Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-04-01
OTTAWA IN GRIPS OF
BUILDING STRIKE
CALLED TODAY
BOSSES SURPRISED
WORkMEN QUIT JOBS WHEN DIFF.
FICULTlES BETWEEN LABOR.
ERs AND CONTRACTORS FAIL
IN SETTlEMENT-CHENGE IN
AGREEMENTS is SOUGHT.

Members Of the Ottawa Contrac.
tors association were dealth a sur.
prise package, they claim. when the
members of the Building 4 Trades
council, employed by the contractors
association, this morning walked Off
the jobs of const"'.a''ou work. until
such time as a grievance between
the laborers and the local contractors
has been settled Almost 100 local
workmeG Joined the strike.
Electricians, ltborers, carpenters,
cement fnishers and painters were
all affected by the strike. A few min
utes after the wa!kOut arrangements
were made for holding meeting at
1870 this afternoon in Union hall, in
an effort to iron ont the difficulties.
The strike is said to have not been
called because of any wage scale dif.
ference but because the contractors
wished their agreements to expire on
Jan. /, instead Of March l. Arrange
ments had been made for renewing
the past years wage scale, and it is
claimed this was satisfactory to both
employer and employe
Seek January Contracts.
Members of the contractors asso-
citation declared today that they
sought to have their contracts expire |
at the first of the year, in order that
they would have a better opportuni- |
ty to make estimates and plans for
their coming seasons work, before |
the spring season opened They |
claim that they receive many com. |
plants from Ottawans who wish |
building done, and who claim that |
they do not want to decide on their |
improvements until after the wage ,
scales for the coming year have been |
adjusted. This causes tieup of !
work, they claim until we'll along in .
the summer season.
They allege that they had offered |
all the union men their last years
wage scale, and thought that there .
was going to be no difficulty in get.
ting them to sign. The first intima.
tion they had of the pending strike,
contractors claim, was when work
men were called off the building jobs
this morning.
The plumbers and union men who
are affiliated with the building trades
unions that do not work through the
contractors association were allowed
to continue their work.
Plumbers Sign Up.
The plumbers had resigned with
their contractors for S7B cents an
hour, electricians for 90 cents, car
penters for S712, bricklayers and
plasterers for $11212. sheet metal
workers for S7la cents, and the other
trade crafts for their old wage scales
The labOrers were to again receive
so cents an hour for the coming
years work.
Unions Withhold Statement.
Union officials today refused to
give any statement on the strike
Some of the union men declared, how
ever, that it was brought about be-
cause all of the unions except the
laborers wished only verbal work
ing contract with their employers.
The contractors, he stated, refused to
sign with the labOrers, wishing them
to work with verbal contract, such
as the other unions had agreed to
use.
Union Butchers Walk Out.
The eight members of the butchers
union went on a strike this morning,
asking, it is said for shorter hours.
This afternoon three of the members
of the union had succeeded in reach
ing an agreement ith their employ
ers and had returnel to work The
others were still on a strike. ONLY
three of the Ottawa butcher shops
employ union labor. All three kept
operating after the strike had been
called.