The Washington times., 1920-08-02
The Threatened Strike of the
Municipal Employees
By BILL PRICE.

The charge that the District Commissioners have
broken faith with municipal employees in wage promises is
a most serious 1t is made by ROWLAND B. MA
HANY, Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor So
citor of that department and of the concators in the
wage controversy which is causing the City Employees
Union threaten to strike 1t is seconded by JOHN B.
ICOLPOYS another conciator of the department
Mr. MAHANY is a former member of Congress and, as
Solicitor of the Department Of Labor holds RESPONSE
Ole position
|, Commissioners KUTZ and BROWNIOW pronounce the
accusation unqualifedy false" stating that whatever
promises the late General Knight Engineer Commissioner
made to equang the of Navy Yard employees in
no way bound them and that they have prom
ses General Knight they reterate would not attempt to
bind his SUCCESSORS in Office.
The charge dOuby serious when uttered to employees
threatening to strike going far toward incensing them
against the Commissioners in refusing at this time to meet
the Navy Yard scale.
President Wilson appoints the District Commissioners
and Mr. Mahany. Somebody is gravely in the wrong 1t
would appear to be the proper thing for the White House to
ascertain the facts and act accordingly.
There several vtally important points in the
trovesy The City Employees Union has been under the
impression that the engineer department OF the municipal
government to its members substantially the
wages paid at the Navy Yard 1t does fair that
the wages should be closely akin Both the Federal and
District governments should set example of paying
literally for mans work possible There is shortage
lof appropriations The Commissioners able to pay
they desired although their appropriations not
bounful The Commissioners however the best judges
Of their finances and Of the attitude of Congress toward Dis
trct appropriations
The fact that statutory employees of the municipal gov
refused living wages by Congress has nothing
to do with this controversy Because body of
denied justice is why other should not
receive the best wages possible to be paid
The only proper thing for the city employees to do is
fight with moral weapons for their claims The Commits
have promised that they will again take up the ques
on of wages when the Navy Yard board revses Navy
Yard wages in August. That's not so long away
If the City Employees Union strikes, it will lose, and
many good will be out of positions they will not find
it obtain elsewhere Non strike organizations of city
employees better their wages and working conditions
Objectionable but the public does not take well to the
idea that union has the right to seize the municipal
eminent by the throat in strike 1t is but step from
throttlng the Federal Capital to throting the Federal
Government
might just well be understood that strike of
employees involving the health and to extent the safety of the
city Of Washington Mill be failure # there cooheaded
the organization, they piH knop What to do
One thing behind the attitude of the Commissioners is,
doubtless the fact that they have several times before been
threatened with strikes by this union They have probably
concluded that the question of whether the municipal gov
ernment is to be by employees responsible heads
might we'll be settled at any time It's pretty
bad thing for great municipality to feel that it may be
grasped by the throat at moment by its employees