Evening star., 1922-06-11
BUILDING TRADES
BAR CARPENTERS
Gompers' Recommendation
to Gain Unity Rejected
by Union Men.
BY the Associated Press.

ing a recommendation submitted by
Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor. the
building trades department of the
federation here today refused to call
on the national board of jurisdictional
award to reopen a decision made
against the carpenters union. which
was proposed as the means or WIN
ming the carpenters back to the men,
bership in the department.
Coupled with this action. which
was taken by the chief officers of the
sixteen unions composing the depart
unanimous adoption of motion al
firming the support of the jurisdic-
tional board. This board is composed
of representatives of the building in
dustry and charged with the settle
ment of disputes between various
union crafts.
Seeks Peace in Industry.
In offering the recommendation Mr..
Gompers said it in substance provided
| that when a rehearing in dispute
| between the carpenters and the metal
trades union had been ordered the
carpenters would automatically be-
come part of the department.. Pres
ident John Donlin of the department.
in presenting the motion which was
I'VE non-concur in the recommends
tion of Mr.. Gompers to invite the car
penters back. reopen the case ana
suspend the decision
The action of the convention came
as a climax of a session that began
| with consideration of proposals.
! which were adopted, for bringing
peace to the building industry With
| the view of ending the turmoil in
| Chicago which has prevailed since
| the Landis wage award, the conven-
| ton directed that an early meeting OF
| all union presidents in the building
trades be held in session until the
situation is cleaned up"
| Mr.. Gompers in referring to the
Chicago situation said organized labor
! should abide by any judgment to
which it's word had been given. but
he added that he preferred repudia
ton to lack of unity among the
trades.
The Chicago situation.' said Fran k
Feeny of the Elevator Constructors
building industry throughout the
! United States.
| July 20 was set by the union presi- =
dents for opening their Chicago meet
| ing which they said would probably
continue several weeks The presi-
dents also decided to visit Milwau-
| kee in an effort to settle troubles
| there, but fixed no date for that meet
| ing.
| Two other steps toward promoting
! harmony We're the adoption OF Presl-
| dent DonlinS recommendations that tne
union chiefs hold quarterly meetings to
! settle all disputes arising between crafts.
and also his recommendation favor
! ing the department joining the ma
! tional building council. composed or
Representative of all branches of the
I industry Mr.. Donlins proposal for
| a national board of union chiefs,
! vested with the responsibility of call
| ing strikes was not considered at the
meeting.
! split Over Metal Doors.
| While the carpenters. who form one
! of the largest labor unions or the
country. belong to the federation, theE
i have not been affiliated with the
| building department for the last year
| on account of the jurisdictional board
! deciding that the installation of metal
; doors and room trimming was TO De
/ done by the metal trades unions.
! Mr.. Gompers in presenting the pro-
posal to bring reaffiliation of the car
penterS with the department said the
, recomme ndation was framed at con-
! ferences of the executive committee
of the federation, the executive COM
mittee of the department and repre-
sentatives of the carpenters. He added
| that three members of the Jurlsdlc
| tional board once approved the recon-
mendation and then withdrew their
/ approval.
! In this connection he attacked the
. board, suggesting the withdrawal or
! the department from the board unless
i the architects association reverse a
j declarat ton for the open shop or
; withdraw its members from the
| board. The attitude of the architects,
! taken at Chicago last Thursday, was
: declared by Mr.. GomperS to be
!: shock to labor officials and he as
serted he could not ask carpenters to
! place their case before q body that
declared for the open shop" He
! association for making "all our eff
forts futile" to bring a settlement
with the carpenters. but later pre-
sented the recommendation.
Mr.. Gompers retired from the meet
ing after presenting the recommends
ton and later John ]. Hynes, presi-
dent of the metal trades union. moved
non-concurrence in the recommends
ton. Mr.. Hynes also asked the con-
vention to affirm support to the jurls-
dictional board, saying that Its con-
tinuance meant settlement of disputes
that in the past have torn labor crafts
to pieces. Before acting favorably on
Mr.. Hynes' proposals the delegates
discussed the board. several asserting
that its decisions had promoted har-
mony in the industry, while Thomas
| Preece of the bricklayers' union de-
; cIared that it had saved millions OF
dollars for the workers. for the con-
| tractors and for building owners
! William Dobson of the bricklayers
union also defended the board, saying
| it was the most constructive" force
{ in the building industry.