The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-02-08
RAILWAY EMPLOYES--THEIR
WAGES AND WORKING HOURS

The feeling of tho labor organizations among rail-
road men Is clearly stated in the following joint
statements of the chief officers OF the railway
brothcrhoods, published in the report Of the in
dusrial commission:
"rhc necessity of changing train and engine
crews at established points where terminal ia.
oilitics are provided renders it mpuctcabc to
arbitrarily Ay the hours Of train and engine men,
We think the hours Of labor Of yard and office
men should be shortened, and we think they could
be reasonably fixed by law. For train dispatchers
and yard employees in large and busy yards eight
hours should constitute n day. In all other
classes OF service ten hours should be recognized
q days work, and all time duty In excess
of ten hours for days pay, should be paid as
extra overtime. We should suggest en- act speci.
flying the legal work day az above and lcgalizing
claims for extra pay for extra houip worked"
For the safety, Of the travelling public as we'll
as for the health Of the employees, several Of the
states have passed laws fixing the maximum
hours of labor for railway trainmcn. with tn,
number of hours rest which shall follow. In New
York. Ohio and Minnesota ten hours is II legal
days work. Some states have fixed maximum
period of labor with certain number OF hours
following for rest, without naming the number Of
hours constituting a legal day, thus Georgia and
Florida, thirteen hours; Ohio. flteen Colorado,
Minnesota and Nebraska, eighteen, and New York
and Michigan. twenty.iour hours with eight hours
rest IN enCn OF them.
The industrial commission as we'll as the
commissioner OF labor give no names of railways
or corporation in their statistics, hut the replies
only to inquiries made. They give what they
call typical replies from nine roads which operate
23,j61 miles, and employ Sj,ll2 men. The aver
age wages docs not vary materially from this
from the report OF the interstate commerce com.
mission as given in the table above
The representatives of five organizations oi rail-
way employees assembled at Carnegie, Pa. July
t. 1882 to the number OF 900 men and adopted
resolutions pettioning congress to pass an act
restricting the hours of labor in the transport3
tion department OF interstate railroads to eight
out Of twcnty.four.
Professor Lindsay, the compiler oi these stats.
tics for the department OF the bureau of labor,
Washington, says: "Wit, reference to the hours
OF lahor. it is questionable whether economic con-
ditions and the present high degree of intensity OF
services would justify an eight hour day as Il
standard for all railways OF the country The
facts Of the show that fast express trains,
men in the train service frequently work less
than that at the present time, some Of them
making good wages the mileage basis with
five or six hours working time per day. 1t is
also clear that many economic forces are at work
in the transportation business to fiN days
work at or as near ten hours possible. This
seems to be the point Of equilibrium at which
the economic interests OF both employer and en-
ployc under existing conditions can best meet