The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-11-12


and Shortening of Hours = Engine
Drivers Making Demands--Movemen
Expected to Spread to Many Roade
East and West.
New York, Nov. 12.-Polling of the
members Of the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Firemen employed by the Erie
railroad would result in unanimous
decision In favor of strike, was the
emphatic assertion made by John J.
Hannahan, grand chief Of the brother
hood
1t was learned that the firemen on
the ferryboats and tags of the Erie
have formulated demands for an in
crease in pay Of $40 month and do
crease in the working hours. These
demands will be presented to the com
pany officials this week.
There is. a widespread belief among
employees of every class on every rail
road entering New York that they
should get a share Of the prosperity
the companies are enjoying The en-
gineers and firemen OF forty-two lines
west of Chicago have made demands
for better pay and shorter hours, and
when the demands were presented a
reply was requested by Nov. 10. They
consented, however, to wait thirty
days from Nov. 10 before deciding on
further action. Western members of
the delegations quartered in the Broad
way Central hotel said no reply had
been received by the men, and they
believed the companies were waiting
to see what action would be taken by
the officials of the eastern roads in the
present negotiations.
Shorter Hours Demanded.
II want to lay particular stress on
our demand for shorter hours" naid
Hannahan. ''This to the men means as
mitch es, if not more than, an increase
Il wares. Many of the frenen are
OBLIGED to work at times as much as
tairty-Gix hours at a stretch. The
work of 6remen On locomotives is ex-
kausting enough in ordinary condi
Cons"
AalGahan said that after the resu
Of the Eoll should be announced all
Lcce1sary to make the strike effective
VI g4sd be his Endorsement. which he
woui1 give. It was t1e general 0pfn-
iol among the members of the various
delegations that strike would tie up
tho road completely There are 1900
f-cTnen on the system, and 675 of the
engineers have been promoted from
Grcmon. These men have retained
MEMBERSHIP in the Firemen's Brother
LCod. They are voting on the strike
proposition, too, and will quit the serv-
ice whom the f1remen decide to walk
out. How far this action will affect
the remainder of the engineers on the
system remains to be seen.
West Shore Engineers Rtot.
Besides a secret conference of Erie
engineers there was a meeting OF
West Shore railroad engineers It is
reported that this gathering related to
the present railroad situation.
e. w. Hurley, assistant grand chiel
of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En-
gineers, said that the Erie engineers
were neither expecting nor desiring
strike. He remarked, however, that
the brotherhood was In an excellent
condition to stand strike, having ST.
100000 in its treasury, and that the
f1remen were about as we'll of. When
asked what the engineers on the Erie
would do il a strike Of the firemen took
place he said:
The engineers are under a contract
with the company which will not be
broken unless the company breaks it.
That contract cannot be nullified with
out thirty days notice being given by
the side that wishes to Withdraw"
Officials Stand Firm.
In the conferences at which Hanna
han presided it is understood the dele
cation which had visited the Erie Off
cials on Friday and Saturday said that
President Underwood and General
Manager Stuart had refused absolute
" to make any concessions. The men,
bers of the delegation were bitter in
their condemnation of the way the rail
road officials met their demands.
The exact nature of the engineers
1t is known in a general way they
want an increase in wages and that
certain companies have made counter
proposition which, though conceding
an increase, lacks a good deal of sat
isfying the men, That whatever action
is taken by the engineers of the Lack
awanna will be followed by similar
action by the engine drivers on all
the other roads concerned was admit
ted by members of the delegations.
They say no increase in wages has
been made except on the Pennsylvania
and Reading systems within almost
thirty years, but living expenses have
gone up.
Hannahan said that even the recent
advance in wages on the Pennsylvania
road had not satisfied the men wholly.
Everything points to the taking of con-
certed action by the firemen of rail-
roads entering New York.