Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-12
MUST WORK EXTRA HOURS
DISSATISFACTION EXPRESSED By
TREASURY CLERKS.
Checking Up Of Money Orders in Ar
rears-Must Be Brought
Up to Date.

Out Of the office of the auditor for the
Post Office Department there has arisen
wall Of woe, and, coming from the united
force Of more than one hundred clerks of
the division. the pecan Of protest carries
with 1t unusual weight and significance.
It seems that the work Of the auditors
Office, where all Of the enormous issue of
money orders from post Offices throughout
the country are first checked upon being
returned to the Post Office Department, is
In arrears. B. A. Allen. chief Of the in
speeding division, declares the failure to
keep the work up to date is largely on ac-
count of illness in the clerical force, as
many as eleven clerks being away at one
time on several different occasions.
For their part the clerks unite in as
sorting that the work has always been in
arrears at this season OF the year. and
they also attribute part of the delay to
necessary loss of time in doing their own
asserting of the money orders, which, they
say, should have been the work of labor
ers in the Office and not of clerks. AS
another factor in the difficulty the clerks
skilled clerks were taken from the division
ana put In other bureaus where the work
was not 80 heavy, and the vacancies filled
with men and women inexperienced in the
work.
Must Report at A. M.
AT any rate. the employees of the auditing
division received an order from Mr.. Allen
~'N~~S~S SA1Sa Wy DOAO1c = y CIOCh IN the
afternoon that they could not stop at 4:3O
o'clock, as usual, but would be compelled to
work until $50 and report at o'clock in
stead OF next morning-this order to OBJ
tain daily until further notice. The order
anects 123 persons. Hence the protest
Representatives Of the clerks this morn
ing declared the department is without the
right from legal standpoint to REQUIRE two
hours extra work each day from each en-
ploye OF the division, because Congress has
liked the departmental working day at
seven hours. Some of the clerks. who have
been unable to reach the department on the
to make up the time after $50 O'clock It
Is also declared no one is allowed to reg
lister OUT at any time during the working
day, no matter how legitimate may be the
business demanding attention. Still an
other grievance added to the sum total,
according to the claim of the clerks is that
the extra time made each day is not en-
tered in the general records. and any de-
sired reference to 1t in later years would
be impossible.
OF course, there can be no extra compen-
sation for this overtime, because the
salaries are on per diem, or annual bases,
but the government takes the additional
hours Of labor performed in it's work and
gives absolutely no return even in the way
of allowance Of proportionate extra time
off in seasons when the work of the bu-
reau may be well in hand
The chiefs of the divisions unite in the
bureau should be up-to-date, because it af-
fects the work of all other bureau which
have to do with handling the money orders,
as well as the settlement of the accounts
-of more than $1,000 postmasters throughout
the country.