The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-20
MAYORS ATTITUDE
AROUSES FIREMEN
800 Hold Stormy Meeting, but
Decide to Suspend Their
Official Paper.
BRENNAN RUNS TO HYLAN
Fight Promised Before Board
of Estimate When Wage
Demand Is Made.

Declaring that Mayor Hylan was seek
ing to deprive them Of their constitu-
tional rights and impede the progress
OF their union, 500. members of the Fire
Department representing Local No. "a of
| the Uniformed F'iremen's Association,
| held stormy session several hours yes
, terday afternoon in the assembly room
of the Pulitzer Building. The firemen
had come in response to a call for
special meeting of the union to consider
| a decree which the Mayor issued through
| Fire Commissioner brennan n few days
| ago directing the suspension of the Fire
man, official organ of the association.
The paper. which appeared after the
men formed the association, had been
| under the management Of a civilian edi-
| torial council until few weeks ago. 1t
| was then that the Mayor directed David
! Hirschfeld, Commissioner of Accounts,
to investigate the management. After
examination of the publication and fall
ure to suppress its activities, which
have been centred on n fight for more
wages and an extension of the two pla-
| toon system, a transfer was made put
| ting the eight officers OF the union in
charge. These men came from the uni
formed ranks They issued the last
number but the publication will sus-
pend this week.
|
men were in the publication business he
dug out a section of the charter-739-
| and sent It TO Commissioner brennan.
| This section states that no member of
| the uniformed force may agitate, pub
| lish or appeal to Legislatures or public
! officials for relief, unless the matter Is
submitted to the Fire Commissioner.
The trouble then became a matter in
ivolving the rules and regulations Of the
1 do Nawt,,, M Ia teal pN-
| ing, SO he told the men, under orders
| from the Mayor. said he would present
| charges against the eight officers Of the
| local association IL they did not stop pub
| LEGATION of the paper. 1t was upon the
question whether the men should face the
charges which publicly meant dismissal
| from the department, or suspend the ia
rer that the firemen debated. Finally
the trouble reached the point where
| wholesale resignation from the Fire De-
partment threatened and officers Of the
| union called on John p. Holland, prcsi-
dent of the State Federation of Labor, to
| take hand. He persuaded the men to
vote in favor of suspending the paper.
| Mr., Holland said that " the eight
men were dismissed II would result in a
| strike by the firemen, leaving the city
to face a peril never before known in
its history Besides the men. the en-
bers of the union, and they would be
called out in the event of strike. An
other matter the flremen discussed was
the refusal of the Commissioner to allow
| delegates from the union in this city
to attend an international convention to
be held in Portland, Ore, September s.
The men had arranged TO take the time
of with their seven day vacation period
and without pay.
While the firemen were celebrating
Commissioner brennan made a hurried
trip to Mayor Hylan at the City Hall.
The Mayor refused to talk about the
attitude OF the flremen, saying he was
too busy attending to business which
had been neglected while he was settling
air the strikes in Brooklyn and New
| York"
The Board OF Estimate will be the
scene OF n fight next month when the
firernen start their campaign for an in
crease of $50 year fer first, second
third and fourth grade men. The union
represents nearly 9S per cent. of the
uniformed force in the greater city.