The union times., 1947-04-26

Council. All trades in Bridgepol Stantial wage increases, ending by the general contractors.
 In New Haven. the Painters were still out on Tuesday, and the Plumbers and Steamfitters had vot- ed a walkout to begin Wednesday morning. The Bricklayers had settled with all contractors but those who belong to the ACC.
 BRIDGEPORT RATES
 Tn Bridgeport, the following rates are embodied in the new con- tracts: Carpenters, $2; Laborers, $1.5O; Bricklayers, $2.15; Plumb {, CTS, $2; and Painters $1.75.
 In New Haven, the Laborers agree ment calls for $1.35, and the Car penters for $1871z. The Iron Work CTS throughout the state have settled for $225.
 MAYOR ACTS
 Saul Kreas, business agent of No. 186, New Haven Painters, reported Tuesday that Mayor William C. Ce- lentano had called meeting of union and contractor representatives, to be held in the Mayors office on Wednesday. No. 186 on the previous Thursday had complied with a request of the Mayor that he be informed of the progress of negotiations. The text of the Unions letter is included at the end of this article.
 Plumbers Union No. 349, New Haven, has run into the same tactics the contractors have been using in Bridgeport and New Haven. The Unions contract expired on April 2. On March 2, the union in writing asked the Union Employers Committee for a conference to ne- gOtiate new contract. Several days later, the Employers Committee re- quested that the Unions demands be put in writing. These demands, sent on March 28, called for $2 per hour, one week vacation with pay, and nine paid legal holidays.
 From March g to April Y, the Union Employers Committee main tained complete silence. On April Y, R. J. Wilmot, secretary of the em- ployers committee, sent Stanley Greis- ing, business agent, short letter, in forming the union that the wage de- mands had been rejected" No pro- posal was made for a meeting or for further negotiations.
 As a result, No. 349 held a spe- ciaI meeting Monday night, and by a practically unanimous vote. the membership decided not to report for work Wednesday morning.
 A meeting was held Monday be- tween representatives of New Haven Bricklayers No. 6, and the general contractors, but no decisive results were reported. As over 8O6 of the bricklayers are working under the new signed agreement, there was no problems here.
 New Haven Painters Union sent the following letter last Thursday to Mayor Celentano:
 LETTER TO MAYOR
 Dear Mayor Celentano:
 "When we met with you last Satur- day to discuss the labor management situation in the building and construc- ton industry in New Haven. I promis- ed to report any progress that might be made.
 T am now reporting to you as chairman of the Wage Policy Com mittee of Painters Union, No. 18o.
 "We met Monday with the Paint ing Contractors, and soon discov- cred that the contractors had no serious desire to reach a mutually agreeable understanding. The only proposal made to our union was that overtime be paid at the rate of time-and-one-half. You probably know that the building trades un- ions. in an effort to eliminate over- time work, have always received dOuble-time for overtime. The pro- posal of the contractors, even if they agreed to the hourly increase we are requesting, would have meant a net wage reduction for the members of our union.
 q present all these details in order to substantiate our charge that the contractors are not acting in good faith, and have embarked on a policy which is harmful not only to us, but to the community as well. No col1ec- tive bargaining agreement can be ar rived at when the first proposal made by management is a wage cut We accuse the contractors of irres- possibility and bad faith.
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