The Connecticut labor press. (New Haven, Conn.) 191?-1921, 1920-04-03
ANSONIA STRIKE
WILL Be EXTENDED
TO OTHER PLANTS
Unless Brass Co. Acts Soon
Waterbury and Torrington
Will Go Out.

Ansonia, April 2-Unless overtures
toward settlement of the strike of the
1900 employees of the American Brass
Company shops are made within few
days, the strike will be extended to the
company's plants in Waterbury and
Torrington next week it was decided
this week, at a mass meeting of the
workers. The extension of the strike
to the other towns was prevented solely
through the efforts of the officers of
the Connecticut and American Fed
Grafton of Labor. who are here endeav-
oring to organize the men and prevent
any recurrence of the troubles that en-
sued in previous strikes because the
men were unorganized. Unless the
company makes some effort to end the
trouble here now, the workers are de-
termined to call out the men in the
other shops and the Federation officers
will be unable to prevent it.
The strike is at a deadlock now, the
company making no effort to even see
the men or make proposition and the
men on their part feeling that they have
made all the overtures necessary and
that it is now up to the company to
do something toward bringing about
settlement The men are standing firm
ly, to date not DETECTION in the ranks
being noted hor even suggested. Mass
meetings are being held daily and adj
dressed in several languages SO that the
men are being kept informed as to the
progress, or rather non-progress, of the
affair.
The efforts of the Federation of La
Dor organizers to amalgamate the men
are proving highly successful. Head
quarters have been established by Sec
rotary Ira M. Ornburn of the c. F. of
L. at the Ansonia Opera House and
meetings are being held there daily at
into a local of the Federal Workers
Union is being perfected. Already
several hundred have become members
and others are joining rapidly.
At mass meeting held Wednesday
morning, attended by about 1000 of the
workers, the organization benefits were
pointed out by Mr.. Ornburn, Joseph
Tone, and E. c. Hotchkiss, organizers
of the Machinists Union; Alexander
Marx of New York, general organizer
of the American Federation of Labor,
and Alfred Cialona. Organizer Marx
addressed the men in Polish, Russian
and English, while Mr.. Cialone spoke
to them in Italian. Through other in
terpreters in the other languages
spoken by the men on strike, the situa-
ton was placed before them and hun
dreds made application to affiliate with
the new union.
An article relating to the strike, pub
lished in tht Waterbury Herald of Sun
day last, declared that the efforts of
Mr.. Ornburn and the other Organized
Labor men were mot appreciated" and
were in direct opposition to the policy
of President Gompers, inasmuch as Mr..
Ornburn was declaring the Federation
of Labor as opposed to strikes and was
not interested any how in unskilled la
Dor and was directing efforts to break
up organizations of unskilled laborers
who were not affiliated with the Fed
erations.
In reply to this Mr.. Ornburn stated
that he is in hearty accord with the
Gompers policy in upholding the right
to strike and that what he said about
strikes as that as is we'll known, the
Federation of Labor is opposed to a
strike unless as last resort. His re-
marks were deliberately twisted to suit
the purposes of those who did the dis
torting, Mr. Ornburn says, and is sim
ply an effort. to create dissension with
the new organization.
As to not caring for unskilled labor
Mr.. Ornburn said that is also untrue
as is evident Instead OF trying to break
up the Waterbury Workers Union, as
charged in the Herald article, Mr.. Orn-
burn says it is just the other way
around and that the Waterbury Work
ers are the ones trying to disrupt
Federation organizations. Unorganized
strikes, such as the present one, are not
counseled, he said, because through lack
of organization there can be no head,
no arrangement for paying strike bene--
fits to carry on the strike and general
mixup. For this reason he and the
other Federation men are doing their
best to get the men together into one
organization so that concerted and
official action can be taken when the
time comes to take it.