St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-25
AN EXPECTED TIE UP.
Engineers and Firemen ON
the c., B. & G. Ordered to
Quit Work.
Which Will Tie Up the Road
From Council Bluffs to
Chicago.
Another Railroad to Be Built
From the Missouri to
st. Paul.
A Good Showing Made by the
Northern Pacific in It's
Earnings.

CHICAGO, Feb. A.-POSSibly tO-mOr-
row the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
railroad will be tied up from one end to
the other. Freight as well as passenger
traffic will be stopped, and most of the
switch engines will be abandoned. The
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers,
and the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen have decided upon strike as
a last resort to enforce their demands
upon the railroad company, and as both
organizations are very strong on this
road, as well as elsewhere, they conf
IDENTIFY expected to tie up the road COM
pletely and to win the strike.
This step derives its import
ance not only from the
large interests involved if the strikers
succeed in paralyZing one of the biggest
railroads of the West, but because of
late it has been generally accepted that
the locomotive engineers were so un-
alterably opposed to strikes that no
conjunction of circumstances could be
imagined that would induce the men,
merS to resort to that means. The res
Olution of the Chicago, Burlington 65
Quincy men is a general surprise. A
few days ago Chief Arthur startled the
labor world by the announcement that
it was the intention of his organization
to do away with classified wages and
make the
PAY OF ALI. MEN THE SAME
for the same work without reference to
the length of time they had been EN-
plOyed by the company. Thus the To-
cOmOtive engineers, hitherto considered
the most conservative labor OrganiZa-
ton of the country, placed itself, in the
matter of wages, OH the same ground as
the most "advanced" trades unions.
The conclusion to do away with all
classification in the wages of engineers
and it may be added here that the fire.
men are acting in concert with them
thrOughout-wasr reached by the BROTH
erhOOd at its session in Chicago last
October, and resolution was
adopted to enforce this new plan
all over the United States wherever
the organization was strong enough to
do so. This prOviSo was so added for
the purpose of avoiding conflict
where the organization was sure to be
beaten. The principal reason for this
step, as Mr.. Arthur explains, was that
the railroads were beginning to dis
charge men who had been in the service
long time and were drawing better
pay and to put in their places men who
were not veterans in the trade, but
were capable of doing the work just as
well and willing to take lower wagpS.
The result was that engineers of long
experience had difficulty in getting
work, and the general standard of
wages was reduced. The same applied
to the firemen, who got 50 to 60 per cent
of the pay of the engineers. After
several months of labor the men have
succeeded in introducing a uniform
scale of wages for all engineers on the
road service on the Chicago, Milwaukee
& ST. Paul, the Chicago d Northwest
ern, the Chicago q Alton, the Wabash,
the Chicago & Atlantic, the Atchison,
Topeka d Santa Fe, and other Western
lines. The new scale is 315 cents a
mile for freight engineers and 60 per
cent for the firemen. All their nego-
tiations
WE'RE SUCCESSFUL
until they called on the Chicago, Bur-
lington q Quincy road. For three
weeks past a committee of the en-
gineers and firemen of that road, with
Chief Arthur of the engineers,
and Grand Master Sergeant, of the fire
men, at the head have been negotiating
with General Manager Stone and Super
intendent BesSler to bring about a SINH
lar arrangement to those on the other
roads. At present the Chicago, Bur-
lington d Quincy is working under an
arrangement made last year with Vice
President Potter. 1t makes special ar
rangements with its men by the trip,
paying certain amount for trip from
Vii fn En1n A
to Chicago, or wherever it may be, and
the engineers complain that they get
the worst of this arrangement. The Of
fcialS of the railroads claimed that to
grant the demands of the engineers and
fremen would greatly increase their
expenses by advancing the average of
their wages and refused to accede to it.
The committee of the Chicago, Burling-
ton & Quincy men considered the mat
ter among themselves, and this morning
announced to Arthur and Sergeant that
they had
DECIDED TO CALL OUT
ali the engineers and firemen on the
road as far as the two brotherhOOds con-
trOlled them The number of engineers
and firemen on the Chicago, Burlington
q Quincy is about 1,500, which is about
evenly divided between the two trades.
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-
neers to the resolution of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy men," said Chief
Arthur this evening, because l think
they have asked nothing but what is
right and fair. We have asked no more
than the other roads have granted,
and if they can grant it, there is
no reason why the Chicago. Burlington
81 Quincy cannot. They claim that it
would largely increase their expenses.
l do not believe it would. 1t would
average the wages of the men, and pos
sibly advance the average little, but
it would be very little, and the road
could well afford it, as well as all the
trunk lines can"
do you think that if the men are
called out it will tie up the road from
81 do, decidedly. Our organization is
strong ON the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy, and l do not think they can get
men to fill our places"
General Manager Stone, of the Chi
cago. Burlington & Quincy, could not
be found to-day, and at his Office it was
said he would not speak about the SUBJ
ject. Supt. Peasly is out of the city.