The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1921-04-30

been no such average reduction. Ask
the housewives, rich; or poor, they:
Know. Mr.. Harris knows, and the: pub.
nc- knows, and it is because such state
ments are repeated from time to time.
when they are known to be false, that.
the! open shop move ment is not get
ting anywhere in Duluth.
80 %:n1on Is Concilfatory. =: :,
Mr.. Harris made another false
statement in the Special Bulletin" in
question, when he advised the mem
pers OF the Citizens Alliance that the
employees, meaning the union. stood
out tor one dollar an hour and recog-'
milton of the union, while the employ,
.ers' with the exception OF John Hogan,
stood just as firmly for the 80 cents
scale and for the open shop.
The question. of wages and union
recognition at the conferences re-
ferred to, did rot come to an issue.
The employers frankly informed the.
representatives of the public that.
their hands were tied. They could not
make peace if they wanted to, not un--
less they withdrew from the anti.
union combination and took the
chance of being boycotted and run out,
of business .> -
The only question discussed. at the
conference beyond this was that of.
collective bargaining. The represent:
tatlves Of the union did not stand ar
bitrarily for one dollar an hour. They
stated their willingness to get together
with the employers on wages, and they.
would have been together ere this
were it not for the Dictatorship Of
the Autocrats'' which obtains here.
The Special Bulle tin" of the Citi- =.
zens' Alliance is herewith printed in
part. 1t is intended for circulation
only among members, but la Dor and
the general public should know more
of the character of the opposition to
labor and the real animus behind it,
as that committee of public men
learned in the painters conferences
This is how Mr.. Harris tells his story:
Starts With a Lie. !,
'The journeymen painters of Du-
luth went out on strike on April i be-
cause the Master Painters refused to
pay last years scale of one dollar an
hour, and refused to recognize the
union. '..~ :" =
THE Master Painters stood by the
scale established by the Minnesota
Building Employers association of 80 ;
cents an hour, which scale was ar-s
proved and adopted by the Duluth,
Builders exchange, to which most of
the master painters belong. -
- The scale of. 80 cents an. hour is a.
reduction of 20 per cent on last years
scale, and was only adopted after a :
very careful investigation showed that
living costs had fallen from 26 per,
cent to 40 per, cent. In other words, 80
cents now is greater in purchasing
power than $1,0O was a year ago. The
master. painters therefore, felt the new.
scale was fair to the wprkmen and
that higher scale would be unfair:
to their customers, the property own
ers Of Duluth. r.
. A False Boast. 81
After the strike was called great
pressure was brought to bear on the
master painters. by the union and by /
outside parties, to make concessions,
but they have stood out courageously
for scale Of wages that, while abso-
lutely fair to their employees. also
took into consideration the rights Of
the people Of Duluth to have their
building done at q reasonable cost
g During the past 10 days, at thesso-
licitation OF the union the master
painters have held three separate con-
ferences with representativesof OF tbeira
employees III m endeayor u "a Just a
but on Iast ednssday ~ igl1t
sths nssea i 4 90
@ =