The strike committee of the Joint Council of the Knitted Goods Workers, a branch of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, will meet within a day or two to determine when to call a strike in the industry, it was revealed yesterday.
This announcement comes on the heels of a vote taken by members of the union in which the count was 4,792 to 259 for a strike. Similar polls were held in Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis and San Francisco. If a general strike is proclaimed some 18,000 workers in the metropolitan area will be affected.
The vote is a climax to demands recently made by the union for a 10 to 20 per cent increase in wages, according to the various groups of workers, and a reduction in hours from thirty-seven and a half to thirty-five weekly. These demands were ignored by three employer groups, the International, Metropolitan and Interboro Outerwear associations.
Efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement between 12,000 striking painters and decorators and the Association of Master Painters and Decorators hit a snag yesterday when members of the association, meeting behind closed doors in special session, refused to meet the demands of the striking employees.
The meeting, held at 2 Park avenue, was attended by several hundred members of the association. Although no official statement was forthcoming after the meeting, one of the members of the executive committee informed a Bulletin reporter that no agreement was effected.
The association, however, is willing to settle with the striking employees at eight dollars for an eight-hour day, it was learned. The strikers are demanding nine dollars for a seven-hour day. Members of the association were unanimous in declaring that the strikers demands were too high.
In the meanwhile Philip Zausner, secretary-treasurer of the striking union, announced that picketing will continue daily. Ben Golden, executive secretary of the Regional Labor Board, has succeeded in arranging for a meeting between the employees and employers for some time next week.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
