Evening star., 1921-08-18

recommendation for q. cut in the pay
Of forgeEs at that yard on ffaures
obtained from small horseshoe and
wagon shops. John Gusthlar, repre-
sentfnG the .forEers there :,befopa the
general waee board. yesrerday,~ said
that the .wor,s IN ts.sse small shops
was not cop,parsbfe To the work done
in the gun. factory. -..
He also saidt~thst the local board
could not get alf or The nxurss be-
cause many Of the shops were closed
on. account Of g industrial conditions.
with cohwebs growing acroas. the
doors and windows. II the reduc-
board are put into effect. he said. 1t
will amount to a reduction in the
wages of the ferxors ut the. WASH
ington yard of - per cent. exclusive
Of the cutting OF of the 500 bonus
that while the wage board RECON-
mended Il cut to- $50 an hour. the
commandaat Of the Washington yard
had recommended that this figure b.
cut to 31.0S an heur.
Younger Men Tu,asA "a.
That a great many supsrannuated
employees were being kept at work In
the Waehipgton navy yard whale
younger men able to turn oue more
work were hsinG dfschar9sd. wss
senting the local forgsrs. Hs said
that when tho retfromsnt law went
into effect thsre were approxtmaeely
400 men in the yard eligible, for re-
tirsment. but that only la0 were re-
tired.
Capt. James K. Robson. chairman
of the board. raid that he weuld take
that question up.
John Early rspssssIsins 1.rd slasa- n1e
teslsa any IN 'rs rsdpction oT wages al this
time pointing ont that the men
" ould be more willing to divide their
time among themselves rather than
suffer a general reduction.
blacksmi,hs' helpers. pointins on.
that it was now almost impossible
for these men to live dscentfs on the
present wage. and he didn't see what
they would do on q lower wage, re
car fares had increased. coal had In
creased and nowhere could he see
reduction.
VIII Cut Eaespe.s.
IL don't cut any others am going
to cut the hslpers" said Capt Robson.
"and l hope the helpers have repre-
sentatives here to hear what T am
saving: The pay or IN nsipsri Ds ,,hsrers Is roo
Today is not the day when you can
take money from the pockets Of the
trades and trained artisans to boost
the pay Of unskulsd men,.
Much data tending to show that the
local wage boards at r yards AL ala over owe
sideration figures on the prevailing
wages for similar trades on the out
side was presented to the ooaFa oy
James Wilson. representing the pat
He cited instances where
the boards had recommended wages as
much as 10 cents an hour below the
average.
I'm the case Of Washington. he said.
the fnyestt gators fer the unions went
into the very cheapest territory they
could And, and struck An average OF
9lh cents. while the board recon-
nfended 80 cents Patternmaksrs such
A are found In the WashinEtoA yard
ret on the average Of 81 10 SLOT an
afSf = the law /. strsexas e.spsxa.s.h,
he said. every sRAttsrnnsksr m tne
navy yards shouf6 havefa s0&SSkaf
sWififaiMR Probert. representing
the naoIdSfse union. said that the
molders should get q great deal
more than the 50 cents An hour rec
commended. If the board takes the
sworn data into consideration. he
said. they will get an increase.
Lsvsest Rate Tar saoSdsrs-
The very lowest rate Of pay of
molders was recommended by the
waee board Of the Washington yard,
ira compensation is just as necessary
at this time as it ever was. A. H.
Euler, Washington yard. said that
molders here performed a class of
work that could not be found else
where.
MoldeFS Union. deliv-
cred a vehement attack against the
being . party to plan
Of the big employers to take advan-
taxe of depressed conditions by fore
ing the workmen 10 take longer hours
and lower waGeA The law under
which navy yard wages are fixed can
the government should follow in the
footsteps Of fndnstry in this respect.
he said. II the government does fol-
low in the footateps of the private
tt cannot keep the re-
spect Of its employees. no said. He
asked the board to weigh carefully
the conditions and urged II not to be
carried away by the cry Of rsduction
now going over the country. for. he
said. some day the pendulum will
swing the other way"
II agree with YOU" said Capt.
Robison. but / am sworn to execute
that law. I don't know what's right.
I am going to do my darndsst. I
live with these men. I work with
them. II you think that am going
to treat them otherwise than SYM
pathetically you are dead wrsng."
G. NJ. Bugniazet. international vice
president Of the electrical workers
union, satd that the government never
had lived up to the law In respect
to the wages Of electrical workers
in the yards, A. they had AlWayS