The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-08-09

rolls and If they don't want to
work they can go off relief rolls"
May Be Bitter Fight
Leaders of the striking unions
gave a last minute audience to
Gen. Hugh s. johnson, New York
works projects administrator,
would lead to "a biNer fight, riots
and maybe bloodshed," and then
voted unanimously, as they had
twice before, to take their men out.
The strikers had only one griev-
ance, wages. The WPA scale that
supplanted the old work-relief
schedule last Monday gives a maxi
mum of $93.50 monthly to a skilled
workman for 100 hours labor. That
is just short of 78 cents an hour,
approximately one-half the Plumb
ers' union scale of $3.50. Under
the old scale the men received a
maximum of $60.97 but worked
only four to eight days. Common
laborers, who formerly drew $4S
to $50 a month for SO hours work,
must work "a hours longer for $55.
Brewing Since Monday
4AC 6tEAhO ldu UOGu
since Monday. Several local unions
called men off various projects on
their own initiative. The huge AS
tor low-rent housing project in the
East Side Manhattan tenement dis
trict was tied up Wednesday by a
strike Of bricklayers, electricians
and plumbers.
johnson estimated ITO men had
quit before vote yesterday of all
members Of the central labor and
trades council employed on WPA
jobs endorsed q general strike.
George Meany, president of the
state Labor Federation and chair
man of a special WPA strike COM
mittee, predicted the $1,000 men
ordered out today would be supple
mented by unorganized common
labor and white collar" workers
who last week formed an organiza-
ton of their own.
Work Is Available
Hopkins work-or- starve ultima
tum posed the major problem to
the strikers and to labor opponents
Of the subsistence wage principle
throughout the country. The WPA
director took the position that
work was available for men who
needed it and that refusal to work
was the individuals own RESPONSE
bility.
1--WE are taking people on relief
and giving them a security wage"
he said. "If they don't want to
work for it they don't have to.
What happens to them after that,
though, is not our business"
johnson took the same attitude
in table-thumping, finger-shak-
ing lecture to the 100 labor lead
ers with whom he conferred. He
told them they were Suffering
from an absurd misunderstanding"
and were being made chestnut
rakers of contractors and COM
munists."
Increase Says johnson
johnson made the point that
WPA wages constitute, in effect, a
per cent increase over what
skilled workers had been getting
before the government initiated its
works program.
The WPA rate of $3.50 for 100
hours a month, johnson declared,
was even better than the best pre-
vailing rate over any 5-year per-
iod. He used as an example the
union hourly rate of $3.50 paid
carpenters. While ostensibly a
carpenters pay at this rate would
be $500 a month, Johnson said, in
actual practice it very often means
only $50 month when computed
over year period.
What the government has to
offer, the administrator said, Is
six months steady employment
at a fixed salary of $93.5O per
month" We will pay you, whether
the work goes on or not, rain-or-
shine, and we only ask you to
work five eight-hour days week,
three weeks, or 100 hours a
month"