On the side of the men the two points insisted
on as essential to settlement are the recognition of the London Building Industries Federation and the total exclusion of all non- Unionists from building operations. If these terms are not granted, they threaten to instruct their Executives to enter into contracts for the supply of labour at Trade Union rates and conditions for the construction of any building now standing idle. In pursuance of this policy, the Executive of the London Building Industries Federation have entered into an agreement with the Theosophical Society to resume and complete the work of erecting the new headquarters of the Society in Tavistock Square. The contract was given to Messrs. William Cubitt and Co. two years ago, but was cancelled on the stoppage of work early in the present year. The work, which will occupy at least eighteen months and give employment to between two and three hundred men, is now estimated to cost about £100,000, and the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the Committees of the affiliated Unions, provides for the employment of none but Trade Union men. All masonry, plastering, brickwork, and joinery is to be done by direct labour, and any sub- contractors called in for other work are to be firms which employ Trade Union labour throughout. The new move is clearly a step towards the realization of the Syndicalist aim of eliminating the capitalist and instituting direct relations between Labour and the public.
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