The Connecticut craftsman., 1932-03-15
PREDICTS UNION LABOR
 WILL FINISH JOB
Continued from page 1.)
Tells of Two Costly Errors.

''I enclose clippings from two diff ferent papers telling of costly errors made along these lines by two con- tractors. One of these, you will mo- tice, is a post office job, but not so large a one as yours in Hartford. The other is also federal job, but it is on an annex to a courthouse. You will note that the Leader states the whole side wall on the post office job had to come down, but the fact is that the side wall and all of the rear wall had to be rebuilt. The paper is wrong in saying the trouble was with stone work. The granite was faulty, which was replaced by the quarry, but what cost the contractor was the faulty iron work, which was done non-union, same as the rest. The local paper make light of the loss, but it cost the contractors sev- eral times the thousand dollars men toned.
 Predicts Union Post Office Job.
 ''No contractor operating on na- tional scale can fool around with cheap labor, because it always proves much dearer in the end, where there is careful supervision of construction. What you ought to do in Hartford is to notify the others for whom build ings are being erected and whose jobs are tied up by the trouble to do what the post office people do. You can't go wrong on that, because Coath 6 Goss will have plenty of music to face in Chicago if they go open shop, to say nothing of the risks they would take on the job itself. If only the best will satisfy the United States Government, and if Coath 6 Goss de- eide, as I predict they will, that only union construction labor is the best, others in Hartford should insist on equally high standards"
 Peace Hovers in Walkout.
 Aside from the receipt of this inter esting letter quiet has reigned on the union side of the walkout since March 1st. The most prominent development since the beginning of the trouble has been the rallying of public opinion to the unionists' side. The Hartford Times in prominent editorial pointed out that the conclusion was unacceptable, that a reduction in wages on the post office job would result in lining the pockets of the Chicago builders at the expense of needy Hartford craftsmen. In addition, many letters have been written to the daily papers, every one of which criticize the cupidity of the Chica- goans.
 Plank Offers Thin Excuse.
 The feeble excuse offered by the Chicago firm by E.. A. Plank, general superintendent of the job, was that the firm joined the other Hartford contractors in their demand for 25% pay cut, so as not to offend them. This solicitude for other contractors, none of whom Coath 6 Goss are likely ever to see again after the post office is finished, was so patently an excuse for a chance to take Hart ford dollars to Chicago that the public resentment was only deepened by it,
 Friction Said to Exist.
 Many in position to know the real facts report that, far from being so friendly, there exists friction between the Hartford Master Builders and Coath 6 Goss. This has come about, it is said, by the feeling among local contractors that they were taken in on the scheme by others in a position to profit handsomely by it and that they are in effect fighting the battle of an out-of-town firm. This feeling is said to be especially strong among those who have jobs actually tied up by the trouble. It is said that the Master Builders failed to reckon cor rectly on two factors which are now hurting then-the resistance of the union workers and public resentment of the leadership of an out-of-town firm in coming to Hartford to cut wages after being awarded the con- tract on the basis of wages that work CTS (and indirectly merchants) had a right to look forward to.
 Hartford Resents Interference.
 A member of the executive board of the Structural Building Trades Alliance epitomized the public atti- tude in favor of the protesting work CTS when he said, "Regardless of how