The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-01-21
RESULT OF PUBLICITY
How a Strike Was Won In the
City Of Toronto.
DOWNFALL or ARROGANCE.

. Great Success.
The department Of labor for Canadg
has just issued report OF more thar
hundred pages covering the testi
mony and findings Of the first roya
commission appointed to Investigate .
labor trouble under the Inquiries act
Of 1906 The occasion was the strike
of the telephone operators at Toronto
The cancellation board bad beer
asked by the mayor Of Toronto to use
its good Offices to prevent the strike,
which was. however, precipitated be-
fore the board could take action
Thereupon the board recommended
that the inquiries act be invoked
The strike took place Feb. /. On Feb
2 the royal commission was named
and began taking testimony immedi-
ately.
The strike was caused by an order
from the company almost doubling the
hours Of labor. with but slight increase
In pay.
The company refused to see any com
mittee Of employees, to see members
Of the cancellation board or to submit
any phase OF the question 70 arbitra-
ton. The commission began taking
Testimony, the nature Of which will be
gathered from the chapter titles IN the
report. Causes, Nature and Incidents
Of Telephone Operators Strike at To
ronto;" "The Remuneration OF Work
and Cost of Living" Duration and
Intensity Of Work" 'sThe Methods Of
Work and Elements Of Nervous
Strain" "The Opinions of Leading
Physicians"
The operators had returned to work
pending the finding OF the commission,
trusting TO the power Of public sentl-
ment TO enforce those findings and
without any expression upon that point
from the company. After the first two
days Of public hearing the company
began posting revised rules and seized.
ules in its operating rooms, each more
liberal and humane than the last until
on Feb. 10 1t posted an order which
the operators considered satisfactory
and through their attorney so notified
the commission.
The publicity given to the hearings
befre the commission was SO clearly
the cause Of the change Of front on the
part OF the company that the commits
sion seems amply justified In claim
ing that this was the fact and con
graduating itself accordingly Up to
the time the local physicians began to
testify the company had claimed that
It was concerned only with the cost Of
the service and that its only interest
IN wages and conditions Of labor was
It's ability TO secure employees. The
fact that II could get girls, 1t declared
was full and sufficient economic an
swer" to ali merely sentimental
charges The fnal recommendation y.
The commission is upon this point.
reproves the company for denying 9
employees the right to be heard and
board Of eonciliation com
Jossd or one member from each class
1f employees and one official from each
department. where mutual grievances
.an be discussed freely al all times
THE report contains much that Is Of
interest at this time. Especially Is
bis true Of the standard days work Of
lpeed rate required Of operators and
he Abresking point or rate at which
he service TO the public inevitably be
gins to deteFiorate.
II was found that Toronto, with ita
q. 900 telephones, carried a higher load /
)er operator at the breaking point
han had been supposed. TO illustrate.
he traffic curve" as 1t is called, Is
be number OF calls each hour. This
itarts in at shy, 7 a. m, very light, |
caches its highest point or peak Of /
be load' at IL a. M, then drops to
mother minimum between IL and +
J. m, when It starts upward again, I
eaehing the peak Of the afternoon
Dad during the hour from to p. M.
During the peak Of the Load the 4
Toronto company held that 400 calls
n hour could be handled by each op-
irator before reaching the breaking
,oint" 1t was shown that the effort
i tho company was to reach this
breaking point" continuously, and the
ecords were produced. showing 354
alls an hour the average for the sew
MY girls In the Toronto main Office
eing 252 between 10 and II a. N. and
50 between 5 and 6 ?. m. II Mont
cal, working on an eight hour basis.
be highest average was 1913.
Il is. moreover. interesting to note
hat in two Offices OF the same com
any the operating cost in Montreal on
u eight hour day was S1S7 per thou
and calls. while in Toronto on i've
our day the cost was S1.2tk per thou.
and calls. or 80 per cent in favor Of
'oronto owing 20 the higher speed rate
f the girls.
On the whola. It Is very illuminat
az report and should be Of first Inn
ortance to the coming congress. which I
iii have to consider the passage Of a
III providing tcr compulsory invest-
alton OF labor disputes in this eoun-
r. It must % borne in mind that
empuisory Investigation is a very diff
arent thing from compulsory arbi-
-ation. The Canadiaa Inquiries act
Imply provides the machinery foI
irniag the aearchlight on labor dis
utes aud leaves public opinion to do
le resL-E saezbVrt Stewart il Chicago
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