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.
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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.
