Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-05
MORE PAY IS ASKED
ON SUBURBAN LINES
Unlonlzed Employees Present
Demand Today for 10 Per
Cent Increase.

Announcement waS made this att
| ernoon Of tho enrollme nt Of practically
every employe both Of tho Washington
Virginia Railway Company and tho
Washington and OLD Dominion Railway
Company In the second union Of trac-
ton men to be formed in the National
Capital within tho past few weeks.
Tho first Official act OF the new or
ganization was the submission this
afternoon to J. W. Rich. superintendent
of the Washington Virginia company.
Of a memorandum of agreement call
Ing for increased pay and better work.
ing conditions.
The committee waiting on Mr.. Rich
and representing the Washington-Vir-
ginia employees in the new union was
composed Of P. E. Hyland. r. P. Shep-
herd, W. w. Smith. W. Lee and P. G.
Furr. and reply "at an early date" Is
asked for.
The title of the new association is
Division 500 of the Amalgamated As
ISOLATION Of Street and Electric Rail-
way Employees of America, being Just
ten higher in number than that OF the
union formed some weeks ago by en-
ployes of the Capital Traction and
Washington Railway and Electric COM
panies.
Want Men Reinstated.
The agreement submitted provides
specifically for the immediate rein
statement of all men discharged since
March Is, 1916, with compensation for
lost time; that the wages for all motor
men and conductors shall be % cents
an hour for the first two years of serv-
ice and 80 cents an hour afterward:
that the wages of trolley men shall be
20 cents an hour; that minimum wage
of $12 week shall be guaranteed all
extra men: that regular reporting for
extra duty shall be paid at regular
rates from the time of reporting until
relieved; that all runs shall be chosen
by the men according to their seniority
in train service; that wages for dis
patchers shall be $50 a month with two
days off each month and ten days an
nual leave with pay, and that all shop
and barn men shall receive a 25 per
cent increase in wages
The agreement is to be binding for
one year from date of signature and
provides, further, that all grievances
between the company and the union
shall be taken up by the properly ac-
credited officers Of each: also. that diff
ferences which cannot be adjusted shall
be arbitrated by a board of three. each
side selecting one arbitrator and the
two to choose a third. If A party
fail to name its arbitrator within three
days from the date arbitration is asked
for it shall forfeit it's case. The find
ingS of the board are to be final
All Employees in Union.
Not only motormen and conductors
are members of the new organization,
it Is stated at American Federation Of
Labor headquarters, but also barn men,
shop men, flag men, dispatchers and
members of the maintenance, freight
and baggage departments of both
roads. Officials of the Washington-
Virginia Company only yesterday ex-
pressed themselves as unacquainted
with any movement looking to an or
ganization of its men and a putting in
form of their grievances. Employees Of
the company. while guarded in their
statements, have. however. given init
nation that such was the case
The president of the company is F. H.
Treat and it's treasurer is J. C. Free
land: Its general manager. r. W. King
of Philadelphia. was in Washington
yesterday. it is learned.
The existence of this association
comes as the aftermath of the recent
formation here of Division $50 of the
amalgamated association the strike of
in the minds of all Washingtonians.
and is largely due to the organization
efforts of the same men who helped
bring the latter into being.
These are Rein Orr, international
treasurer of the association, and Or
ganizers L. A. Sterne and Ed Toone Of
the American Federation of Labor. with
which both these unions are affiliated.
The men named have been busily en-
gagged for the past several weeks max
ing trips to Leesburg, Bluemont. Alex
andria and other points connected with
Washington by the two roads The
men Themselves sought organization
because of what they characterized as
"unbearable" conditions and Mr.. Sterne,
one Of the organizers. today agreed
that these conditions were almost
the worst. from the employees stand
point, with which he is familiar.