The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1921-04-04
J. J. NEDJL
APPEARS IN
BrickIayer'S S Union Ghetto rs
Years TeStifies in Hammond
Building Quiz
FIFTH INSTALLSIENT.

The testimony at the North township
building probe in Hammond Of Senator
James Nejdl. president for % years Of
the bricklayers' union and maa
whose record as state senator has been
a creditable one. is naturally of great
interest.
Mr.. Nejdl represents the more con
eervatiye Of the crafts and Is one Of
the more conservative type OF LABOR
representative. He even boasted that
he had called very few strikes in the
period of time during which he had
represented the unions.
Senator Nejdl took exception to the
statements that had been made by con-
tractors regarding the number Of
brick a union bricklayer VIII lay to-
day as compared with several years
ago.
He made very plausible explains
tion Of this matter. He stated that on
d straight wall with a few apertures
where common brick are laid that the
bricklayer viii do as much today as
he ever did. lie said under these con-
ditions that an average days work
for bricklayers on an eight inch wall
is 1900 brick, on twelve inch wall,
1900 or 500 and on a twenty-inch
wall it viii go 1000 or better.
But. the senator explained, on the
pressed brick front OF years ago the
bricklayer would not put up more
than 500 to 700 brick q day. In those
days" said Mr.. Nejdl. the brick were
all laid with a one-eighth inch joint
When you laid it there it stayed there.
Today nine out OF every ten buildings,
for the exterior, they specify paving
brick or what you call matt faced
brick. They don't stop there but they
win say we want threcsquarter inch
mortal joint.
The brick are impervious TO mois-
ture. Tho brick floats around in the
mortar and the bricklayer must hold it
until it sets and then they have to
strike those joints four or five hours
afterwards. That naturally brings UP
the cost of brick-laying.
Mr.. NejdI made the statement that
the contractors have the right at any
time TO hire or fire men at will. II
man is working on a wall and is not
doing his little bit as the wall goes up
the contractor win say. John come
down, here is your money" whether it
be nine o'clock, ten o'clock or quarter
to twelve.
Senator Nejdl made the positive
statement that the only difference in
cost today and then is the difference in
wages the men receive. And this diff
ference, he says, is largely taken up
by the increased cost Of living
The statement was made that AR
HarbauEh's statenen that the men
work for less in the mills than on out
side ojbs is true 70 a certain extent
He said that before the first Of last
February the difference in favor of the
mills was five to ten cents an hour
Since then, he admitted later on, Nc
difference was 80 cents an hour
This difference nc explained is due
to the fact that che men have steadier
employment. lie said that a man on
inside work could make twice as much
money in the course Of a year than the
man on the outside. lie said he and
his men had never had any trouble
with the corporations. He said they
were not looking for trouble but for
work, lie said the corporations had
given them work and the outsiders
had not
Then he went into tho question of
the cost OF building materials and
showed the great increase that has
taken place since 1915. When the
chairman took exception to compari-
sons that showed only figures when
they were the lowest in 1915 and COM
pared them with those at the peak in
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