Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-08-10
WOULD WITHHOLD
D. C.FUNDS FROM
CATALANO FIRM
Bride Recommends Action as
Labor Trouble Is Renewed
at Phelps School.
CONTRACTORS COUNSEL
CALLED FOR CONFERENCE
Bricklayers Hit Employers Rea-
sons for Failure to Pay
Back Wages.

A fresh outbreak of labor troubles at
the Phelps Vocational School Building,
Twenty-fourth and H streets northeast,
today led Corporation Counsel William
w. Bride to recommend to the Com
missioners that no further payments OF
District money be made to the Cata-
lano Construction Corporation for the
job until every worker has been paid
in full
The Commissioners ordered Mr.. Bride
to acquaint David Weiner, attorney for
the Catalano Corporation, with the
nature of the charges filed and to sum-
mon him to meet the Commissioners at
10 o'clock tomorrow morning to dis
cuSs the matter
The contest which has been dragging
on since June 10 took fresh turn to-
day with a denial by bricklayers on the,
job of statements made by Dominic
Catalano as to the reason why they
have not been paid in full SO far. The
final day for their payment set by the
Commissioners is today.
According to Catalano's written state
ment, it has proved impossible to pay
the bricklayers on time because Of fric-
ton with a firm of brick subcontrac-
tors, Beccio Bros. & Di Nardo.
Employed as Foremen.
Today however, Michael Beccio, &C
companied by a number of bricklayers,
came to the District Building and told
Mr.. Bride that in fact there was no
such firm He said that he, his brother
Thomas, and Di Nardo are foremen en-
ployed by Catalano on salary basis.
his salary being $40 per week
The bricklayers, he said, were paid
at the rate of $8.75 per thousand bricks
laid, with a minimum of SIS per day,
although the prevailing scale for brick
layers is $12 day. All of the brick
layers who accompanied Beccio said
that they had never received more than
IS a day.
Beccio said that instead of trying to
pay the workers their back money as
ordered by the Commissioners, Cata-
lano had offered to compromise by pay
ing them $1,000. to be split among
themselves and making their pay scale
SIP a day from then on. He estimated
that the men had between $4,000 and
$4,000 coming to them in back pay.
Refuses to Compromise.
Beccio said they refused this compro-
mise and then they were advised by
Mr. Catalano that they could journey
to Italy and return but would get moth
ing more.
Then men said that on August they
demanded their back pay in full and it
was definitely refused. They said they
all left the job Immediately and that no
brick has been laid there from that day
until this, but that today fresh crew
of bricklayers have been hired and the
work is progressing.
Beccio said that, although his salary
was supposed to be $40 week. there
were weeks in which Catalano was not
satisfied with his work and paid him
-. hot
Catalano thought his work was very
good, so he gave him $50, the $40 being
. bonus.
Beccio made his statement in writing
to Assistant Corporation Counsel Will
liam Wahly and swore to it. Mr.. Bride
than took the affidavit to the Commits
sioners and made his recommendation
The bricklayers are not the only ones
still in dispute with the company, how
ever. The Commissioners have set
rate of IS cents per hour up to August
/ for common laborers. Yesterday the
company appealed from this rate, say
ing it was too high None of the la
borers has yet been paid off at the
35-cent rate.
The company notified the Commits
sioners that they had settled in full
with carpenters at a dollar an hour.
structural steel workers at LBS an
hour and certain other miscellaneous
employees, such as timekeepers and ROD
men.
In a written appeal against the 35-
cent scale for common labor flled with
the Commissioners today Wiener
pointed out that the street railway
companies pay 20 cents per hour for
common labor and said that the w. F.
Brenizer Co. pays IS cents.
The appeal was against setting any
scale retroactively.
Believes rs Cents Fair Rate.
Wiener said today when he called
at the District Building that his client
was opposed to paying any rate to COM
mon labor in excess of Is cents an hour,
as he believed that this was a fair rate
as far as the facts before Catalano at
the time showed
There being no prevailing wage"
he said, IS cents an hour, which was
more than some contractors would
name, must be regarded as at least
fair wage
With reference to charges made by
bricklayers today. Wiener said that he
personally had seen a written contract
executed between the Catalano Con-
struction Co. and Beccio Brothers &
DiNardo, in which the latter as sub
contractors agreed to set the brick
for s875 per thousand brick
He said that the three members of
the subcontracting firm attended
conference with him in his Office re-
Gently in which he informed them
they must pay the bricklayers 81 an
hour and that at that time no one
OF them denied the existence of the
contract.