ! ing to attend court, all of this after paying out $10O or more for uniforms and equipment. He advocated a rotary system"
 l Captain Grace explained why "ro- ! tary system would be impossible. Oftentimes a man assigned to a hall 1 is wanted unexpectedly on second night, Oftentimes it is not known that man is wanted until shortly before time for reporting. It is nec- essary to get the first man possible and, from past experience of getting l two out of fourteen called, it is fount advisable to call on men who ar l known to be ready to respond. Kerf T and Pierson argued for the rotaJ 2 system. Chief and Souncy Clash. Pointing his finger dramatically ia Policemen Kerin and Souney, CIue Rawlings said You, Kerin, and ytpu 1 Souney have refused time after tItmt l to go on duty and work for mel. have asked you both time after t.imt ] to work, only to be told that yer l time work at factory or some c,thel i cause prevented"
 Souney jumped to his feet to ,chal lenge the statement of Chief Raw lings