El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-02-12
LABOR CRISIS ON THE WEST COAST
SHOULD BE RELIEVEDBY GOVERNMENT

THE government ought to reestablsh the wooden ship
building industry the Pacific coast for two
hs t IS that the ships wiz be needed for world COM
erce The second that such action would provide en-
pigment for the thousands Of who out Of work
and you'd thus end situation fraught with peril
When the war ended shipbuilding had become the
principal industry OF the Pacific coast The activity in that
line IS continuing far steel ships are concerned but
confusion and uncertainty envelop the future OF the
wooden shpbuding industry. The government has not
announced its policy uncompleted contracts although
an wooden vessels which twoths completed are be
N steel ship building the elimination Of overtime IN
many yards is TIE only slarkenng Of activity in evidence
since the signing Of the amsce Why cannot the wooden
ship yards be busy the steel ship yards? wooden
ships good for IN wartime-snd they certainly
highly Tressagented BY the federal shipping board
they ought 10 be good for use in peace times.
The dropping off Of work IN those wooden ship yards
has surely worked havoc in labor the coast WoImen
Who have been employed in yards building wooden ships
have beeu Gaming into Fl Paso recently hev were east
ward bound in search Of work Descriptions they give Of
unemployment conditions the Pacific coast, while pos
sby exaggerated enough anyones concern
And they have to be given consideration supported as they
are, in the main, by responsible press assertions.
That labor conditions on the coast are bad IS ad-
ted By the February bulletin Of the federal bank
Of san Francisco, which says:
eDuring the last part Of December labor was fully
p0yed IN the industrial csners the subsequent rapid
rehabilitation Of soldiers and sailors and the abandonment
Of wooden shpbuding have resulted considerable
employment which threatens to become serious"
The bulletin goes 10 say that many Of the dis
charged soldiers and sailors being put back to work IN
their old Jobs and others finding employment;
nevertheless, the Vicinity demobii-
ration camps Who for lack funds other reasons
not returning to their homes and employment bureaus
finding II increasingly difficult procure work for
them
The unemployment situation rendered serious
By the strike Of about 5000 shpyard workers IN Seattle
and Tacoma for higher wages Conflicting reports
been received from Seattle regarding the number of
Played other than strikers Some have placed the number
high 5000 Since the for labor in the state
Of Washington is somewhat seasonal there is always
sTge surplus OF unemployed IN that state at this time OF
year The United States director Of employment for that
district is Of the opinion that the number Of unemployed
so far Is no greater than IN prsvar years
Estimates place the number of unemployed IN Oregon,
most Of whom are IN Portland from 1000 to 10000 Of
whom 700 to 5000 lumber workers 700 returned SOL
diers zoo clerks and the remainder are wooden ship
builders In the Spokane district comparatively few work
out Of employment and IN the San Francisco bay
district labor is being absorbed back into industries about
as fast It Of the ship yards out Of the
army and navy. The situation is serious in Los
Angeles where there are approximately 5000 unemployed
Prom the coast, unemployed have been flocIng
east Arizona has been with them but has little
to offer them Arizona has unemployment problem Of
her own the slump IN the price Of copper having forced
the mines 70 cura their operation throwing thousands Of
men out Of work Utah also has been Delayed with IN
employed both ship workers and discharged soldiers and
sailors At Salt Lake the soldiers and sailors employ
e1t bureau IN January had applications from 5000 men
Tor employment and was having trouble trying place
them
Unless the federal government affords relief conditions
On the coast threaten become worse More and more
men may be thrown Of work ships now under con-
srrucou completed And the longer men remain out