River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-11-10
STRIKE
RAILROADS SOUTH, WEST AND
NORTH OF CHICAGO MAY
BE AFFECTED.
SIXTY ONE SYSTEMS INVOLVED
NEGOTIATIONS for Settlement End, and
Vote Is to be Taken.-Change in
Work Conditions and Wage
Advance Asked.

AUlCd2O.
be taken among engineers of sixty-one
railroads west, south and north OF Chi
cago, including the Illinois Central, fol-
lowing termination of negotiations be,
tween the roads and grand officers OF
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-
neers which had been in session since
Sept. &c. Difference on wage increases
of approximately per cent and alter
alton of working conditions stand be-
tween the negotiators.
Grand Chief Warren S. Stone, of the
brotherhood, who has been leading the
railroad men in their demands, said
he believed the strike vote would be
unanimously in favor of suspension OF
work and that the enginemen would
have expressed their desire by Dec.
10. Immediately thereafter he said, a
last opportunity would be given the
railroads to meet the workers and IL
they ignored that opportunity, within
five hours every engine west OF Chi
cago, on all branches of service, would
be stilled and the fires drawn and out
of the thousands of cabs would step
every driver on duty.
The representatives of the engine
men in the twenty-five conferences
which ended without result were:
Warren S. Stone, grand chief, and Ash
Kennedy, F. A. Burgess, E. Corrigan,
M. w. Cadle, and S. E. Wills, assistant
grand chiefs, Brotherhood of Locomo-
tive Engineers.
Their negotiations received the adj
vice of fifty division managers of the
brotherhood who directly represented
the smaller councils of the order.
Officials at Conference.
Railroad officials as follows heard
the engine drivers demands: w. B.
Scott, of the Union Pacific; F. E.
Ward, of the Burlington lines; F. c.
Batchelder, of the Chicago Terminal,
Baltimore e Ohio; w. A. Durham, OF
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas; F. H.
Emerson, of the Great Northern; T. j.
Foley, of the Illinois Central; F. G.
Fox, of the Atchison, Topeka e Santa
Fe; Grant Hall, of the Canadian Pa
cific; H. J. Simmons, of the Ell Paso
& Southwestern, and A. W. Trenholm,
of the Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis
and Omaha.
The whole question arose from the
decision of the enginemen themselves
in convention at Detroit, Mich, last
spring. In a three weeks session it
was decided that the existing wage
scale in effect since February, 1907,
was unsatisfactory and that working
conditions had been imposed by rail.
roads which should be eliminated. The
grand officers were named to meet the
railroads and present the demands.
The general working conditions of
which the engine drivers complain in
clude, among other things, the follow
ing:
Drivers of the Mallet compound en-
gines, which do practically the work
of two engines and entail a cores
pondingly greater responsibility and
capability, receive the same wages as
other drivers of high power engines of
much lesser capacity.
Engineers wish to be relieved of the
toll of preparing their engines for
travel and of caring for them after
the runs.
Switching time should be paid for on
a different basis.
The magnitude of the wage question
is evidenced by a statement by the
employees that the Z per cent wage diff
ference now standing between the
drivers and the railroads means ap-
proximately S2,SOO,OO0 a year. The
cost of alterations of the working
conditions minor considerations in the
conference, would be less than $780,
600, it was asserted