Shipbuilding strike gains steam
Earlier this week, Henry C. Hunter, the lawyer representing New York shipyard owners in the brewing labor dispute, assured the public there would be no strike.
Welp, turns out he was wrong.
Now, there are up to 4k shipyard workers out on strike — affecting 6 shipyards in Hoboken and Brooklyn. Although owners have said they would stand firm in denying workers’ requests for a fixed minimum wage of $4.50/day, a number of firms have already acquiesced to the demands to avoid further delays.
Potato riots boil over in Amsterdam
Yesterday, amidst a wartime food shortage in Europe, riots broke out at one of the chief vegetable markets in Amsterdam.
Apparently, a rumor spread that 20 wagon loads of potatoes destined for England were hidden in a barge nearby, and an angry mob ransacked the market, carrying off spuds in sack and baskets.
Troops were called in to disperse the crowd, but the mob soon returned, attacking the troops with — you guessed it — potatoes. The troops then retaliated with — you guessed it again– bullets.
23 wagon loads of potatoes were delivered to Amsterdam from Holland today to appease the people, but in an ironic turn of events, the dockworkers are now striking in solidarity, leaving the police to guard the bay.
Poultry handlers play chicken with Market Commissioner
George W. Perkins, Chairman of NYC’s Food Supply Committee, reports that there are approximately 30 carloads of live poultry roasting their beaks off on the railroad tracks outside the city, thanks to an unforeseen poultry workers strike.
Unfortunately, there’s no official Market Commissioner in NYC to take up the workers’ case, hence why the Food Supply Committee is stepping in — but every minute a resolution is delayed, more chickens cluck their last cluck due to lack of food and water.
Only problem is, according to Perkins himself, the FSC is just a rag-tag band of volunteer citizens “without the slightest power of any kind.”
