Evening star., 1933-07-29
FIRM TO MAKE Up
PAY DIFFERENCES
CataIano Concern Agrees to
Meet Scale in Case of
"Underpaid" Workers.

corporation counsel William W.
Bride said today he expected to ar
range settlement of claims by under
paid workers against the Catalano Con-
struction Corporation early next week
The corporate has agreed to repay to
all its workers the difference between
the scale actually paid them and the
prevailing scales under the Bacon Davis
act
Mr.. Bride said he did not yet know
what method would be followed in
bringing about the settlement Yester-
day he suggested to the District Com
missioners that the corporation be re-
quired to submit within 10 days the
names and addresses of all workers who
|. had been employed on the Phelps Vo-
cational School job, together with the
character Of work performed and the
wages paid. Following this. they would
be required to certify the difference be-
tween the wages paid and the higher
wages required by the scale had been
settled in full
The Commissioners did not adopt
this suggestion. but no new suggestions
were forthcoming
The corporation and the Commis-
sioners are In agreement on the rates
for carpenters and bricklayers, but Mr.
Bride still has to establish rates for
laborers and hod-carriers.
Conference Is Lengthy.
In reaching their decision yesterday
after a long conference with Dominic
Catalano, head of the contracting firm,
and his lawyers, the Commissioners had
before them an opinion by Mr.. Bride,
which said. in part:
las I view the present situation the
been amply substantiated and they
stand convicted Of knowingly violating
the provisions of the Bacon-Davis act,
which is quite as much a part of the
contract as is the character of the ma
terials and workmanship going into the
makeup of this building.
Too many contractors, since the act
referred to has been in effect, seem in-
clined to view this law as an obligation
which they may disregard without fear
Of the consequences if the number Of
complaints Of attempts to avoid this
requirement is safe guide.
And this leads me to suggest to the
Commissioners that perhaps a different
policy from the one heretofore adhered
to in dealing with such cases might
the wage scale provisions of such con-
tracts as contain them.
Heretofore. as the Commissioners
are aware, the only penalty, if such 1t
may be called, that contractor suffers
wher complaints of this kind are estab-
lished, IS to do what he originally con-
tracted to do. This fact am convinced
has heretofore encouraged some con-
tractors to profiteer at the expense of
their employees"
The Commissioners and the Catalano
company agreed that the rates for car
penters are 81 an hour and for brick
layers. $3.50 an hour. The company
was paying so and so cents for car
penters and 6212 for bricklayers.
No agreement was reached as to what
the rates for hod carriers and laborers
were and these points were turned over
to Mr.. Bride for later decision. The
company was paying IS cents an hour
for hod carriers and IS cents for
laborers.
Disputes Printed Data.
After the conference broke up, David
Wiener, attorney for the construction
company, said that The Star had been
in error when 1t reported two days
ago that Is workmen who testified
against the concern at the public hear
ing had been fired. He said not as
Do ID luCll 11do ICctlAlCu. AoACO
how many had been fired, he said:
AT least so were laid of. but that
was because the concrete had hardened
and not because they testified"
He said that his concern would make
good the back pay alike to those who
had been laid of and to those who had
not. Asked If he was willing to sup
port President Roosevelt by putting in
40-cent-per-hour minimum wage, he
said: I'VE could do our work much
cheaper by following the blanket code,
but, of course, we are going to support
the President"
After the meeting the Commissioners
said that they had confined their atten-
ticn strictly to the case before them
and had not evolved any policy to be
followed in connection with the next
contractor caught violating the act.
Since 1t went into effect IN 1881 there
have been at least 20 contracts as to
which similar complaints have been
made. In at least three cases the con-
tractors admitted the underpayment,
but in no case has the contract ever
been Cancelled.