Montana labor news., 1936-01-16
COnnOrs Tells Story Of
Transfers and COndi-
lions in Billings

Truck drivers affiliated with the In
ternational Brotherhood Of Transfers
Chauffeurs, Stablemen and HELPERS
have formed what is known as an or
%ganization committee Of truck driver.
in the state OF Montana. This commit.
tee represents all locals in this stat,
and was instituted for the purpose oil
assisting unorganized transfers anc
truck drivers to organize. Each loca
is to pay Is cents per member. pei
month, to go to the organization com
mittee for the purpose Of hiring a mar
in an un%organized city to work at least
sixty days on organization work.
The first city reported on by the state
representative was Billings, Montana.
where the conditions of the truck driv-
ers are worse than that which the
teamsters had forty years ago, small
truck drivers in this town receiving
80 cents an hour, while men driving
larger trucks received 40 cents per
hour. Drivers, hauling crude oil from
the refineries, had to report at the re-
.fineries from 600 to ZOO p. m, then
they had TO wait until zoo or 3 700 a m.
before the trucks were loaded after
that it required only two or three hours
to make deliveries. The driver is only
paid for the time in which he is making
the delivery.
The transfers have been successful in
organizing Missoula, Helena, Great
Falls and Bozeman, The Organization
Committee will hold a meeting once a
month and the locals OF the state will
call a special meeting on some
Saturday night during January when
the entire committee will 60 to each
city and appear before the membership
OF the locals to explain the conditions
OF truck drivers in the u|norganized
cities. The committee has started to
organize Helena and is making progress
although they will have to place a man
in Helena for at least another month in
order to get the Helena truck drivers in
a position where they can take care Of
their own affairs.
While visiting in Billings. Mr.. Con
nors was successful in signing up
enough truck drivers to send for a
charter. The Yellowstone Trades and
Council was asked to appoint a
committee OF three as a Border Patrol
see that this local is organized in a
proper manner. There are at the pres
ent time about five hundred morgan
lied truck drivers working around Bill
iings and Laurel. This committee will
also work for legislation beneficial to
truck drivers. They will again endea-
yor to pass the eight-hour law cover
ing all truck drivers in the state of
Montana and also another law to elimi-
nate sleeping in cabs and trucks.
We expect to be successful and in
another year to have a local Of the In
.ernational Brotherhood Of Transfers,
1hauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers in
Every city in the state Of Montana, said
Mr.. Corners. The next meeting Of the
will be held at Bozeman,
Montana, some time during the month
If February.
While visiting the Council in Billings
dr, Connors stated that a baker ap-
feared before the union who had a
rievance. The man had been working
t a bakery shop in Billings three wears.
eceiving $500 a week. One week
here was a fair in Billings and he re-
.orted that he worked four and five
ours overtime every day during the
air and that the master baker paid
i'm $1,000 for that week. He also
tated that the boss baker told him, one
'eek, he was putting too much honey
! the bread and he locked him Sl.0O
Or that, Then the baker cut down on
honey and a couple of weeks after
hat the boss told him they were adver-
bread with SO much honey in it,
nd that he wasn't putting the honey in
he bread. He said mo he wasn't be-
ause he wasn't going to be locked any
lore dollars
It was also reported there that girls
in the Hart-Albin store were
eceiving $2l.00 a week. The Bartend-
rs in Billings are organized 100 per
ent and it doesn't seem as though
hey are afraid to organize and it is
ard to understand why other men
rom the city Of Billings hould he
to organize when every bartender
a union button while on shift.
ir. Connors stated that he thought
Billings was one Of the busiest
ties in the state of Montana. Prices
no different there than they are in
ute and he believes that if Billings K
nployers had a payroll like we have 2
Butte that Billings would be n Of t
lie best cities in the Northwest, to [
Their be in business in, or to live in. t