The evening times., 1900-07-11
RAILWAY LABOR TROUBLE
Street Car Employees in the Dis
triet Threaten TO Strike.
Nine Men of the Metropolitan Com
PsEy Cult WOrk-Cbarses of In
Justice Against the Syndicate.
Made 10 Pay Fares Not Collected.
No Time Allowed TO Eat Meals.

Nine employees Of the Metropolitan Rail
way Company. a branch OF the Washing
ton Traction and Electric Syndicate. quit
work this morning because OF alleged IN
fair treatment. and it is contended that IL
the wrongs which caused these men 10 go
cut. and which it is said have prcGceed dis
eentent among all the employees Of the SIS
ten, are not remedied. a general strike
viii follow. The men Eko declined 10 con-
tnue al their posts Of duty this morning.
called later upon Vice President Harries
presented 10 him a statement OF their
grievances. and it was arranged that sec
end conference shall be held al 10 o'clock
tomorrow morning The position OF The
men is that IL no result satisfactory TO
them be reached at that conference q strike
viii follow which VIII Involve all The lines
Of railway in the District operated By the
Traction and Electric Company. otherwise
known as the Syndicate"
The main complaint Of the rn5n is that
they are uniCstiy assessed sor alleged
shortages in their accounts as shown By
their registers and that they have 10 ap-
peal or redress Of any character They
must pay the amount Of tie alleged short
age CT leave the company o. Of the de-
uaucs made upon the company IS that
Z Register CLERK Mccain. CT The NetropOIi-
tan Company shall be discharged They
declare that be Is unjust Il is NJ McCann's
I duty 70 take the registers that IS
10 read the register after a car has been
} turned IN after its days rur and 70 de-
duct the number Of fares indicated cn the
{ F-4 s-Tr
! barn IN TIE morning from the number in
dicated a. night. thus showing the nun
her cf fares -rung up during Jae day and
with this number tee fares and
tickets Turned in by the con
ductor OF thst car mus tally
The men do not protest against the
principle. bat against The InsnrsT of the
execution They claim that q hzr The reg
is-ers are AZ fsult or that NJ GtC4un is
They claim thai according % she -road-
lrRs OF Mr. NCCaLn. a CCEGuftu-s cash
and tickets rarely balance his reg ser and
that practically every Con6uc o. On the
road is shown by these -ezci1gs 20 b. any
where from 50 cents 70 S18 sh@IJ on tach
DAYS work They contend tkat th-s occurs
wljh Suspicious regularity among The
specific allegations against NJ NcTzuu =
, one that instead OF performing TIE '-read-
ings" himself he Frequently entrtl=ts this
work 10 inexperienced youths Ole o. he
! latter. il is said. has read e g-ceeu
| cars IN FIVE II -nuces. This. the D .O-5sting
employees maintain. is too fast for accU-
raCy- Another complaint Is that the Ieg.S-
! ters ofteS are at fault. Il is said that
Z they skip numbers. and that some riEles 5
when one fare is ruug I'D TIE register
viii jump lC0- Yet the men claim 10 ex-
| planstiOn viii be heard The ans rer gwen
/ the men, they claim. Is pay the shortage
or get out On the late runs the Jra-Iers
are sOmtimes detached from one motor car
10 another and fares taken, ye, the man
who took the car out OF the sheds in the
morning must pay all the fares indicated
by that register.
Another complaint is that with regard
10 The speed 81 which cars are run The
schedule OF the ears il is said con template
faster running than IS lawful Il the
schedule is not maintained the JrsiHmen
are fined or dismissed and Il they are ar
rested b. the police for violating the mu-
nicipal regulations governing speed. they
are also fined or dismissed by the com
pany- On one OF the runs from the main
barns along East Capitol Street 10 the
Capitol there is a stretch OF eighteen
squares which must be covered in nine
minutes, including. Of course. stops. This
the men say means too fast running
Another complaint is that there j. no
time allowed 10 eat During the twelve
n
there is no lay over or longer than three
minutes Within this time breakfast and
dinner, or dinner and supper must be
eaten
The bonding system is also complained
o. Each employe Of the consolidated roads
Is bonded in the sum OF $500 by the Fl
deity and Deposit Company Of MARYLAND.
The premium on this bond is s. wear.
payable IN advance and the receipt bears
on its face the words no rebate That
means that II an enpIoye pays his premi-
um On January !, 1900. for tk2- year and
IS dismissed from the service OF the com
pany FOR any reason on the same day. DO
part OF this premium is refunded 70 him
The men charge that ia the matter Of
Uniforms they are unjustly treated. They
are taxed $l5-75 g suit and IL dismissed on
the day Of purchase the company viii rot
redeem y or allow one cent fer H. even
though it may never have been worn.
The men have two other complaints. in
the matter Of which they ask no immedi-
ate remedy. One is the fact that wages
have been reduced by the syndicate. ard
the other is that employees are prohibited
under pain Of dismissal from joining The
ranks Of Organized labor On the Metro
politan Road before It's absorption by the
syndicate, conductors and motCrmen on
twelve hours work earned So This. IL is
said By the men. was the average days
wages Ale average earnings o. the con
ductOrs and notormen on that road TO-DAY
is said TO be SI72- There has /; IS main
teined. been a corresponding reduction in
the wages Of all the track and shed EN-.
ployes of the company other than train
men
When the syndicate absorbed the Metro
politan the men were informed that IL they
did not withdraw from the labcr unions To
which many q them belonged. they would
be discharged A sjority OF them obeyei
the orders Some who refused 10 obey 10
were discharged.