The Connecticut labor press., 1920-10-16
NEWSPAPERS OF
new HAVEN ARE
UP AGAINST IT
Insistence of Publishers to Hold
Men to Low Wage Contract
Bears Fruit.
DATES BACK TO THE WAR
Scarcity of Compositors Cripple
the Papers Badly and Situa-
ton Is Serious.

Owing to the fact that the newspaper
scale for printers in New Haven has
been and is now to a small degree lower
than in some of the cities of New Eng
land of like size and population, the
printers have been more or less rest
less for some time past, and on
one New Haven newspaper alone, The
Register, some IL men have left the
composing room since September to
take better positions either in New
Haven or surrounding cities.
The matter reached crisis last week
and it has been with some difficulty
that the papers have managed to go to
press anywhere near on time since then.
On The Register the men are re-
quired because of the shortage of print
ers to work six days a week and Satur-
day night and some overtime in order
to get out fair appearing paper.
On the Morning Journa1-Courier the
paper has been going to press from one
to two hours late every morning be-
cause of the fact that the machines in
the composing room were only half
manned, and at this writing the situa-
ton has been but very little relieved.
The proprietors of the newspapers
have called on the officers of the union
to furnish help, but it has so far been
impossible to get any printers to come
to New Haven.
On Tuesday of this week the fore
men of the four daily newspapers were
notified by the proprietors that begin
ming on that date, October II, bonus
of $3 per week to all employees of the
composing rooms would be paid.
This increase it is hoped will have a
tendency to somewhat relieve the
nf an II h,t%
to what extent remains to be seen as
there is a dearth of printers through
out the country.
The majority of the printers
throughout New England understand
the conditions as they have existed in
the past in New Haven and have no
sympathy for the New Haven publishers
owing to the fact that during the war
when the printers on the newspapers
were working under scale which had
been signed before America entered the
war, and which in fact does not expire
until May ], 1921, the newspaper pro-
prietors refused to grant any increase
of any kind and kept the printers work
ing for virtually starvation wages be-
cause Typographical Union, No. AZ,
would not violate its contract But last
year when the men began to leave in
IdI &c Individually 10 Accept DGL-
ter positions elsewhere the proprietors
raised the scale and since by supple
mentary agreements have raised it un-
til now it is somewhere near If not
quite equal wages paid in other cities
of like size.
The men in the composing room of
The Register want conditions improved
SO that they will not be practically
forced to work seven days and over
time, and it is hoped that this con-
dition can be remedied in the near
future, as the men are doing this now
in order that Typographical Union, No.
AZ, may live up to its contract and get
the papers out seven days week.
The scale as now IN force in New
Haven will amount to practically $40
week for five days and Saturday
night, or a six day week.
A special meeting has been requested
by some of the members of the union,
but as it does not seem that that would
in any way relieve the conditions it has
not as vet been called.