The Connecticut labor news., 1923-05-18
WARD BAKING co. TOTALLY UNFAIR TO
 ORGANIZED LABOR

The organized bakery workers are at the present time engaged in the most gigantic fight, which ever has occurred during the past 38 years of the existence of their organization.
 This fight has been forced upon them by the Ward Baking Company, the largest bakery monopoly in the United States, conducting tremendous bakery establishments in New oYrk and Brooklyn, N. Y., Baltimore, Md, Boston, Mass, Providence, R. l., Chicago, H., Cleveland, Ohio, Pitts burgh, Pa, Newark, N. J., Syracuse, N. Y, Youngstown, Ohio, and Column bus, Ohio.
 After having held an agreement with the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union of America for the last six years the Ward Baking Company served notice on this organization, that on May Ist, 1923, the expiration date of the then existing agreement, the latter stands cancelled and that they would con- duct all of their establishments throughout the country as non-union shops.
 In conformity with that decision the Ward Baking Company has abso- lutely refused to consider any nego- tiations with a view of perpetuating agreement relations between them selves and the organized bakery work CTS, declaring in unmstakable terms for the open shop, thereby stamping all of it's products one hundred per cent unfair to all organized labor.
 Not satisfied with that the Ward Baking Company dragged along other union bakery concerns in Pittsburgh, Pa, and forced them into a fight against the union, which-we are con vinced right now-will prove far less beneficial to their business interests than recognition of the union and em- ployment of organized bakery work CTS as they prevailed for the past ski years.
 Such are the workings of trust con cerns, which in their greed for power and unhampered control of the bak ing industry resort to the most con temptible attacks upon organized la bor.
 In November, 1921, during the wave of anti-union nOrmalcy the Ward Baking Company applied and en- forced a Is per cent wage reduction
 In the spring following the same concern attempted another wage re- duction of 10 per cent for night work ana the or J16 e1SHI IOuT workday, having in mind payment by the hour with no minimum or maxi mum workday, it being either two or 20 hours day and payment of wages accordingly.
 During the same year the Ward Baking Company gave the usual eight per cent dividends on stock with an additional five per cent cash dividend and 20 per cent stock dividend, it's profits for this year having amounted to two million four hundred ninety two thousand one hundred and twen- ty-three dollars ($2,4o2, ,I23), or 22.6 per cent of it's capitalization, which includes material.
 Encouraged by this prosperity of the company the union asked that the wage reductions of November, 1921, be rescinded and that the wage scale in vogue prior to date be restored to which the company responded by de claring for the open shop, making it one hundred per cent anti-union ev- anywhere.
 The defiant attitude of the Ward Baking Company means that all their products, bread and cakes, are now unfair to organized labor throughout the country and therefore should not receive patronage from any member of organized labor.