Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1912-03-29
Rates of Paw
In Train and Yard Service on Grand Trunk
Railroad

Il -e heho -'cTNtNc On urau0 HUNK
Railroad
AS there appears to be a misappre-
hension as to the extent and effect of
the Grand Trunk Railway in recently
revising portion of its new schedules
OF pay for trainmen, a statement OF the
position of that Company aud the
reasons given for such action will be of
interest to its patrons as we'll as to the
employees.
In 1910 general increase was made
In the rates of paw for men employed
in train and yard service, amounting to
an increase of 1870 for trainmen and
2S% for yardmen, involving an add.
tional annual outlay by the Grand
Trunk Railway Company of 1853, 100000.
On January LIST 1912 the rules and
rates of pay prevailing upon the Cana
dian Pacific Railway were, by agree
ment, put into effect upon the Grand
Trunk Railway System, and this new
schedule gave further increase amount
ing to l4.5% for trainmen and $780,
Tor yardmen above the rates granted in
1910, the total increase made effective
January LIST 1912 involving a further
addition to the pay roll annually of
1886, 100000 for the exclusive benefit of
train and yardmen, but in applying
these new rules to the different condi
tions of service and runs on the Grand
Trunk some inequitable and inconsist-
emit results were obtained, some of the
individual runs receiving increases of
800, 7496, and $50 respectively, aud
and as examples the following specific
cases are given.-
Upon light traffic branch line
the monthly pay of one conductor
on mixed train was increased
from $4,000 to $1SS.76, as COM
pared with Sl4l.50 upon the main
line of the same division.
Upon another branch line, five
and one half miles in length, the
rate of pay of one conductor was
Increased from $4,000 to Sl7424
as compared with Sl59.19 upon the
heavy traffic main line of the same
division. The pay of this branch
line conductor had been raised
$1,000 per month the year previous
Still another case was the local
run on the Kingston Branch, two
miles in length, where the rate was
advanced in 1910 from 10000 to
$4,000 and then under the new in-
crease to Sl30.6S.
Another inequitable condition
was produced on such local passen-
ger runs as the Que between Belle
vile and Toronto where the rate
paid the local conductor was ad-
vanced above the rates paid through
conductors running from Montreal
to Toronto on the International
Limited, although the conditions
OF service on the local train permit
ted the conductor to be at home
every night aud every Sunday.
The undiscriminatiug general appli-
cation of the new rules and rates of pay
having resulted in these abnormal in
creases to such unimportant light ser
vice runs constituted an injustice to
other employees and to the Company as
well, and REIMBURSEMENT was felt to be
necessary.
The Management asserts it has no
desire to break faith with the men nor
does it consider that it has done so and
believes that the men generally will see
the justice of the changes, particularly
as but Isl men are affected in this re-
vision out of total of 1852 employees
all of whose rates we're so materially
increased by the new schedule.