The Connecticut labor press., 1920-04-03
CARPENTERS WILL CARRY STRIKE ON
 TO FULL VICTORY
Situation We'll in Hand With Only 275 Men Yet Out
 of Work.
BOSSES FOOL THE PUBLIC
But District Council Shows Up Camoufage in Public
 Press.

ebers out on strike,- and these employed scleiy by members of the Master Build ers' Association, the second week of the strike of New Haven Carpenters to secure the grant of their demands for S1 an hour Is about at an end with the carpenters feeling the situation well in hand. More than 75 per cent. of the carpenters of the city, employed by contractors not tied ur to the builders association are at work, and therefore the organization will be able to carry on the strike against the association in definitely. The fight will be to finish especially as from all parts of the state comes word this week that contractors thereabouts have granted the Sl or more an hour asked, and the local mast CT builders have given the bricklayers Sl an hour here and agreed to SHEA an hour on July l.
 The strike which was peaceable enough the first week, was thrown into excitement early this week by the pub- lication in the daily press of full page advertisements, endorsed by the Cham Der of Commerce, denouncing the car7 penters demands, charging breach of agreement, declaring rents would be raised if the demand was granted and other charges based upon an alleged
  Where such investigation was held, Ii indeed it was held at all, the carpenters and other Labor men here would like to know as they were never consulted.
 The carpenters, however, were equal t0 the fight and came back pronto with just as large advertisements setting forth their side and showing up the unfair tactics of the employers and the Chamber of Commerce. This is pub Iished elsewhere in The Connecticut Labor Press and speaks for itself and fs worth neadiu@ by every MOEl<saaE =snan in the city, and especially the business man. The profteering of the contract ors on charging for the work of the carpenters would seem to be some part of the cause for the high raise in rents, as well as wages paid the men,
 All over the state the carpenters de- mands are being granted, even by associations as closely tied up as the local master builders. Hartford men are getting more than Sl an hour, and a dollar prevails in dozen other cities and towns, so the demand cannot be so very outrageous in a city the size of New Haven, the largest and highest priced in living in the state. The situa- ton is well explained by George F. Mordecai, business agent of the Car. penters District Council. who says:
 "It has been the contention of the. master builders of New Haven that this wage would be ruinous. but in all fairness it must be said that Such places as Hartford, Bridgeport, Stam- ford. / Greenwich, Southington, New Britain, Naugatuck and othef towns can see theirs way clear to grant this wage to the Carpenters in their employ it should also be possible for the build CTS of New Haven to do the same:
 "The stand taken by the master build ers' association of this city is that they will hold up the work on these opera lions indefeniteiy or until such time as the carpenters will accept the wage scale of % cents per hour. This must not be accepted as the case as the mast CT builders do not employ more than B per cent of our members and have not in the past five years employed at any time more than one-half
 M "As a meeting of the business repre- sentatives of the building trades it was voted to give all the assistance neces- sary to help win the present struggle.
 'On the 18th of March at which time the secretary of the Master Builders association was notified of the action of. the carpenters we were promised that the board of directors of the builders association were to hold meeting and that we would be notified of their action, but up to this time we have not received any word from that associa- ton, and it has always been the prac- tice of the employers associations of the country to at least try and arrange for a conference with the unions and try to avoid any cessation of work
 "The statement that an increase to $l an hour for the carpenters will cause an increase in the rents will not bear an investigation, and is at its best flimsy pretext to try and justify the position that the master builders find themselves in today"
 As to the Chamber of Commerce Mir. Mordecai stated "that if this body is really imbued with a real community spirit they would at least interest them selves a little farther and give prac- tica1 illustration of what chamber of commerce can do by trying to show the wage earner that they are interested in him as well as his employer.
 "The fact that the Chamber of Com merce made an mheard of investigation and then granted endorsement to the master builders cannot mean that the demands of the carpenters are unjust because of the fact that the so-cailed investigation was all one-sided and no hearing was granted to the working men on the subject"