The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1919-01-25
WOULD KEEP LABOR BOARDS
Association of Maehinists Makes Plea
for Their Retention--Recent Wage
Increases Granddaughter
Cotton Operatives Are
Back at Work.

Kellar-Keating retirement bill and
the retention by the government of
all labor boards having to do. with the
adjudication of labor disputes, par
| ticularly the national war labor board.
Congress was urged in resolution
to continue the housing plan deter
mined upon and started by the hous-
ing bureau of the department of la
Dor before the signing of the armis-
tice.
A closed shop with a 4S-hour work.
ing week and wage increases totaling
SIS a week, and granted to employees
of the Gem Metal products corpora
ton of Brooklyn, N. Y, is an award
by the war labor board. The closed
shop principle is applied because the
plant was operating under a closed
shop agreement prior to the entry of
America into the war, A wage scale
of $5.75 and the basic eight-hour day
were granted to molders of Elizabeth
City, n. J.
The striking English cotton opera
tives held a mass meeting and de-
cided to return to work at once. The
operatives accepted the terms of an
agreement by which they will receive
an increase Of about 80 per cent in
wages.
Two thousand new workmen's homes
are to be built in Portland, Ore.
Four factories in Denmark now are
manufacturing binding Irvine from
paper.
To release men for other work, Hog
Island ship yards now employ women
chauffeurs.
Women engaged in munition work
throughout the countries at war num-
Der 100000.
The worlds richest iron mine, in
Lapland, has been equipped with cleo
trical machinery.
Women are now eligible to member
ship in the Canadian Railway Mail
Clerks association.
A Sheffield (England) hairdresser
who volunteered for munition work
in one week of 80 hours. earned over
$85.
A chimney sweep told the Seven
Oaks (EngIand) tribunal that his aver
age earnings were $50 week, and he
made a little profit on SCOT. ..
Modern methods of mining and
smelling have made it profitable to
reopen a nickel mine in Norway that
was abandoned half century ago.
More than one-half the national for
ests in the Oregon-Washingt dis
trict have made use of the services of
women as lookouts, patrols and
in nursery work.
Ten thousand girl servants at Stuff
CART, the capital of Wurttemberg, were
modified recently to help unload rail-
road freight cars. Each has to give
one day or two half-days a week to
this work. They are paid mems wages,
Half fare street car tickets for
working people during certain hours
of the day must be issued by the
Dubuque Electric company, Judge
Reed ruled in federal court. The COM
pany, a Delaware corporation, at
tempted to abolish the half fare.
After three hours debate the
Youngstown (O) railway union rati-
fed a new wage agreement with the
MahoniEg- Shenango Light and Power
company. The men will receive from
43 to 4S cents an hour. During the
ratification meeting all cars were mo-
tionless but the strike was called off
and schedule resumed.
Representative of the French Cen
eral Federation of Labor presented to
President Wilson when he landed at
Brest an address declaring that the
workers of France welcomed him Joy
fully. The address said that the pres
ident's proclamation Of his IA peace
points was an epoch in the history
of the world, Shedding light in a
night Of blood"
The Toronto (Canada) police were
called out on strike following an all
night meeting. They demand the re-
| instatement of union officials, all but
one of whom were dismissed, and rec
ognition of their union. Mayor Church
objected to the dismissal of the Off
Gals without avail. A mass meeting
followed at which the men voted to go
on strike.
The striking motormen and conduc-
tors of the Cleveland Railway com
pany voted to accept the proposition
of President Stanley of the company
! that ne would dismiss $50 woman con-
ductors by March /. The men re-
sumed work. The women have been
employed since September ].
The largest single call for labor re-
ceived at the headquarters of the
United States employment service at
New York since the armistice was
signed came from the Pennsylvania
Railroad company, which asked for
$500 men. More than half of tine
total are wanted for skilled work.