The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-03-16
CLOAK Makers
MAKE DEMANDS
ON MEDIAT0RS
Union Spokesman Want
Original Proposals
Especial to The Daily worker,

especial to The Daily Workerl
NEW YORK, March 14.-The orig
naI demands for a guaranteed mini
mum number Of weeks employment,
| Limitation of the number Of contrac-
tors used by jobber and prevention
of his dealing with nonunion shops,
the 4o-hour week, higher minimum
wage scales, equal distribution of
work, and the power to enforce such
an agreement were demanded again
by the cloakmakers union in the final
hearing before the governors special
mediation commission.
Contract Not Carried Out.
"Our present contract, made with
the cloak manufacturers and iobbers
two years ago, has never been carried
out" union spokesman declared. FAC
cording to their own report, 80 per
cent of the jobbers belonging to the
Merchants Ladies Garment Associa-
ton have contributed nothing to the
unemployment insurance fund and 40
per cent of the ladies' garments are
still being made shops employing less
than the IA operators required by the
| agreement.
"Unless we have access to the
books of jobbers and know the sub
manufacturers who contract to make
garments for each jobber. agreements
are useless. The number of contrac-
tors doing business with jobber
must be limited and the jobber instead
of being a free lance must be held
responsible for the enforcement Of
union standards in the shops of his
sub-maunfacturers if the ladies gar
ment industry is ever to be COM
pletely unionized."
Jobbers Bane of Garment Trades.
The cloak and suit industry has
broken up into so many factors that
the situation between the union and
employers is highly complicated. Job
bers are wholesalers, maintaining
stockhouses and farming out actual
manufacturing to contractors. In
side manufacturers are also whole
salers but have garments made in
their own shops. They give work out
to contractors as WELL Jobbers and
inside manufacturers play of con-
tractors against one another to beat
down prices for work AS a conse-
quence the myriad of little sab-manu-
featuring shops competing break
down union standards of production
and wages.
Unlimited right to discharge and
reduce wages and removal of all con-
tract restrictions was demanded by
Henry H. Finder, president Indus
trial Council of Cloak and Suit Manu-
facturers, representing 1S9 inside
manufacturers. 1--WE must have the
right to rule that the shirker and
agitator should CO." said Finder. 1--WE
must be able to take on workers in
the rush season and discharge them
when we don't need them"
Defend Jobber System.
Contractors, thru Henry Uviller,
claimed that the jobber- contractor
system under which rs per cent of
garments are manufactured will re-
main and that until a definite system
of control was established to regulate
the dealings of jobbers with the
thousands of small shops which make
his garments, the industry would re-
main in its present chaotic state.
The governors advisory commits
sion Of five, appointed two years ago
when the thousands of cloakmakers
struck, serves as an arbitration board
land issues reports on its investiga-
tons of the ladies' garment industry.
II will submit its final recommends
lions within a few weeks.