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April 3, 1920
RECORD AND GUIDE
453
BUILDING SECTION
Few Bricklayers At Work After Agreement Is Reached
Men Quit Their Jobs in Bronx When Employers Put Them on $8.50 Per Day
Pending Ruling by Mayor Hylan as Arbitrator
LAST Tuesday morning many striking bricklayers, who
have refused to work on jobs for which contracts were
held by members of the Mason Builders' Association, re¬
turned to the projects that have been idle since January 1.
The return of these mechanics removes the chief obstacle to
building progress in. Greater New York and although the
settlement of the difficulty between the workmen and the
employers is not entirely completed, the feeling is general
throughout the industry that a final agreement will be reached
within a short time and that construction will be unhampered
for the remainder of the year by further disputes.
The decision to return to work was reached Monday after¬
noon after a lengthy conference at City Hall, between repre¬
sentatives of the bricklayers, the Mason Builders' Association
and Mayor Hylan. At this meeting it was agreed that the
bricklayers return to their jobs at their former scale of wages,
which was $8.50 per day, and leave to arbitration their de¬
mand for $1.25 per hour or $10 per day. It was further agreed
to submit briefs in support of their contentions within forty-
eight hours after the resumption of work on the abandoned
jobs. As comparatively few of the strikers have up to the
present writing returned to work, the questions in dispute have
not yet been placed before Mayor Hylan as arbitrator, and it
is not certain just when they will be submitted.
ALONG
WEST END AVE.
for instance, we have water¬
proofed or dampproofed the
following apartments:
No. 300 for Paterno Construction Co.
No. 305 for Charmion Construction Co.
No. 575 for Paterno Construction Co.
No. 650 for Mayer & Mayer
No. 690 for Campagna & Cerabone
No. 884 for Paterno Bros.
No. 885 for Paterno Bros.
No. 895 for Paterno Bros.
No. 905 for Paterno Bros.
STRUCTURAL
WATERPROOFING CO., Inc.
480 LEXINGTON AVENUE
GRAND CENTRAL PALACE
Vanderbilt 1300
ALL WORK SATISFACTORILY GUAR.\NTEED
The text of the agreement consummated last Monday after¬
noon follows:
"Agreement between the Bricklayers' Union of Greater New
York and Long Island and the Mason Builders' Association.
"The Bricklayers' Unions agree to rescind their strike order
and return to work immediately under the agreement, which
is to continue until all questions now existing and formerly
considered by the Joint Arbitration Board are finally and
mutually agreed upon. The decision of the umpire on the
question of wages to be retroactive from the day the men
return to work and shall continue until December 31, 1920.
".•\fter the men have returned to work the Joint Board of
Arbitration shall renew their relations and sit to adjust what¬
ever grievances may be presented from either side. The um¬
pire is to be John F. Hylan, Mayor of the City of New York,
and his decision is to be final and binding on both parties.
Both sides to submit their briefs within forty-eight hours after
the men return to work."
In discussing this agreement Mayor Hylan stated that it
would be necessary for both sides to make some concessions
in order to help the housing situation.
"Not only can house building now go on," he said, "but
school house construction, which has been held up, can also
proceed.
Members of the Building Trades Employers' Association,
which has been vitally interested in the strike of the brick¬
layers as it has prevented a large number of other trades
from completing their parts of the work, have stated that
there is plenty of work for all of the strikers immediately.
The Building Trades Employers' Association for some time
past has been insisting that the bricklayers join in the con¬
vention entered into between the council and the employers'
association, but this stand appears to have been abrogated.
A large number of bricklayers, estimated to be more than
2,000, have left the city since the beginning of the strike, Janu¬
ary 1, for work outside, but as many of these have families in
New York they are expected to return now that the wage
dispute will be settled.
The announcement of the agreement to submit the wage
dispute to arbitration has caused some confusion in building
projects in the Bronx, which were proceeding despite the
strike because employers were paying the rate of $10 per
day demanded by the bricklayers. Just as soon as the an¬
nouncement was made that the strikers were to return on the
$8.50 per day basis until the decision of the arbritrator was
rendered, these employers reduced the scale in force on their
jobs with the statement that they would also abide by the
final dcision. Naturally the workmen would not agree to
this and in a number of jobs the bricklayers quit immediately.
Reports from various parts of the city indicate that al¬
though'the bricklayers have come to an agreement with the
employers they have not returned to their jobs in the number
promised. The best evidence of this fact is that the deliveries
of commen brick throughout this city have been exceedingly
light and orders for new supplies have been very light. Had
the men returned in the number anticipated when the agree¬
ment was announced, mason material dealers declare that the
relatively small stocks of materials held on the jobs would
be used up within a few hours.