Omaha daily bee., 1907-05-06
RULE RESTRICTING LEAVES is ABRoGATtO
Held to Pe Part of Contrso. Under Which
Men Went Into the Service.
NO INCREASE IN WAGES FOR sHovtlMsN
Secretary Reviews Conditions and Holds
They Are Not untitled to It.
NO DISCHARGES WITHOUT A HEARING
commission to he Organized In
which Men Are Represented 60
Pass on Question of Dia-
charge of workmen,

| WASHINGTON, May 6-A far-reaching
decision by Secretary TAFT affecting rates
! of pay hours of labor etc, on the istbmua
! OF Panama, following his recent personal
] investigation there, was made public at
the White House today, after being ap-
| proved by President Roosevelt. The de-
cision applies to steam shovemen con-
struction locomotive engineers and con-
struction train conductors.
One Of the grievances Of the men was
the putting into operation on April Of
new regulations restricting leave of abb
/ sence or leave on account Of sickness. on
! this question the secretary says:
! The old regulations were advertised in
/ the printed announcements sent out by tho
| commissions agents to induce persons to
| go to the sthmus and enter the employ OF
| the commission, so that every man who
| has come to the isthmus has come there
| with the understanding that the old regu-
lations were to apply as part Of his con-
| tract of service
ut seems to me that good faith requires
that the old regulations as to leave shall
/ not he materially changed and shall re-
main part OF the contract Of service
| OF those now on the isthmus, and that
! while there are some provisions in the new
regulations which would make for the more
stringent enforcement of the governments
rights and more certainly avoid possible
! fraud, they should not be made applicable
/ to men who came to the isthmus under the
| old regulations"
| Regarding summary dismissal without
| hearing or giving reasons, which was COM
| planned Of by the canal employees, Secretary
| Taft says that he has given his approval
to the plan of Colonel Goethals. whereby II
is proposed to dispose OF such cases through
a committee consisting of one representa-
! tive of the craft of the employc proposed
for dismissal, one representing the foreman
or higher official proposing discharge and
one representing the commission, final ac-
tion to be taken by the commission.
Present Wages Liberal.
! Secretary Taft next considers the case
of the steam shovelmen. who applied for
higher wages follows;
Engineers. S2lO to $500 per month; cranes
men, from SlS5 to $3.50 per month; hremen,
from SsS.Ss TO 3ll0 per month
In reaching the conclusion that the pres
ent rates of pay are liberal he cites large
number of instances of wage scales paid
by large construction afms in the United
States from New York to San Francisco.
and also in Alaska. He concludes the
complaint of this branch of the canal em-
ployes is not well founded
Upon the isthmus," ne adds, the con-
ditions under which the different men work
in respect to the character of material
and the distance of the dumps are so
different that It has been impossible to
gra%nate the pay or offer bonuses for high
yardage. The only method is to fix a
fiat rate for the whole class
After giving the matter the considera-
tion which its Importance deserves and
after Weighing the comparative advantages
which the isthman shovelmen enjoy over
their brothers I'm the states, with the dis
advantages which they have to bear in
going to and living on the isthmus I have
reached the conclusion thar the existing
standard of pay is liberal and ought not
to be Increased except under some pro-
vision OF reasonable increase applicable to
all veteran skilled employees of the conn
mission who are paid by class rates The
isthmiau shovel engineers are paid from
2S to 35 per cent higher than the average
OF those paid i'm the states and this by
no means states all the terms favorable
to the men employed on the isthmus
"A steam shovelman on the lsthmus
can count on twelve months constant EN-
ployment in a year. and steam shovelnen
in the United States cannot expect to he
employed more than nine months In the
year The rate OF pay for steam shovel
engineers IN Alaska. as before stated. il
said to be $500 a month"; but we can
reasonably presume that the working year
there would hardly exceed six or seven
months
Vacations with Pay.
Every shOveman on the isthmus il en-
titled to six weeks leave, with pay, as A
Nraa fon hat he
months pay for ten and one-haIf months
work.
Steam shovelmen on the isthmus work
only eigh hours a DAY. whereas many,
though not all OF the steam shovelmen
in the United States, work ten hours
day.
Every employe on the isthmus is per-
mitted. II he fails sick, to enjoy twenty
days sick leave. with pay,
IF the employe receives an injury during
his work he is entitled an additional
thirty days sick leave
Every married man is entitled to fur
nished quarters for himself and family
free with modern plumbing convenienees.
with water, fuel and light free: and
commissary which aims TO sell all neees-
sares at cost 20 commission employees.
The married quarters are generally in
I separate houses Every bachelor Is en-
titled to his furnished room free. together
! with light and board az a reasonable rate,
at mess house or hotel. The cost of food
and nccessarie5 is about what it is IN
eastern cities or slightly higher.
Every employe is entitled 20 free medi-
cal attendance and hospital service
'It may be admitted that service on the
isthmus Is attended with greater discom-
fort and greater risk Of Illness than that
in the states due to the climatic cordldons,
and that the distance from home the DIM
Guilty of securing usual and rational amuss-
meuts ana the naturally depressing effect
Of continued high tcmperstur makes the
service on the isthmus less desirable than
n the United states. 8Ht II is 20 be re-
marked that the original conditions az
unhealthfulne5s which existed when the
original rate for shoveimen was fixed IN
1904 have been greatly better7d; that the
yellow fever has been stamped ont; that
the rate Of death and sickness among