The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1919-09-27
NEWS OF THE LABOR WORLD
Recent Happenings That viii Be Of
Interest to Both Employer and
Employee.

~AA1 ANAbiiAi NAa CiaiAaJ <hoS f0tti 1tf W -
ers' union won its demand for In
creased wages and shorter hours.
Between 700 and 500 employees Of
the Standard Oil companys refinery
at Independence. NO.. walked out.
Working expenses on the London
(England) tramways rose from 10
cents a mile In 1913 to 80 cents in
1918.
1t is estimated that the increase of
81 to $3.50 in the weekly wages Of all
shop clerks will cost merchants $685.
100000 to $150,00O,000 year, a Lon
don dispatch says.
President Lecornu of the Australian
seamen's union, the members of which
have been on strike for several weeks,
announced that he would appeal to the
United States for assistance.
Despite the fact that formation Of
labor unions is not allowed In Japan.
workmen have combined to get SO per
cent increase in wages and shorter
work hours. Wages have trebled since
the war.
The strike of about 300 women gar.
ment workers at Chicago was averted
by the acceptance by the manufactur-
ers of the wage increase demands pre-
sented recently by the Lady Garment
Workers union.
The ore traffic at Ashland, Wis,
was completely paralyzed by the walk
out of 213 dockmen. Seven ore boats
Cancelled and 16 ore trains laid off
and their crews discharged. Es-
canada was also tied up.
Coal production in central Illinois
| fields is being seriously curtailed by
shortage of cars, due to the shopmen's
| strike. Practically every mine in the
| Springfield district was said to be idle,
with only a few cars filtering ID here
and there.
Voluntary wage increase of 1879 per
cent was announced at Lima, o., by
the Garford Motortruck company and
the East Iron Machine company The
Garford company employs more than
1000 men, while the other plant has
300 employees.
The Western Union Telegraph COM
pany announced q bonus of 10 per
cent to its employees. The Former
bonuses, which were paid regularly
by the Western Union, were made
by Postmaster General Burlesbn and
the new bonuses are in addition
The Garner Print works and Bleach
cry of Wappinger's Falls, N. T., an.
nounced that employees wereito be
| given half control of all future man
agement, per cent bonus bn all
earnings, and half the representation
on the board of management The
company employs 700 men.
The metal trades Departmental the
American Federation of Labdr will
make demands on congress aid the
! rsrasitsrn -tfssst- measures be takah-rSJ
reduce the high cost of living, james
| O'Connell chairman of this depart
ment, said Membership of the metal
crafts exceeds 100000, O'Connell
stated.
Almost every steel plant in Mahon.
ing valley started at full capacity.
Steady demand for pipe and othersup
plies for oil fields and new orders for
Shipbuilding steel has benefited the
mills. Mills at Youngstown obtain
most of their ore from the Minnesota
district and have enough to last them
| six months
Shoe workers of Brockton, Mass,
are forming an organization outside
the Boot and Shoe Workers union,
which, they say, has not treated them
fairly. They refuse to accept q char
ter from that union Cutters employ
ed in Brockton receive. they say, S35
a week. against 80 for those en-
! ployed in Lynn. They demand an in
crease to $44.
Nine hundred employees of the Wa
! terloo Ua.) Gasoline Engine company
| (owned by the John Deere company of
Moline, IlI) walked out when their de-
| mands for collective bargaining and
higher wages were not accepted. This
was the third factory closed In three
days, the Iowa Dairy Separator com
| pany and the William Galloway com
pany, farming implements, also clos
ing.
About LOO machinists went or
strike at Paterson NJ J., for an in
! crease in wages Of 10 cents an hour.
They demand the following hourly
wage scale: Tool, gauge, die and pat
ternmakers, So cents; machinists and
millwrights. rs cents; helpers, 60
cents; apprentices. 80 cents first year,
40 cents second year, SO cents third.
and then 90 cents. AS result of the
strike several Of the biggest plants
in Paterson were seriously affected.
The New York Letter Carriers as.
ISOLATION has adopted a resolution call.
ing on officials Of the national organ
ization to carry an appeal directly tc
President Wilson for IS per cent In
crease in the letter carriers salaries.
The resolution asserted that the Is
per cent increase which became effec-
tive on July was inadequate to meet
present-day living costs and declared
| that further increase was neces-
sary at once "tO prevent complete
decentralization Of the service"
/ Hinton, nI,Irohapc ~ Cyra oxtco NJ "