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Show III 'PHONE WIN 1 OUT ONSTRIKE 'If'te i Wen Allege Contract f I Was Violated. , Employees of Rocky Moun- Jj.' : tain Bell Company Quit i ' 1 Manager Bliss Says Ho Doos Not i ' , 1 , j 1 Know. Just How Many Men Are j .(; j Involved in the Strike. I'1.;! j': j! ,i jHflr ANT of the linomen in the em- i( iji j ! ,j jlfl ploy of the "Rocky Mountain 1 ( ; ' j llJI Telephone company quit II ii ' V j work af 1 o'clock ycslerdas' l i I afternoon, alleging that the company M , ' , i ; had violated several provisions in the L., ')!" contract signed with the union about ft , four months ago. j I ' j M Just how many men walked out ' cannot be ascertained. Manager F. U. ' ( ' j ', Bliss of the construction department 1 , , ' said last night that only a part of the P j '' tj il force had quit, but he was unable to 1 ; I ' i say how many or what proportion of j!j . ' ( S the whole., Li ' t t "Tliey simply quit," said the nian- 1 ' Si i, nger. "We received no complaints and I 1 ' W ' 1,0 not'ce Yo11 have to ask the J H; men what their grievance is. They arc ' I 1 V , working under a contract with the t ' i j' , company signed by the union and if .' 1, '. cannot strike without violating the j I, "' j contract. Nothing will be done by the 1 1 r if 1 company until Monday. We will wait ' , J ; ',i ' and see what the situation Is at .that i lj J time. We do not work on Sunday, anv- 1 'nil M'ay" . jl p i A special meeting of the union was L 1 ' j i held in Electrical Workers' hall last 'h j 'f. evening. It was determined not to Is- ; ! , j.' ' sue any statement at thin time, as the . : men propose to carry their grievances K . j ,' before General Manager D. S. Murray, l if i j; i In the belief that he will concede what i! i they ask. As to the nature of the dif- J j'j 1 , tlculty, the members of the union are V' very reticent. All they would say was Mi thot the company had violated its con- i,' ' i J i tract and that a committee had waited l, , ji'j . upon the city foreman twice without , j I ' getting satisfaction. Id iii As nearly as can be ascertained, , ; . j ' there Is no question of wages or hours ' ) .!!'' involved. The trouble seems to have ' i 1 nV 'di' come up over a conflict of authority in ' t , ' f!w the administration of the department. V ' 'iy The Bell company has in its employ , rl' no linemen They have been receiv- 1 ' ,',! fi Ing 53 a day for nine hours' work, go- i j! j j; lng to and from the places whore they I ' n i! !ir? employed on the company's time, y I ' fi! 'r'le Independent Telephone company ' ( J i,, '( j ! pays its linemen $3.1!n a day for eight 1 )i , , j J ' hours' work, but the men go and come ' 1 ' -Jil iH ' on their own time, which tends to y '.'.Iflfr equalize matters. ' 'j .! f The Bell linemen went out on a stilke i 't fi nhout fourteen month ago and were I, , i, i t' out six weeks, gaining their principal ! , , !f 8 demands. The contract signed at lP that time remained in force for a year, i. ,, , ; M A new controcl, embodying j)tacticqlly Si II Vl, ' tn same terms, was signet! at the ex- ' J J ' k piration of the old one. A general ij ' strike is almost certain to injun: the j ' 'jj,';1 - local telephone service, as constant re- '' ) r j pairs are necessary to keep thi- lines ,1. I in working order. iLi''. (, ' . I , ! . |