New-York tribune., 1921-11-19
Garment Strike
Peace Near as
New One Looms
Tentative agreement in Suit
and Cloak Trade Pro-
vides for Survey by Ex-'
pert and Arbitration
Dressmakers Ask PAY Cut
Would Reorganize Shops
Each Season; 80, 900 May
Resist Two Dem ands

Ihe preliminary steps for ending the
garment makers strike that began
Monday with walkout of so 900 work
ers. were taken yesterday. Max D..
Steuer, retained as special counsel
Thursday evening by the Cloak, Suit
and Skirt Manufacturers Protective
Association, conferred with Benjamin
Schlesinger, president of the Interna-
tional Ladies' Garment Workers Union.
and later said he had receiver his ap-
proval of a tentative plan to make a
survey OF the entire garment industry.
Included in MIR. Steuer's plac is the
establl lshment of arbitration to de-
eide all complaints of under-produc-
tlon. With an accurate table of costs
and productivity to refer to there can
be little room for disagreement, Mr..
Steuer believes, as to whether any
particular worker is earning his pay or
not.
The manufacturers claim that they
ought 60 get dollars worth of work
tor. dollar Mr.. Steuer said last
night. The community is interested in
rhat. The union agrees that it ought to
give dollars worth of work for q
dollar. That is the whole issue.
With both sides agreeing to this
principle, then it seems to me that the
one thing that remains to be done is
to find out what constitutes a dollars
worth of work. If both sides cannot
agree as to what should be done for q
dollar, then some way must be selected
to establish this value. Some one must
be agreed upon to decide. When that
man has been chosen-a man of in
tegrity and ability acceptable to both
workers and manufacturers-then if q
manufacturer discharges man and
charges he is soldering on the job, the
man can appeal to this arbitrator, and
the figures of production will show
whether or not the mans discharge on
this complaint was justified.
"As to who broke the contract and
who did not, l cannot see how any
progress could be made in debating is
sues of that sort, nor can l see any use
in calling names. At the end of the
strike they will all have to work to-
gether again. anyway.
"There is no use in discussing the
prospect of returning to sweatshops,
because even if both sides wanted to
they could not. SweatshoFs have been
done away with by statute and proper
sanitary conditions are made manda-
tory by law.
"lf the union and the manufacturers
will agree upon somebody who is
known expert in the industry,
to decide the matter in dispute,
cannot for the life of me see what
difference there is in the name--call
it piece-work, week-work, or any other
kind of work-so long as fifty dollars
worth of work is done for $50. 1t is
for an expert to fix the sum to be paid
for stipulated quantity of labor, and
for an arbitrator to see that this amount
of labor is delivered.''
There was a meeting last night of
the joint board of the twelve local
unions of garment makers, which was
attended by President Schlesinger, and
before which it is understood Mr..
Steuer's plan was laid. Mr. Schlesinger
could not, however, be reached last
night.
With the postponement of Mr..
Schlesinger's trip West, it is expected
that conference as proposed by Mr..
Steuer will be held early next week.
Another group Of employers, the AS
sociation of Dress Manufacturers, Inc.
has notified the international Garment
Workers officials that they are dis