The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-08-05
THEIR LOST TIME.
Railroad Employees Will
Get No Pay.
Fillmore Says That Faithful Men
Will Be Rewarded i'm Manner
as Yet a Secret.

Since the termination of the great rail-
road strike there has been some inquiry
among EN- ployes as to the attitude of the
Southern Pacific regarding the pay of men
who were not participants in the move
ment. but, on the other hand. were out
spoken in their support of the company
and ready to go to work at any time.
An engineer. who, for obvious reasons,
refused to permit the publication of his
name, said yesterday that be thought the
company should give some consideration
to those of Its employees who had remained
faithful in time of trouble.
Throughout all the STRIKE" said he. 81,
with great majority of the engineers.
was at the service of the ompaDy when
ever called upon. 1 took no part In the
trouble. and believe il is treating me and
my brother engineers who are in the same
position with unwarranted severity to
compel US to suffer the same loss of wages
which the active supporters Of the strike
have incurred"
The substance of the engineers remarks
was related to General Superintendent
Fillmore yesterday, and he was requested
to give expression to the position of the
company In the premises.
1T is simply ridiculous to suppose"
said he, 'that the company can for mo-
ment entertain a proposition 10 pay its
men for work that was never performed.
This is proposition in which, believe,
we will be sustained by any right-think-
ing person and any business man who has
to do with the employment Of men.
'All of our engineers and trainmeu are
paid specified amount per trip and on a
mileage basis for their service, and this
amount is credited to them at the end Of
each month, and for this they are paid.
In other words, their payrolls are made out
for the payment of so many dollars for so
much servce rendered.
Now, when we take under considera-
ton O proposition to reward our faithful
employees for their actions in the past, it is
manifestly impossible that we should at
tempt to let that reward find expression
in payment for service that has never
been performed.
There is another feature of the case
which has probably escaped the attention
of some of those interested, and that is, if
we were to allow the engineers and con-
ductors for time lost during the strike,
why not all the hundreds of clerks, track
men, shophands, ETC. Ii we are to con-
slider the claims of one class we certainly
cannot ignore those of another, and every
man who Is at all familiar with the strike
knows that the company's friends were
not confined to any one or two branches
of the service.
Let us take look at few figures in
connection with the proposition. OF the
1870 or more employees Of the Southern
Pacific there were at fair estimate, 10, 600
of them Idle q portion of the time, and
probably 5000 men did no work for a
period Of about sixteen days. OF these
5000 men fully 5000 were in sympathy with
the company, or took no active part in the
strike If they were not
ALLOWING these 5000 men an average of
So per day. we would have a wage account
of S1S, 600 for each day of the strike to
meet, or about $500, 900 as the sum total
quite large sum for even railroad COM
panv to pay out. believe you will agree
with me, and that, too, when no equivalent
was given in return.
Now, of one thing can assure you, and
that is that the Southern Pacific Company
will do the right thing by all of Its loyal
men; but in the cases to be taken under
consderation-and there are many of
them-they must be looked into separa tely,
and when O decision is finally reached
those who did what was right will have no
reason to complain"
But many of the trainmen are not salts
fed with the railroads plausible promises.
They prefer something definite. and do
not consider that in remaining faithful to
the company during the strike they were
not rendering full equivalent of full
wages.