Montana labor news., 1934-08-09
Federation Of Labor Ex-
poses Fort Peck

submitted 10 the montana LABOR news
by Jack Driscoll, Vice President of the
Montana State Federation of Labor :
While visiting at the Fort Peck dam
project today, President Roosevelt was
told about conditions relative to labor
and how contractors are alleged to be
chisseling the workers.
Investigation of conditions by the
Montana Federation of Labor has caus-
ed the officers to issue the following
statement
"Ther9 is much discomfort among
the workers at Fort Peck and through
out Montana over wages and working
conditions at the Fort Peck project.
THE building trades code which re-
gulates the wages at Fort Peck, pro-
vide for the northern zone wage Of
Soc an hour minimum for common la
Dor (pick and shovel mem and a mini
mum of $l.2O an hour for mechanics.
There is no scale Of wages set for
helpers and semi-skilled workers as
this wage is to be set according to
local working conditions governing each
locality.
The wage for helpers and semi
skilled workers at Fort Peck has been
agreed upon by the army engineering
officers and the contractors and ap.
parently after the contract has been
awarded. 1t is a graduated scale run
ming from Soc to 90c an hour.
THE contractors with the consent
and knowledge of the contracting Of
ficers in charge of the Fort Peck pro-
ject, are using semi-skilled workers at
semi-skilled workers a to do the
work of the skilled workers. Further
more mechanics are hired to do the
work of mechanics at wages below
the scale of S1.20 per hour fixed by the
contract.
Mechanics being paid $1.2O per hour
by contractors are discharged and when
discharged are informed by represen-
tatives of the contractors that if they
will work for 80c an hour they a 20
back on the job again. This can be
substanitated by affidavits.
Some of the contractors have sec
ured eighty percent Of the skilled work
for a wage of eighty cents an hour and
less. In other words some of the con-
tractors have under paid eighty per-
cent of their skilled workers from 40
to 6Oc an hour. All this has the con-
sent of the contracting officers. The
contractors are chiseling thousands Of
dollars weekly from the pay envelopes
of the workers.
"On July % and "a the Board of
Labor Review held a hearing at Fort
Peck, but no decisions have been rend-
cred yet; however time must be given
the board for consideration of the evil
dence. At the hearing Lieut.. C. H.
Chorpening, N. l. r. A. officer in the
engineer office in Glasgow acted at
the hearing in such a manner as
would indicate that he was counsel for
the contractors; he showed no SYM
pathy for the workers but defended
the contractors in every possible way.
Labor complains that it can not get
any relief from the contracting officers
in charge of the project at Fort Peck.
In fact the conduct of the officers
leads n to assume that there is an
understanding and cooperation be-
tween the officers and the contractors
in the violation of the contract and the
spirit of the Presidents program for
war on unemployment, both i n the pay
ment of wages and hours of labor.
There are also charges that the
workers are being worked 10, IL and
IA hours each day at the Fort Peck
Dam project in violation of the estab-
lished federal eight hour law"