The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1919-01-31
METAL TRADES
COUNCIL DENIES
THE STATEMENTS

Continued From Page y
Coast district and to the employers
Of this city. owing to the contracts
that had been signed by the ship
builders with the Shipping Corpor-
alton, the shipbuilders wired for
confirmation of this statement, and
Mr.. Skinner of the Skinner and Ed
dy Corporation received confirma
ton of this from Mr.. Piez by wire.
I'VE wish also to draw the at
tention of the public to the state
ment, as published in The Seattle
Post-lntelligcnccr of January "a,
from Mr.. Piez, in an interview with
Ashmun Brown. in which he states:
Mr.. Taylor came to me afterward
and asked me what we proposed to
do. ! told him in all probability the
control of labor would be given
back to the yards on March 81. He
asked me if we would oppose the
men making individual union con-
tracts with the yards | said we
would not. but that in compensa-
ting the yards for work done we
would not allow any labor change
in excess of so cents
1T would appear from this
statement that the articles in the
Sunday papers are in direct con-
travention to the statement made
by Mr.. Piez 10 the representative
of the Metal Trades Council of Sc
attic; to his own statement to Mr..
Brown of The Post-IntelligenCer
and his message of confirmation to
Mr.. Skinner of the Skinner and Ed
dy Corporation.
This is another reason why the
men working in the shipbuilding in
dustry do not cOuntenance any
statement coming from the Ship
building Corporation, owing to the
fact that during the past ] months
they have repeatedly rendered a
decision one day and the next day
issued a memorandum rcpudiating
their former actions, thus showing
that the Shipbuilding Corporation,
either through lack of management
or inefficiency on their part, have
done everything possible to take
away from tlfe workers what they
are justly entitled to.
"Mr. Piez, in former statements
/ to the press, stated that the men
on the Pacific Coast were at least
/ 90 per cent more efficient than any
other section of the country, which,
according to the figures presented
/ by the Metal Trades Council last
week. shows that the shipyards in
! this community are able to pay the
/ wages asked for by the Metal Trades
section and still make a margin of
profit. even though there is not a
yard in this section of the country,
to our knowledge, that is receiving
over $3.50 per ton for their ships.
when Mr. Picz appeared
before the Senate Committee
press dispatches quoted him as
saying that, since the inccp-
ton of the war. the contracts
I ranged from S14o per ton to as
! high as 1925 per ton, thus
showing concIusiVcly that the
Pacific Coast has been and can
compete with other sectors OF
the country If allowed free
rein to negotiate between en-
pIoycr and employee.
I IF the shipbuilders of the North
west can make handsome profits at
$3.50 per ton, what is the reason
/ for the Shipping Corporation let
ting contracts at 1926 per ton?
In conclusion, we wish to say
that the statements made by the
Macy Board and the representatives
of the Emergency Fleet Corpora
ton would lead us to believe that
they are throwing down the
gauntlet to MS for fight to the
finish and if that is their intention
we will pick it up and guarantee
them that we will take the fight tc
the entire shipbuilding industry OF
the United States.
(SignedD y. A. TAYLOR,
President.
BERT SWAIN,
Secretary.
Seattle Metal Trades Council.