The herald., 1919-04-03
GENERAL LABOR NEWS

More than fifty thousand workers
employed by the Ford Motor company
are now receiving a minimum wage OF
Sc per day.
Railroads are paying women less
than men despite the McAdoo order
is the claim of the Brotherhood of
Railway clerks.
The jewelry factories in AttIebOro
Mass, are to be converted into insti-
tutions where returned soldiers may
obtain employment.
The Utah Copper company an
nOunced reduction in wages of min
ers and mill men approximating 10
cents a day, effective at once. =.
The German ship owners and the
/ sailors union have agreed upon a
wage of $40 monthly for fetching food
from the United States, it was learned.
1t is reported that 10000 silk work
ers at Basel, Switzerland, soon will be
/ Idle unless the Swiss government is
able to establish trade agreements
with the powers.
! A standard low-heeled boot is now
worn by women In the English ship
yards, introduced by the arrangements
because of the many sprained ankles
that resulted from the clumsy, high
heeled shoes that were first worn by
! the workers.
The French government has aban-
dOned plans for reQuisitioning trans
portation companies, following an an
nouncement that the companies had
ployees and had averted what threat
ened to be a strike.
The Granite Cutters International
union has rejected the offer Of an in
crease in the minimum wages Of the
craft from $3.50 to $3.50 per day, as
proposed by the Granite Manufacture
ers' association. The men have been
striking since December 1.
Shirtwaist makers In three shops at
New Haven, Conn.,, went on strike,
nearly three hundred workers walking
out. Strike leaders declared the walk
out Is sympathetic one to assist the
garment workers who are on strike in
New York, and prevent New York
manufacturers from sending work to
this city to be finished.
Officials of the Pittsburgh bureau Of
the United States employment service
are gradually working out plans for
readjustment Of labor conditions in
that district. Large industrial plants
throughout the district are fast turn
ing from a wartime to a peace basis,
and the large employers Of labor are
cooperating In every way with the
government officials to eliminate any
hardship upon discharged war work
ers or returned soldiers.
According to statistics based upon
an analysis made by the bureau Of in
formation of the New York state In
dustrial commission the average week
ly earnings Of employees in the state
of New York rose to S231S during De
cember. This establishes a new rec
ord with a gain Of $1.5S over the
month previous. The manufacturers
Of the state expended for wages a sum
larger than any which so far has been
recorded and amounting to per cent
more than in November.
Virtually all building operations In
New York were tied up by a lockout
by members Of the Building Trades
Employers association, according to
William J. Bowen, president of the In
ternatiOnal Union Of Bricklayers, Ma
sons and Plasterers. Bowen says
more than twenty-five thousand work
ers In that city are affected, and I'M
less the difficulty is adjusted immedi-
ately it will be followed by strike
eventually affecting two million men
throughout the United States and Can
ada.
Utah labor has lodged an emphatic
protest against the threatened impor-
tation Of 125,0O0 unskilled Mexicans by
certain railroads. Protests have been
sent to Utah's representatives in con-
gress and to every Official known to
be friendly to the labor interests Of
Ciuh. lht CdlIS
tentiOn to the fact that 100000 sail
ors and soldiers are to be honorably
released from the service and cast
upon the labor market, and that even
now there is lack Of positions open
to many Of these men, both skilled
and unskilled.
1t was announced that the Sedalia
(Mo.) Federation of Labor has in
dorsed unanimously the plan to start
a garment factory in Sedalia with a
capital stock of $4,000. The factory
Is to take the place of the Brown
Evans factory, which has been closed
several weeks because the $50 girls
went on strike when three were dis
charged.
The Missouri House of Representa-
tives adopted resolution appealing
to all employers in the state to give
returning soldiers the positions they
held when they left to enter the army.