The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-22
NOTICE
]. WFMFga



 ton regarding discontinuance of car ryfnR the United States Mail on pas senger cars after midnight of June 21st 1914. Negotiations have been conducted with representatives of the Post office Department for ssome months in an earnest endeavor to se- cure relief from conditions which are unjust and burdensome in the ex- treme.
 on April 14th, -1e14, the Post Of flee department was advised that un- less some re-adjustment was effected and an effort made to afford relief, we would be forced to discontinue the handling of mails after May S1st, 1914 This wass laters extended to June 18th, then June 22nd. Since our letter of April 14ths correspon- dence has been conducted with the department, and conferences have been held between representatives of the deDartment and officers of this company, buf no reasonable propom- tion has been submitted by the de- pertinent, therefore. in justice to our selves and: our employees, vves shall be obliged to withdraw from tf1ts ser vice Our reasons are as -followss
 ssnrpt t4qael establishment of these e1ertxADt car4 mail routes by the Post OGnnes Department some fifteen or Hfxnnent tyearssago, our employees oper- ef1naF. the Acars have been obliged by the s1agu1ations Of the sdepartment to lenrrz zSthssnaAl pouches between the lonEDSa3d4 the different post offices a1nEag fH1s@ ifne. These pouches, in yAcageasa ar9t extremely heavy and an<1a1ayx covered vdtIn4 dust and dirt TO .rezErlr9a ourx men kto handle these rn0mrann@,rand,4a 4aA thetsana time, keep 1heRE zzxz1enrmsS clean and neat, In ac- cord znEa3 with our rules, is unrea- suzblesma and has been continually pTutssGeda a a ag<1nst by fhes repE esenta- lt1vess sof sThe men, and we do not feel flEat tfx1s ~burden should be imposed lupuou%fhem. In a few cases, how feVsras where SWomen or infirm men -remskfn charge of the Post Offices, weao&6ewed ito make the necessary ar rnraxnentB to handle the pouches. The Post Office department, while wiling to relieve us from this ser vice at a few points, still insists that wer perform the work at twenty -four F(240 different Post Offices, which we think Is unreasonable Another seri- ous4 4cb5ect1on is that the transferring of these pouches often-times occa- jules with the resulting inconvenience to our patrons. Furthermore, in the 1uter@sE of MafafJy .-the car crews should be free to devote themselves to the proper operation of the cars and not be required to leave the car and passengers without protection
 Second:-
 On many of the routes the humber of pouches carried is excessive 20 to 30 pouches per car in some cases and during the Christmas rush and other heavy periods, this amount is in creAsed beyond reason We have re- cefved no more money for carrying a large number of pouches than we have for carrying 1, as compensation is on a mileage basis.
 The Department was requested to limit the number of pouches to a maximum of six ts) per car. The, main reason for requesting this vas out of consideration for the fSafets of our patrons. We do not Feel that the. front vestibules of closed ears, or the front platform of open CUTS should be filled with mail sacks In many cases the amount of mail is so bulky as to prevent safe egress from the car in case of accident. The mos t0rn7an is, alsos hampered in the per formance of his duties. He should have clear access to all of the appara- fus he is called upon to control, which is impossible under the preEent condi- tions- Also, the loading of these sacks on to the front platform is in- furious to the clothing and comfort of patrons and we do not feel that we should have to bear the onus of such complaints. The department offered to split up fevs Of the routes, so as to >slfghtly reduce the number If sacks in some cases, but they have stated that they are not disposed to place any limit on the number to be carried.
 Thfrd:-
 The following statement of method Of computing compensation is given that there may be no confusion in the mind of the public as to the com pensation allowed by the Government. Inc Postmaster General fixed the rates of pay on July 1st, 1898, at 3 Icents per mile per annun for miles run on routes where the annual mile fage was over s.5S8 miles. The vast majority of our routes are under t1l1s classification. and there are few routes for which we are paid a fixed Eun1, from @15O.00 to $2SO.0O per ar- hum These rates of pay are esta-b- f1fshed regardless of the number of igae1<s or pouches carried and no eN ltra compensation is allowed for car frying the sacks between the cars and the post offices.
 AzBu11lng that the rates estabIshe I fin 1se6 may have been equitable at that time. anyone at all familiar with the tremendously increased cost of ma@mtgland other matters affecting the lssperaGang costs of street railroads will admit that these rates are not equitable under present conditions. In addition to our greatly increased Ioperaking costs. the volume of mail hagsfncreased to such an extent, par fdcuIar1y since the advent of the Far eel Post. that the compensation al l4OWE0 Dy IuS EoSL OLIce department ds entirely sinequitabIe and utterly i'm adequate for the service performed. The Department offered to allow us i4 cents per mile instead Of cents onr fGnree routes, out of a total of efgEl- teen This, together with the fact Ithat some of the routes would be split, thereby making more trips and Increased mileage, would amount to an Increase in our total compensation iof about IS per cent, whereas it is well known that the volume of rail hos increased several hundred per cene- r~t1r 4-- o- nsgc
 The above will show that relief was requested on the following three is-