The Connecticut labor press., 1919-09-09
GENERAL LABOR NOTES.

Practically 83 per cent of the em- ployees in Italian automobile factories are women.
 Motion picture operators have been given a six-hour day and 8 40 per cent increase in wages.
 Stove holders at Indianapolis have been granted an eight-hour day and 2 per cent increase in wages.
 The total domestic production of woOlen and cotton goods in Argentina, carried on in some eighty-one facto- ries, is stated to have a value of $10,- 722,594, and to employ about S,384 op- erativPa--
 The 4tholfc trade unionists Of Alsae~ ne, in a meeting held at Strasburg convened by the ''Syndi- cats Chretiens," decided, after a pro- longed discussion, to form a new trade uniOnist but nonsocialist organization. There will be six sections in the new organization, which will be known as 'L'Association Syndicaliste Indepen- dante d'Alsace ct de Lorraine"
 Charges of bad faith are made by officials of the Marine Workers affil- iatton against T. V. O'Connor, si- dent of the International Longs mems association and other cers of the longshoremen's organ iZatiOn. Leaders of the harbor strike accused them of trying to bring about a settlement with the private boat owners at lower wages and longer hours than agreed to by the railroad administration. The council affirmed its loyalty to the striking unions and rebuked the marine afilia- dOn's officers.
 The women and girls employed in the shops of the Oregon Short Line railroad, at POcatellO, Idaho, are be- ing replaced by returning soldiers as these come home and desire to be em- plOyed again by that railroad. It is understood that eventually the girls will be replaced entirely and none en- plOyed in the shops. The railroad is employing women as telegraph opera tors and station agents in some of the smaller towns. The women in these positions receive the standard wages, the same that men would receive in these places.
 Prepared to make strong demon stratiOn in favor of a 44-hOur working week, the organized clothing and gar ment workers of Montreal attained their object amicably when the Cloth ing Manufacturers association decided to grant what the workers were asking for The change will come into effect on April 1, and the employers will pay the same rate of wages as formerly. The Clothing Manufa cturers' associa- ton Is composed of IA of the leading firms in that line in the city, and it is expected that other manufa cturers will adopt a similar course.
 Criticizing the policy of employers who retain women employees, State Labor Commissioner Sam B. Montgom- cry declared that the employment sit uatiOn in West Virginia was becoming more serious every day. "In the coal mining districts 16OOO men have no work at all," he says; "2,75O railroad men have been laid off, 5000 em- plOyees in the wOOdmen's branch of the lumber industry are out of work and hundreds of others are seeking jobs. The stagnation in the iron and steel business, the coal business, the indiscriminate cancelling of govern ment contracts, failure to resume building operations in the state-all are factors in making the situation troublesome"
 Increased wages of $6OOOO a year for the car men. $7,0OO a year for the shop and barn men, and $6,0OO for track men were given the employees of the Utah Light and Traction con- pany in an award of a board of arbi- tratiOn.
 One hundred piano movers of local 738. Chicago. won part of their de- mandS against the Musical Trades Carriage association when Judge Sab- ath. acting as arbitrator. awarded them $5 more a week in wages and a raise of 20 cents an hour for overtime. They demanded an increase Of $9 a week.