The sun., 1919-04-30
BOATMEN THREATEN
AFOURTH STRIKE
Owners Refuse to Sit With
Labor Leaders on Board of
Arbitration.

The dispute between labor leaders
controlling the thousands of the marine
workers in the port of New York and
the United States Government and boat
owners Is for the fourth time this year
ready to precipitate another tieup OF the
harbor equipment.
There are two distinct phases Of the
labor complications this time. The
first is fight Of the boat owners against
trio Of labor leaders. Thomas L. Della
| hunty, James A. Maher and Paul Vac
carelli, and the resultant stand made by
| this trio to maintain their power. The
| second difficulty arises over the attempt
| or the freight handlers employed by
| the Railroad Administration to obtain in
creased wages.
The determination of the boat owners
! TO Ignore Delahunty, Maher and Vac
| carelli. whom they yesterday informed
| Mayor Hylan. were labor agitatorsa
and the persistency OF the Railroad Ad-
ministration in calling upon its en-
ployees to abide by an agreement made
| short while ago, points to another
controversy which will bring the har-
Dor tangle back to the old status Of last
January
When the harbor strike was settled
by Mayor Hylan both sides agreed to
nominate four representatives to a board
OF arbitration which would in the future
settle all matters of dispute. The boat
owners named these men to represent
them James Conway, Fred Il. Dalzsll
Jr., James T. McAllister and Fred A.
Russell. Mayor Hylan yesterday nori-
Ned them that the boatmen had chosen
nd
, learning this the boat owners imrue-
diately notified Mayor Hylan that It was
their understanding that the representa-
yves or the employees would be boatrnen
and not union labor leaders They saio
that they took the same position that
Lindley NJ. Garrison assumed in the
| threatened strike OF r. r. T. EMPLOYEES.
that ls they were to deal with employees
and didn't propose arbltrating with men
they believe to be labor agitators. Con-
| seQuently there will be no board Of ar
bitration unless the labor trio withdraw.
| and that means another strike will be
called
The freight handlers strike, which Is
to be called because of an attempt by
the railroad to regulate its accumulated
merchandise on the docks by having
three shifts. will involve 5000 men.
A. II. Smith notified Paul Vacarrelll
! OF the freight handlers that the men
must work at 40 cents an hour. and
must work on the schedules Of eight
! hours which are posted by the railroad
He made this statement yesterday:
! The object OF this new demand. in
| violation of a recent agreement. is to
| try TO avoid the employment OF men
at the hours of 7, s and 8 o'clock. as
permitted by the original agreement, and
! which took into consideration the hours
at which certain traffic moved and the
necessity for men at those hours.
what they want TO accomplish Is to
! bring all the men TO work at one hour.
say Z or o'clock, so that they will be
| idle an hour or two in the morning and
make an hour or two OF overtime in the
afternoon at overtime rates, which is
merely subterfuge to avoid the eight
| hour day. which they said was what
| they wanted, and which was granted
| overtime has not been denied the men
where they could be employed, but they
| have refused to work beyond eight
Lk6urs unless they were paid time and a
7 half for the ninth and tenth hours. The
regulations permit paying time and a
half beyond ten hours. which seldom
| occurs
The hours AZ which the men are en-
| ployed is not left to any whim but they
are definitely selected for their regular
schedules. and posted forty-eight hours
in advance. so that they will be sub
jected TO the least possible inconveni-
ence. 1t is the fragrant violation to OBJ
serve any instructions or any agree
ments that they have made which is
bringing their own trouble"
Several hundred freight handlers,
chiefly those Of the New York Central
/ docks, met in their hall on 125th street
last night and held a secret session TO
consider the letter OF A. H. Smith re-
jectlng their demands for a uniform
working schedule. The meeting was ad-
dressed by Paul Vaccarelli and lasted
until after midnight. No announcement
was made of the strike vote, but men
coming out OF the hall declared a strike
would be called within the next few days
on all the railroad docks. Before a gem
eral strike Is declared all the locals of
the International Freight Handlers will
have to vote on the question.