The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1921-04-16

)duu request Q1IIl 10 produce Cne name
of the certain master painter and the
certain business agent.
Who are the GFafters?.'
If there are any officials: Of the
labor movement in Duluth engaged
in graft the fFederated..1 Trades as
sembly- wants to know It, so that the
movement may be purged Of such: Mr..
Armstrong will be expected: to prove
his statement or take it back. :.
The Citizens Alliance, through it's
president, Mr.. L. c. Harris, lis taking
an active interest in the fight of the
building trades to maintain collective
bargaining and a union wage. He does
not mfnce matters in the least in maxi
ing statements against union labor or
against employers friendly to the
unions.
How They Boycott.
That the Alliance; intends to Boy
colt every contractor who deals with
union labor is evident from a state
ment printed in recent bulletin when
the attention of its members was
called to the "fact'' that John A. Ho-
gan & Co., contracting painters, were
still running 4 "closed" shop and were
paying the old scale.
Officials of the union deny that
Mr.. Hogan has signed UP with the
union. He became disgusted, it is said,
with the: way the. contractors were
permitting outsiders to dictate the la
Dor policy that shall obtain in the
building industry and withdrew from
the Builders exchange. Mr.. Harris
made a misstatement and is doing the
firm Of John A. Hogan & Co.. an in.
Justice. -.
Here is another misstatement from
the same bulletin: Business men
should also bear in mind that if they
hire painters OR. other |Workmen, as
employees, they are assuming large
risks for injuries that might occur, un-
less they go to the expense and the
trouble of taking our insurance"
Are Casual Workers.
Mr.. Harris, as lawyer, should
know better. Painters employed to do
work for business men or others, are
regarded under the terms of the work.
ingmen's compensation act as casual
workers." and therefore do not come
under it's provisions. If a person en-
cages a man to paint his house, the
man assumes all of the risk under the
law. That is one Of the clearest pro-
visions in a compensation act.r How
ever, should it be true that such work.
ers did come under the compensation
act it would be cheaper. to hire paint
ers at 81 an hour, take out insurance
and get a good job done, than to pay
master painters $40 an hour. and
have incompetent and. inexperienced
men do the job. -. =
Mr.. Harris further states that two
contractors in Duluth who have
building projects under way and who
are working non-union men at the
reduced scale Of wages. saysthey. are
getting three times'' the production
they formerly got from: union + men,
having particular reference to brick
layers. - lsf'1 - -
:. =. 1t Is An Untruth.
It is very we'll for the contractors to-
make such statement to an unso-
phisticated and credulous person as
Mr.. Harris appears to be with relation
to. charges against union men, but
they have too much personal honor to
make it and sustain it to union brick
layers. It Isl damnab1e falsehood.
The merchants who were induced to.
enter this open shop" fight are show,
ing signs Of weakening. Business is
falling off tremendously with no inn
mediate hope for Improvement. The.
strike breakers do not spend their
money IN Duluth. Liks the alien work
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