Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-07-25
THE FGcrs REVIEWED AND THE REA
soNABtEEEss OF THE DEMANDS DE.
MoKSTRATED.

The telegraphers still stand firmly upon
their original demand. They should not
yield jot of the claim. 1t is said opera
tors will be brought from England. Such
a rumor is but a device of the companies,
because English operators do not use the
Morse alphabet, and would be useless in
America; besides it is not possible 60 bring
over 1000 operators to supply the places
of the American strikers.
That the public may not be misled by
the floating statements relative to the tele-
graphers' demand, it will be we'll to review
its details, which we have been at pains to
ascertain from the official circular issued
by the Brotherhood Of Telegraphers. This
sets forth: First, the need for one days
rest in seven second, the justice of the
demand for extra pay for Sunday work !;
third, the equity of the demand for equal
pay to both sexes for equal work fourth,
q request for a salary increase of 10 per
cent; fifth, request that eight hours
shall constitute sitting by day, and seven
hours a sitting by night. In this eight
hour demand alone can there be found
ground for forming an issue as to the ex-
act Justice of the demand. On that point
there is room for honest difference of opin-
ion, but we believe the companies will
secure better results by lessening the
present exhaustive maximum of hours of
labor per day. The late William Orion,
President of the Western Union Telegraph
Company man o. practical experience
and general knowledge in all matters of
telegraphy-testified before Congress
sional committee that operators could
not perform daily more than six
hours of continuous labor, without
endangering their health. The strain of
the duties of the vocation is not only upon
the physical but the mental part, and i'm
pairs the elasticity of both. while the
calling is such as TO demand that both
shall, at all times, be in the best possible
condition in order to respond to the re.
IhSs ANob pun
The Western Union Telegraph Com
pany fixes the standard of wages for the
United States and Canada. This standard
it has steadily reduced. Let US see.
Between 1870 and 1874 two general reduc-
tions were made amounting to about % per
cent. Between 1874 and 1877 local superin.
,r,ra1 -
measures, managed to further reduce
salaries, by placing the wage rate for every
place vacated at lower figure and giving
the new applicant to understand that "the
place" paid only that sum. In 1878 the
executive committee of the company, find.
ing that the telegraphers submitted to the
cinching process, issued the famous sliding
scale order by which further reductions,
ranging from 5 to % per cent, were made
on all salaries of employees. Meanwhile,
during all these years the profits of the
company were steadily increasing as the
volume of business augmented. Before
lS7S, however, we believe in 1876, the
company finding that the plan of the local
managers in fixing lessened rate of
wages upon each place as vacated, was not
resented, ordered that as each place
became vacant it must be filed by man
willing to take s. per month less than his
predecessor received. Salaries declined by
this process to $40 and $50 per month
for good routine day workers, snd many
were forced to abandon the business in or.
der to earn bread fer their little ones. In
1850, owing to the competition brought
about by the American Union and other
companies, the Western Union Company,
in order to retain its best men, was forced
to slightly advance the salaries of the most
superior workers. The telegraphers now
ask that the minimum salary shall not be
for regular lineman less than Sos, and for
helpers not less than $50; that the Wheat.
stone operators shall be paid, for frst-class
men, SIS, and for second. class men, $50
per month.
These are, we believe, all the material
facts. unless we refer again to the watering
of the Western Union stock and the float
ing of the new Issue on the market. on the
sums wrung from the starved employees by
the successive "squeezes recited. Ads.