Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1935, Page 7

PATERSON DYEING SUPREMACY HIT Big Silk and Rayon Center Torn by Strife, but River Main Factor. abide by the silk code, which calls for higher wages. There have been no lock-outs here, but some plants have been compelled to close because they cannot operate under present condi- tions. For instance, some interests have bought sites in Richmond, Va. and in North Carolina.” The union, through its secretary, Fritz, came back strong: “The employers are interpreting mere enforcement of the present con- tract by the organization’s committees as ‘interference.’ That is ridiculous. “It is true that elsewhere the rayon plants operate under the cotton code. That, however, is not true of silk dye- ing establishments. “No lock-outs? Why, we have car- PATERSON, N. J, May lo;fled at leasi two complaints to the {N.ANA)—On the coffee-colored | waters of the Passaic River floats the snswer to the question: *“Will Pater- son cease to be the silk center of the United States?” Today this is a city of conflicting arguments, for: First, many dyers and finishers are threatening, ‘“‘because of high wages and the interference of labor in pro- National Textile Labor Relations Board in Washington, where we are now trying to get equal representa- tion on the code authority.” Labor hss its own explanation of why the dyers want to quit Paterson —if they do. Union officials assert | the manufacturers wish primarily to thwart the workers’ organization, but that they also are seeking to dodge THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, tary of the Paterson Chamber of Com« merce, just grinned when he heard of the operators’ threat to move and lapsed into a eulogy of that prosaic little stream—the Passaic River. 25 Changes Little in Spring. “The water in the Passaic River,” V.| he said, “possesses a peculiar quality. Not only is it extremely soft—an es- sential quality in dyeing—but, in addition, it changes its chemical con- tent only 2 per cent in Spring, Sum- mer, Autumn and Winter. In most watersheds snow, falling in the fields, sinks into the ground and eventually carries various chemicals into the river. Because of an absence of chem- icals affecting dyeing along the banks of the Passaic, this river is different from others. “Of course, operators will tell yon that in other sections of the country water can be treated so that it will be entirely satisfactory to dyers. But that costs money—much money. “So, taken along with the availabil- ity of trained technical labor here and the market outlet which Paterson affords, I believe the Passaic River D. €., FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1935. I TOMORROW is the time to save money on your Spring Suit or Topcoat . .. in the May Sales! May Sale of $3.50 to $4 RALEIGH HART SCHAFFNER ductive operations,” to move their plants north to upper New York State and New England, south to Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, and west to Pennsylvania. Second, labor leaders are denounc- ng this threat as a gigantic bluff. Third, officials of the Paterson Chamber of Commerce, whose task it Is to retain established industries, | smile blandly at the turgid, 80-mile | : stream that flows through New Jersey | iy into New York Bay and assert that | :J the magical quality of its water, es- | sential to the process of dyeing, will | keep the manufacturers right where they are. Supremacy Unchallenged. The supremacy of the Paterson area, at this time, in the completion of the *“queen fabric” is not to be challenged. More than 75 per cent | of the silk coming into America is| dyed in Paterson. | In addition, in recent years there has sprung up a new industry that | has brought the silk dyers into com- | petition with the dyers and finishers | of cotton. That is the rayon industry. | Vast quantities of rayon yarns are |’ dyed in Paterson, although much is given its high colors at the plants where it is manufactured—in Vir- ginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachu- setts. Thus, some 90 dyeing plants, em- ploying some 18000 workers, are to be found in the Paterson area, which includes Patersof, Passaic, Clifton, Garfield, Rutherford and Lodi. The Chamber of Commerce estimates the investment at $40,000,000. | #3 Yet, despite the prestige. which | § Paterson enjoys as a silk center, the operators are threatening to desert the city and tension is high. | It is not the first time that plant | owners have announced their inten- tion to move elsewhere. Capital and labor have been at each other's throats for many years in Paterson | and, with each clash, has come a threat of closing the city's dye works. Yet the “queen of fabrics” has re- maned enthroned here. According to the Federation of Tex- | tile Dyers, Finishers, Bleachers and Printers of America, the prevailing ‘wages from 1793 until 1931 were from 5 to 17 cents an hour. In 1932 they were advanced to 40 cents. Then, in 1933, came a strike which shot wages | up to 57!; cents, although the mini- mum N. R. A. code requirement was only 45. Last year another strike was called and, on December 6, a contract, running until September, 1936, was signed, establishing 66 cents as the current scale. Relations ran smoothly until last March, when rumbling was heard n capital's camp. Labor charges that then an attempt was launched to sound out sentiment on the question of scrapping the new agreement. It charges also that, with production reduced. operators with plants in New England, Pennsylvania and other secticns, where the workers were not organized and wages were at code level, made money out of closing | their Paterson plants and operating | only their out-of-town works. | Seven Plants Closed. Since March conditions have be- come more critical and, up to now, seven Paterson plants have been closed—some through liquidation— and four have been moved out of | the city. Anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 op- eratives are on relief—only an esti- mate being possible, because exact figures bearing on the silk industry are not available at Relief Admin- | istration headquarters. | The operators assert that half of the 18,000 dyers have been thrown | out of work by the closing of these | 11 plants; labor headquarters, ridi- culing the assertion, places the maxi- mum number at 1,200, Capital's side was tersely put by Emanuel Shivack, counsel for the Institute of Dyers and Printers: “We are being forced to move from | Paterson. For one thing, interfer- ence of the union in production re- | flects on the management. Moreover, down East plants operate under the cotton code; here we are forced to high water and power rates and boost- ed taxes. John J. Fitzgerald, executive secre- | SPECIAL...for will keep our manufacturers with us.” (Copvright. 1025, by the North American New: r Alliance. Inc.) 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