New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration Acme Malleable Iron Workers (Buffalo, New York) and the International Iron Molders Union Records

The New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration was requested by the Iron Moulders Union to make an inquiry into the cause of the dispute between the Moulders and the Acme Malleable Iron Works. The Board held a hearing in Buffalo on February 21, 1899, since it had been informed that a condition of lawlessness existed around the plant and extra police were needed to guard the plant.

The strike, or lockout began when the union presented its demands for $2.25 a day for the men on day work and piece rates which would permit the men to earn at least $2.25 a day. Shortly after the demands were presented, the employer called the moulders together in the plant to tell them that he was discharging all union men because they were intimidating non-union men and causing trouble in the plant. The non-union men could continue working, however. Union and non-union men walked off the job.

In the course of the hearings it became apparent that the men were unable to learn the price for the jobs they did until payday, that they felt the weights assigned by the foreman were not always accurate and that the foreman gave the better jobs to the men who paid him extra. Union members also believed that they were discriminated against. The foreman denied the charges against him.