The Connecticut labor press., 1919-08-02
PRINTERS MAKE REPLY TO NEW
 HAVEN PAPERS
Straightforward Statement Sent as Result of Important Meeting of Union.
NOT ASKING TOO MUCH
Reject Proposal of Publishers. Delegates Appointed to
 Trades Council.

Trades Council. The New Haven Typographica1
 Union at an important meeting on Sun
 day decided to reject the proposal of
 the publishers of the four daily New Haven newspapers and a reply was formulated to be sent to the publishers.
 President C. N. Ballard announced the
 appointment of the following delegates to the New Haven Trades Council :;
 Joseph J. Reilly, E. Shipman Smith, Thomas Poll, Charles Schmidt and F.
 Planck The reply sent to the publish CTS is as follows ' | New Haven, Conn, July 2, 1919
 "To Messrs. E. T. Darlington, John Day Jackson, A1exarfder Troup, and Wm. A. Hendrick "Gertlemen: Following is the Unions
 reply to your letter of July IS:
 We would respectfully inform you
 that your proposal to give us $4 from
 June Is to May 1, 1920, and an addi-
 tiona1 $1, making $5, if we would give you an extension of our present con- tract for IS months, has this day in
 regular monthly meeting been rejected. This action was taken after the membership present had very largely
 expressed its dislike of the terms.
 Our organizer, MT. J. J. Dallas, has acted in absolute good faith in all his transactions with the publishers and the local Union, and all our business and proceedings of every kind during the past two months have also been in good faith, as they invariably are.
 The Typographical Union is always serious in all its dealings with the pulp fishers, and as to the terms named in our counter proposition for an increase of $8 a week for the balance of the present contract year, and $4 week additional commencing May 1, 1920, when the present contract expires, we wish to present the following:
 They are fully justified by the exist ing high cost of commodities and neces- saries, particularly necessaries, and the tremendous increase in these articles now impending. The cost of living has increased 60 per cent. since the present scale of prices went into effect Tn 1917. Therefore, while we are furnishing the same quality of skill, intelligence and product as before that time, we do#ffot obtain the same value for our services. When asking an increase of $8 and $4 respectively, we are not even asking flor the value we received in 1917.
 Never i'll the history of the country have the local papers been so prosper ous as today. .'> h.
 .'The publishers state that they are making a voluntary offer of $4 week. This is not so. There need be no bar gaining over any voluntary offer of wage increase by employers There never was-there never will be. On the contrary their proposition is only a bargain to advance the present contract for another Is months, greatly to their advantage, and thus bind the employees through crucial period of reconstruc, ton, and business boom, leaving them helpless to advance their interests when the whole country will be enjoying an upward bound in the price of every thing produced. If it is your desire to consider us and assist us as you state, why not give us a voluntary increase without quibbling? We will take up the new contract at the proper time If, however, you play an oDer-and-shut game, with all the ad- vantages on your side, we wish to be frank and state that your present policy is not what we subject ourselves to without protest. .s.
 Your policy that contract IS con- tract and must be lived Up to shows no niagnanimity, no cooperation. The whole burden was borne by us. We have held to our agreement during a most trying period. We sacrificed our pleasure, our time with our families. risl<ed our health and endured all the | hardsfips the terms forced us to all through the war.
 "As you express in your letter sim cere desire to assist us i'll meeting some of the increased cost of living (after a year of denial) we do not consider it is borne out by an offer of 2O%o advance l for a continuation of contract winch already has for many years granted yot: an exemption Equivalent to $4 week
 on the sca1e) from an important law of the International Typographical Union.
 ''We are always willing to meet our
 employers at any time on any proposl- ton in which justice is the keynote, but 1 we very much question the justice of proposal which stamps request for a | 5OGo increase as utterly out of the ques l ton and in its stead offers ZO9o raise on such terms and under existing cir cumstances.
 "We came to you more than year ago, stating that prices were rising and l that we needed more money. Our re- quest was refused.
 "Mr. Dallas, the International repre- sentative, then came and put to you our need for an advance. You gave him to
 understand that he was wasting time. because you would grant nothing. Later, MT. Brady, another represen-
 tative, obtained an interview with you,
 which took place in The Register edi
 toria1 room. After going over the mat ter at length, he, and the committee | with him, were told that contract ex-
 isted, that you were living up to your
 part of it; that you would neither grant a bonus nor submit the matter to arbi-
 tration, and we would have to live Up to
 our part of it.
 we took you at your word, and after
 holding fve-hour special meeting in
 the following month, at which MT:
 Brady delivered an address, we settled
 down to wait until that contract ex- 1 pired.
 Your letter expresses surprise that
 we should ask for 5090 increase. In
 conference few weeks previous we
 told you that 6O9o raise was needed
 to meet an ever-increasing rise in the
 cost of living, which from present in- dications will go to 759o or more. | Therefore, the 50go increase we ask is