Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-09-13

employer may in his discretion as
sign small tasks in one trade 10 q
workman in another trade. The |
unions no longer are to own both |
the lob steward and the foreman on |
all building contracts-the man who |
pays the bills at last is to have real /
representative on the job he pays |
for En- ployers may, discharge a /
union man if they think proper. !
Unions may not refuse to use TABOR |
saving methods or appliances. NO !
fast worker is any longer to be re- !
stricted as to the nuAber of laths he
shall nail or the number of bricks he
shall lay or the amount of work he
shall do in any trade in a single day |
Unions may not quit work for any !
within or grievance, real or fancied.
but only for two carefully defined
reasons.
1t reads like an emancipation
proclamation. The Importance of |
this award is not to be minimiZed.
The president of the Illinois Society
of Architects is warranted in saying
that it constitutes one of the most
momentous decisions ever handed
down in the history of the United
States building industry. The deci-
sion will affect building conditions
in every city in the United States.
Indeed, representatives. of both labor
and employers in Cleveland and st.
Louis, Kansas City and Philadelphia,
and a score of other large cities.
went to Chicago to study this award.
Nor does the decision work all one
way. There is abundant justification
for the belief of the architects of
Chicago that only the terms of this
award and its acceptance by labor
saves the union labor from an open
shop in that city. The public 'has
been so ruthlessly bled by the i'm
position of artificial rules whose
, only object is to make waste and
compel payment for it that only the
/ tations will prevent outright rebellion
against the kind of unionism that
stands for such an insufferabe sit
uation.
Several of Judge Landis's rulings
deserve quotation. AS to the make
work" rules, he SAYS. 1T is ex-
pressly agreed and stipulated that
there shall be no restriction as to
the amount of work a man may do
nor against the use of machinery
methods of appliances, nor against
any raw or manufactured material
except prison made. Employers may
employ or discharge whomSoevcr of
: the union they please and employees
may work for whomsoever they see
mt, and the foreman, if any, is to be
exclusively the agent of the employ
err AS to rules in some trades
that make skilled men alone eligible
to do tasks that unskilled men might
90 as well, and other matters of the
KIND, the arbiter says: "Employers
and employees of some trades. act
ing in cooperation, have refused to
i the public the benefit of the economy
: that would result from the operation
! or the provision which would not
prevent the contractor from working
on his own job. Three trades re-
+ qulre work to be done by skilled
men that laborers or helpers might
, do. Therefore, in fixing the wages in
THESE trades, | have been obliged to
= consider the waste thus occasioned."
| Ihat refers especially to such trades
as the plumbers and the steam fitters.
They have been at the top of the
wage scales; by the award they are
placed lower than the bricklayers.
an arrangement that Judge Lands
holds equitable because of the waste
= caused by their rules
| The reduction in building costs
the award is expected to bring about
comes partly in wages directly and
partly in the stopping of these
wastes that have become so scan
dalous feature Of American build
ing operations. Wages ,come down
from l0 per cent. to SO per cent.
from the former uniform rate of
$1.25 an hour for skilled men in
fortyfour building trades end for
plain labor about % per cent Sew
erai unions, the carpenters, painters,
GLACIERS and three others withdrew
from the arbitration when Judge
Lands refused to accept certain
clauses in their agreements. but he
announced what he regarded as fair
wages for them also.
/ The president of the Chicago
| Building Trades Council makes
statement implying rejection of the
award by the unions. Labor in it's
! own best interest should accept the
decision The honor of labor is in
volved. for Judge lands refused to
! serve as umpire until the unions af-
fected promised to abide by his
award. Also the defation process
must be recognized as an inevitable
/ element in the industrial situation.
And. what is very important, 1t is
only by unloading the heavy burden
of waste-making rules that it has
imposed upon the publ c that labor
will win back the public favor il
once enjoyed.