The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-06-08

three unions comprising the Chi
cago Building Trades council are
preparing to demand a dollar
and quarter an hour for their
members instead of the dollar
rate adopted last fall, union Of
ficials announced today"
This quotation is from a west
ern newspaper and accredited to
its Chicago correspondent The
same account goes on to state
that the announcement followed
Immediately after the DECLARE
ton of the Associated General
Contractors convention stating
that a building program aggre-
eating no less than six billion
dollars during the coming year
is being held up because OF the
excessive cost Of labor and Of
material
What does all this mean? And
what will be the consequences?
The carpenters strike for a dol
lar an hour last fall resulted in
holding up the winters work and
in driving many of the workmen
into other towns where no strike
had been called or into other
jobs that paid even less than the
80 cents an hour against which
they had been ordered to strike.
A company is now engaged in
erecting cold-storage ware
house and is endeavoring to fin
ish~ it before hot weather in or
to preserve perishable foods-a
most beneficial service at this
particular time when the Euro
pean trade is suddenly cut off
and without which the cattle and
hogs would be at once thrown
back upon the farmers hands
to discourage production and cut
off future supplies.
Not being able to secure suf-
ficient steel laborers, the super
intendent went to the union
headquarters of the steel work
ers Finding a goodly supply of
idle men smoking and playing
cards, the enterpriser made his
errand known by announcing his
desire for fifteen or twenty work
men.
How much will you give?"
was the question.
1.-THE full union SCALE" replied
the superintendent.
''Oh, you go TO hell; we don't
work unless we get double
wages"
In another case the president
of company in the same city
discovered men at work on Sat
urday afternoon upon a job that
did not need TO be rushed Know
ing that on Saturday afternoon,
like on sunday, work is done
only for double wages, he took
the manager TO task and was
met by this defense:
'The workmen refused to work
at all unless permitted to work
both Saturday afternoon and
Sunday for double wages. COM
promised on Saturday afternoon.
We must do that or hang UP the
job"
Now this attitude Of organized
labor toward enterprise is max
ing exorbitant prices inevitable:
and if it is persisted in it will
wreck first one business, then
another, ending in nothing short
of financial panic in which labor
ers will have little work at any
price and the public will go I'M
served.
There is another side of the
picture:
A manufacturer Of pumps sold
his product before the war
for $50 apiece, of which $40
was the cost Of labor and ma
terials and $40 represented prof
its. Now the same pump is sold
at $780, of which $500 is the cost
and $50 the profit. The profit
remains constant on the percent
age basis. not on the unit basis.
Many a dealer now frankly ad-
mits that he is doubling his pre-
war profit even after paying his
income and excess profits taxes,
which are passed on to the con-
sumer. Others, without quoting
figures, admit that they are