The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-01-20
Employees of Thirty-two Roads
Make Formal Demand for
Increased Wages and Bet
ter Working Hours.
WHAT OUTCOME WILL
BE PROBLEMATICAL
Two Hundred Thousand Engi-
neers and Conductors May
Strike List of Demands
Is a Very Long One.
(Amcrican News Scrvice)

(American News Service)
Cleveland, O., Jan. 2O.-A crisis in
the railroad affairs of this country
only equalled by the memorable strike
of 1902, WIGS created today, when the
conductors and trainmen of thirty-two
railroads, embracing all the lines east
of Chicago, and north of the line of
the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad,
made formal demands on their en-
ployers for a general increase in
wages and better working hours.
What the outcome will be is proble-
matical, but the leaders on both sides
admit that the possibilities of a strike
are remote. In the event of a strike
being declared, however. nearly 20O,-
900 men. comprising the membership
of the Brotherhood of Railrpad Train
men and the Order of Railroad Con-
ductors would be affected and about
100000 miles of railroad, including
all the lines to and from New York.
and other great eastern terminals,
would be tied up.
The list of demands was presented
by the committees of the various local
lodges throughout the country to the
general managers of the respective
RAILROADS, and contains fifteen articles,
calling for advancement in wages of
between 10 and 80 percent for freight
and passenger conductors, freight and
passenger brakemen and flagmen, to-
gether with requests for shorter
hours in various branches of the SER
vice and better running conditions.
Are Mostly Technical.
The demands are. for the greater
part of a technical character, and a
number of them will undoubtedly be
rejected. One in particular, which
will meet with violent opposition, is
that which stipulates that the social.
ed 'deadheading" of employees of
freight and passenger trains should
be paid for at the regular scale. This
provides that when a trainman ends
his run at a different point from the
place of departure of his next run,
he will be paid for the time he spends
in travelling from one place to the
other. AS this practice is of common
occurrence, the granting of such a de-
mand would involve a large sum of
money.
Two articles relate to the enforce.
ment of the so-called Chicago stand.
ard rates Of pay. ten hours constitute
ing a days work with overtime pro
rata. This demand. Of course, has not
been made on roads, where a better
working basis is employed.
Another important article refers to
the use of two locomotives on trains.
1t demands that trains of over thirty
cars shall not be operated by two 10.
comotives, except under specified con-
ditions, which include: Stormy wealth
er, when locomotive Is to be moved
to and. from shops and to avoid run
ming a locomotive light.
No Quick Settlement.
Although both sides are undoubted-
ly willing to make some concessions.
the outlook for a quick settlement of
the trouble is not very promising
The officials of the various compan-
les will take the demands under ad-
visement, and committees will then
be appointed by the various roads to
meet the committees of the various
locals. Every effort will be made by
the local committees, representing the
railroad men to settle the differences
with their employers. In case they
are unable to reach an agreement,
which is very likely, the general COM
mittee, representing the national Or
ganizations. will step in, send a repre-
sentative to help the men present
their case, and it will not be until this
man has failed that other steps will
be thought of. Arbitration will then
be resorted to. and if this fails, a
strike order will be promulgated.
The two organizations involved
the brotherhood of Railway Trainmen
and Order of Railway Conductors-are
two of the strongest labor bodies out
side the American Federation of La
Dor and their plans for the present
undertaking, have been under way
since 1906. At that time the execu-
tive committee of the two organiza-
tions met in Boston to consider the
advisability of making a demand for
higher wages. SO that eastern railroad
ers would be paid on the same basis
as the western men. who secured a
substantial increase in 1902. In 1907
n uniform wage scale for the Eastern
District was adopted at the annual
meeting. but just about the time it
was to be presented. the panic came
on. and the matter was postponed.
Lee and Garretson.
W. G. Lee. the head OF the Brother
hood of Railway Trainmen, and A. b.
Garretson, the president of the Oredr
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