Negotiations between the Laborers Union and the Plumbers Union continued yesterday in an effort to settle the strike at the site of the new Radcliffe Study Center.
Members of the International Hod Carriers, Building, and Common Laborers Union went on strike Tuesday in a jurisdictional dispute over the laying of pipe on the site.
Both unions claim that their contracts give them the right to lay the pipes from the sewer line to the study center. Pipes laid inside a building are almost always considered the job of plumbers, but there has never been a definite agreement on pipes outside a building. When the plumbers began laying the sewer pipes, the laborers walked off.
The problem arises on almost every construction job of this type. Since a final settlement has not been reached, the question must be negotiated for each job. The national boards of the two unions are presently looking for a way to end this situation.
Spokesman for Vappi and Company, general contractors for the study center, emphasized yesterday that the dispute is between the two unions and does not involve Vappi. "We don't care who does the job as long as its done," one workman said.
