Evening star., 1918-06-09
TEMPORARY WORK
OFFERED STRIKERS
Plan of Commissioners to
Satisfy Municipal Employees
Who Quit Jobs.
MEDIATION MAY BE TRIED

Hone of q settlement Of the strike
Of municipal per diem employees, be-
gun yesterday because twenty men in
the pumping station of the sewers
department we're dismissed on account
Of lack of funds, last night centered
in the statement of District officials
that work may be obtained by the
men in the construction division Of
the department until pay is available
for their old positions at the begin
ming of the next fiscal year, July l.
The Secretary Of Labor has been
asked by the Commissioners to assist
peared probable that the offer of tenn
porary work for the remainder of the
month might serve as a basis for a
settlement
Unless some such offer is accepted
by the men, the Commissioners
have but $1,000 with which to run
the pumping station until the end of
the fiscal year and to retain all the
men now on the rolls would entail an
expenditure Of about $4,000.
Construction Division Needs Men.
But>the construction division of the
department is in need of men and has
the money with which to pay them.
One of the complaints of the City
Employees Association, which officially
called the strike, was that the fami-
lies of the discharged men would suf-
fer privation and hardship.
The Commissioners answer is that
there will be no occasion for any one
IN =, or1o oh hn MI mt
offered in the construction division
will be sufficient to maintain the dis
charged employees and their families
until the next appropriation act be-
comes effective.
While the strike was called primari-
1y because of the discharge Of the
men referred to. the union, in its ul-
timatum to the Commissioners yes
terday, stated that there would be no
return to work until its demands for
increased pay, communicated to the
District heads May 20, had been ad-
justed satisfactorily.
Proposal by Commissioners.
Before yesterdays strike was call
ed the Commissioners had proposed to
the association that arbitration by the
Secretary of Labor of all matters in
dispute be accepted. In answering
this proposal the association stated
L,
q principle, it did not feel justified in
enforcing upon its members a period
of idleness during which time the
dependent members OF their families
would be made to suffer privation and
hardship"
The association has demanded a
minimum pay of SO per day for un-
skilled labor and 81 a day for skilled
labor. After beginning a strike Mon
day the men returned to work the
same day under an agreement with
the Commissioners that their demands
would be considered. The discharge
of the twenty men from the pumping
station. according to the Commits
sioners, had been decided upon as an
imperative measure before they had
brewing. But the union apparently
is of the impression that the action
was a retaliatory one against MEM
bers of that body.
Although approximately 1000 me-
chanics and other per diem men, con-
ed and unskilled labor. walked out
at noon yesterday, the full force of
the strike will not be felt until to-
morrow. Per diem men do little work
on Saturday afternoons and Sunday.
Affects Street Cleaning.
The strike will make itself felt to-,
morrow in the street cleaning work.
In fact, cessation of this work will be
the first serious result of the walk
out and may constitute menace to
the health of Washington. Should
mechanics at the sewerage and water
pumping stations leave their posts
the capital would be confronted with
a real danger. But hope is felt that
these employees will stick through the
crisis.
Having a strike on their hands did
not prevent the Commissioners yes
terday from considering the appeal
of annual employees, including the
clerks of the District government. for
an increase in pay. Acting on this
ter yesterday to the Senate District
committee urging a substantial boost
u al rrodea of salaries