The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-11-09
BIG FIVE
PACKERS To
GUT WAGES
Plant Councils Request
ed to Consider
Reductions

CHICAGO. Nov. "a general cut
In wages Of packing house workers
was forecast today when one OF the
big five packers-Armour and COM
pany. Swift and company. wilson ana
company and the Cudahay Packing
conypany--requdte their employees
10 consider. In the plant councils. re-
ductlon In pay to be made effective
In the near future. No definite amount
was mentioned. and officials said
their conferences had not determined
the slzo of the reduction to be sought.
Morris and company, the only ono
OF the big five which has not estab-
lishcd employees councils. is expected
to make any reduction which the
others may agree on.
Talk of strike
The Amalgamatcd Association OF
Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen's
union OF North America recently took
strike vote In which substantial
majority authorized Cornelius Hayes,
international president, to ordsr "A
walkout II he was unable to reach a
satisfactory agreement with the pack
c.s
The big five claim. however. that
only small portion Of their men are
union members and that a strike
would not seriously affect their
pants. The closed shop has never
been recognized in the industry.
Tho strike vote followed termina-
ton of the period Of federal arbitra-
ton. established during the wa with
Judge samuel Alschulcr as arbitrator.
tho packers having refused to renew
the agreement.
Arguments Of the packers for n
wage reduction at this time were pre-
sented by Louis +. swift, president
Of Swift and company, In a letter to-
DAY to the members OF tho various
plant assemblies.
swift's Explanation.
We regret that we must at this
time ask you to present an unpopular
subject to your workmcn through
your assembly Mr.. swift wrote. but
trust that the members OF your or
ganization realize that we want them
to suffc. as little hardship as possible
from the hard times that have befal-
len the company.
'It H. only because OF the greatest
| necessity that We bring up the need
Of further substantial reduction In
expenses 50 that we can meet the
competition OF other concerns operat-
| ing on much lower labor costs. We
have been doing all that we can In
this direction, but unfortunately
wages form such a large part of our
expenses. that u now becomes ncces-
sury TO consider an cu-ly reduction
Of wage rates,
"lf investors would be unwilling TO
put their money into the packing
| business. we should have to curtail
| operations, causing more uncmploy-
mont and thereby injurc our work.
mon. ourselves and the general pub
| lie,
we have very heavy obligation
Il H...N a 80
/ whom a.c 2l.O0U Of our own work
men.
"It IL also a well known fact that
| the wages In other industries have
come down faster than wages In the
\ packing industries ana believe that
| every one in our organization realizes
/ that the ony questions today are:
81, How much wages Will have TO
/ be- reduced
"2. How soon is the reduction to
| bo made
Have Held or.
we have held off ON this matter
/ as long as We possibly can-longcr
| than our business warranted hut
| having established system OF CO.
| operation through plant assemblies,
! we want to feel that We can consdit
| with on. employees through these as
semhlics on every vital matter that
concerns them. For this reason we
| have not taken action before.
swift and cumpany's labor costs
| per hundrcdwcight In 1919 was 40
| cents, In 1891 it is 81, Livestock has
dropped In price almost to prc-war
| levels: prices OF meat products also
| have fallen. yet the difference be-
tween the cost OF raw materials and
tho selling p.icc Of our products have
| broadcncd.
bureau OF labor statistics for July
show that the average weekly earn
ings OF l3 Industries In the country
are less than the weekly earnings OF
swift and company employees. swirl
workers averaged $50 moro PCT
week than workers In steel and f6. N
more than those In the cotton in
dustry."
Reduced Oi'rc's,
A. prcson; the packing plants are
working with reduced forces. on,
. company which normally employs
100. 600 men has 35 600 now.
The proposed cut would aftoct al
OF tho principal packing ccntcrs out
side Of Chicngo Hs well as the bis
five pants here. including sioux CITY
Ia: Kansas city oklahoma City
Fort Worth. Tex; East --. Louis
Illinois: II. paul. Denver, Soutl
. Omaha. Sob; 81 Joseph Mo.
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