Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-10-24
DEMAND ON
SOUTHERN PACIFIC
Il win be for an Increase Of
Wages.
OTHER ROADS INVOLVED
thirty Thousand Employees on NJ r.
,,sc,ed-Leaders of Railway
Union Rsneen' About Plans.

o.S,ord Cal, oct. 23.--According 10
m, interview obtained today by Irl-
N",o ,eporter with the heads Of rail-
I'D unions and the union members
\ ,boys will be a demand upon the SOUTH
o,n pacific within the next 80 days Tor
increased wages. which will affect
,,vsrd Of $4,000 OF Its employees. Both
49,. man and union officials are 10Th
70 speak Of their plan and purposes
Thsy say that premature publication
:, ,ne,r demands and the methods OF
n.o,adure may defeat the purpose they
S,ya In view. For that reason thty
IND rather not talk, but when
,'.ossad 10 either confirm or deny the
irnhlisbed statements that a concerted
l,r,srd was being made not only upon
IN. Southern Pacific company but up
ON % other railroads west OF Chicago,
tor Increased wages, 1t was admitted
hat such was the case.
Dnrlnp the last six months the mem
h.rshlp of one union organization alone
hs, increased over 100 per cent That
s,cani7ation Is the United Brotherhood
~ Railway Employees, Six months ago
mere were only 5000 members Of that
organlzation in the employ Of the
Southern Pacific system Today there
d afe over 10000 members. This mem
4 be,ship does not include the thousands
4 NJ railroad men employed on q other
4 roqds who are involved in the present
y movement IN Sacramento the b. r.
has a membership OF 500. In Sen
4 Francisco the membership is 1000 and
IN Oakland $50,
y zach Of the seven divisions Is wei
\ represented in the order. The brother
a mood does not include all Of the organ
lyatons. The engineers, conductors
bfakemen, switchmen firemen, boiler
4 makers, car men, machinlsts ard
trldgemen all have separate organl-
i ,qtons but all are eligible to member
A shp IN the brotherhood. II IS est
4 mated that before the first Of the year
4 that on the Southern Pacific system
d alone there viii be $4,000 members. In
4 the state Of California there are l4OCV
n ernloyes Of the various roads whc
4 ieong TO unions. It is said that thes"
s. mtn are supporting each other, as wei
as the organZa lions in the eastern
q states. All Of the l4,0O0 men In Call
& fornla either have demanded or VIII
q demand increased wages Of the South
4 trn Pacific company.
The cause OF the demands being
Il made, briefly stated, is the increased
4 cost OF living, The men claim thai
n they are paying 50 to 40 per cent more
for house rent and the necessaries o.
= Ne. Their wages, they say, have no.
A been increased proportionately and
= that It Is harder to support a family
81 now than II was four years ago, They
sso recite that all the railroads are
Il dong from 0ne-f0urth TO one-thirr
"a more business now than formerly, and
q that their profits are correspondingly
Il larger
The third reason assigned by tn
Il men for wanting better wages Is tina,
d owing TO the heavier equipment in use
Il by nearly all the railroads, the train
crews and all employees connected with
4 this department are compelled TO do
! more work than formerly.
To make good their assertions that
1 The cost Of living is higher, and that
N the railroads are making more money
4 than ever before the executive con-
7 nllttees appointed over year ago have
Il compiled exhaustive statistics, The
4 cost Of food wearing apparel house
4 rent and other necessaries, for period
1 Of SIX years Is tabuated for the
i benefit Of the heads Of the railroads.
I Statistics showing the exact cost OF
operation per mile OF the railroads and
The exact profit reaped by the COM
panies for each mile have been pre-
pared, The increased profits will be
j made the basis Of the increased de-
4 nands.