The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-04-01
Allied Building Trades Unions
Leave Their Work.
At Outs With Employers Over
Increase in Wages.
BUILDING is At 4 STAhDSTILL
New Work Ceases and Old
Work Is Left Undone.
Contractors Intimate They Will
Fight to a Finish.

Topeka is in the throes of general
strike of the allied building trades
unions today. The carpenters. the
masons. the painters. the paper hang
ers and every other srade allied with
these unions is out bn strike today.
and have been since o'clock this
morning. Increased wages is the de-
mand.
In spite of the fact that all of the
unions of skilled men were allied in
the strike, the common laborers be-
longing to the building laborers' union
remained at work today. No report
OF strike by the members of this
union had been received at a late hour
this afternoon. and SO far as the con-
tractors could say, there was ro in
dication of this nnioA joining hands
with the others.
Building activity of all kinds is at a
standstill. Inside repairs on ouses
and homes and bus:ness buildings were
| left unfinished in a few cases at the
time the strike order went into ef-
feet. However. these cases of prem
ises being left in a Uttered condition
and with work unfinished were rare
on account of the foresight the con-
tractors and builders in. so arrang-
ing the ork that every job under way
should be finished at s. o'clock Mon
Insist There Is No Strike"
At labor headquarters at Labor hall
today the State Journal was informed
by members of the carpen. ,rs' union
that there is no strike" When the
men were asked concorni- & the strike.
which was known to have oeei CT lied
| for today, the men individually md
collectively replied that there was no
strike" but that 1--WE won't fight 1t thru
the newspapers"
Big Projects Tied Up.
| At least two big building projects in
Topeka are already tied up in their
| construction On account of the strike
today. There are the Fordson Tractor
, building near First street and Kansas
avenue and the new Santa Fe ware
house under course of construction at
Fourth street and the -Sartn re
/ tracks fa
| The building which was to be built
| in Topeka by Arthur Capper is also
held up.
! 1t is believed that work on The Ho-
! tel Kansan will not be delayed for the
reason that the resumption of work on
this structure involves at present only
common labor in getting material on
the ground and ready for foundations
and preparing the excavations. prac-
tically completed. for the foundations.
Fight to Finish?
At a meeting of the contract )rs. ,
.
Chamber of Commerce last week the
employers voiced their conviction that
the time has come to go to the mat
with the labDr unions in Topeka. IL
they go out April it is the signal for
fight TO a finish"
Following the walkout of the union
men toda the contractors and build
ers to the number of nearly a dozen
met in the office of F. NJ. Spencer &
Son in the Mulvane building. The
meeting w 81 apparently an executive
/ session of the contractors and build
ers. At any rate newspaper men were
excluded froI1 the room. 1t is thought.
however. that it was in this meeting
that the finaa plans for a long drawn
out fight between the unions and the
builders were laid. Mos of the men
present at the meeting today were
men who have at other times ex-
pressed their willingness to go 70 the
mat on the strike proposition and fight
1t thru to the end.
From outside sources it was learned
! today-or rather it was intinated-
that two local contractors at a meet
| ing of one of the unions held Monday
| night in correction with the calling of
the strike. turned in their union cards
and definitely align d themselves on
the side of the contractors and build
erS.
In AR Since Janu,ry.
One employer of painters and payer
strike of today has been in the air
since January when the painters and
paperhangers union submitted a new
wage scale to go into effect Aprii 1.
This wage scale provided that the pSes-
ent wage of approximately four doll
! lars a day he increased to approxi-
, mately six dollars a day. G. NJ Bill
asserted that the employers of the men
of this partie llar union have made re-
peated efforts to get together with the
union and come to a fair agreement.
Hill said that the men were offert a
five dollar a day scale but refused 1t.
Hill said that he had been told by
one contracto in the city that some OF
the paperers had told him tthe con-
tractor) that they "wSuld let arbitra-
ton wait until we have been out two
or three weeks"
There waS little Ioafing around
Labor Hall today. only about dozen
men being in the office there an hour
or two after the walkout II was
thought that the strikers were out at
the polls working for labor candidates.
strike In Des Moines.
Des M1ines. Ia. April with four
unions ont on strike. buiiIing is prac-
tically at o stnndstill here to-day Failing
to reach a wage agreement bricknyrrs.
neers walked out with an agreement to
stay out until waF- demands met.
waIkout at Madison.
Madison. Wis. April 1.-Two thousand
union nachinists and nsonlders employed
! ing when employers ref fused 10 put infa
effect the decfsion nf the war labor board
granting an eight hour day. right to or
gaDize and increased wages. Union lead
ers declare they have funds enough to
carry on the strike for six months.
Kansas Editor Dies
ny ~