The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1910-03-18
FIREMEN AND ENoiNEMEN ON AZ
ROADS ARE ORDERED
TO QUIT.
Final NOTICE BY WIRE
Railroad Refused Arbitration, Except
on Wage Question.-25, 900 Fire.
men Hit, and Tieup of West.
ern Lines Is Seen.

Chicago, Illinois. - w. S. Carter,
President of the brotherhood of loco.
motive firemen and enginemen, an.
nounces that strike of $4,000 firemen
on practically all the Western rail
roads has been called.
Mr.. Carter said the decision to
strike had been reached at a meeting
OF 4S members of the Western federat-
ed board of the brotherhood, each
member representing a Western rail.
road.
The exact hour at which the men
are to walk out, he said, would be de.
c1ded upon and every member of the
union between Chicago and the Pacific
coast would then be informed by tele.
graph when to quit work.
"The strike has been called-that
much is certain" said Mr.. Carter. 'It
means that not only $4,000 fremen,
members of our union, will go out, but
perhaps that many more employees will
be thrown out in consequence. We
gave our untimatum to the railroads
that the men had voted to strike and
we were prepared to call one unless
we were granted arbitration of all
questions in dispute. The railroads
refused to arbitrate anything but the
wage question.
We decided it was useless to further
parley with the railroad managers.
We adopted a resolution calling a
strike.
The controversy which has been un.
der discussion for more than six
weeks involves A railways operating
west, northwest, and southwest of Chi
cago, and embraces about 100000
miles of railroads.
1t has previously been stated by
both sides that if a strike were called
it would tie up practically every
freight and passenger train between
Chicago and the Pacific.
The points in dispute are:
Increase in wages demanded, which
the union officials say would amount
10 about 1914 per cent, but which the
railroads assert would amount to 22b
per cent.
The right Of the union in questions
OF representation when fireman has
been promoted to be an engineer or to
another capacity over which another
union claims jurisdiction.
Questions of seniority or the promo.
ton of new men over old time EN-.
ployes.
The railroad managers committee,
composed of ten of the general man.
ayers of western railroads and headed
by w. c. Nixon, general manager of
the st. Louis and San Francisco rail-
road, already had agreed to submit the
wage question to arbitration under the
Erdman act, but had declined to arbi-
trate the other two points on the
ground that they were matters of Of
fetal authority and discipline and
could not be arbitrated.
To this attitude the union officials
on Sunday sent what they called an
"ultimatum," declaring that if all
three points were not submitted to set.
Element by arbitration, strike would
be inevitable.
The railroads finally informed
Mr.. Carter that notwithstanding the
strike possibility they were deter.
mined to stand pat" on refusing to
arbitrate anything but the wage ques.
ton. They announced that if all the
wage demand was granted other rail-
road unions would soon after demand
a similar increase, and that this would
virtually bankrupt the roads.