The Prescott daily news., 1916-08-04
RAILWAY MEN NOT SEEKING
 REAL EIGHT HOUR DAY
Actual Object Is Enormous Wage h. crease For No More Work,
 Companies Declare.

What is an eight hour day? The an swer to this question is one of the vital points in the wage controversy be- tween the railroads and their engi- neers, conductors, firemen and brake. men which will come to a head early in August, when the employees con- plete the nation wide strike vote they are now taking to enforce their de mands
 The railroad managers say that the train employees organizations are mis- leading the public when they refer to their demands as providing for an eight hour day. They declare that the eight hour basic" day which the em- ployees are contending for merely pro- vides for an enormous increase in wages by increasing the rate of pay per hour without either limiting the working day to eight hours or even re- quiring a full eight hours work for days pay.
 The spokesmen for the brotherhoods admit that they are not asking for ''rear' or absolute" eight hour day, but they insist that the granting of the demand for days wage for eight hours or less and for 90 per cent more than the regular hourly rate for all overtime will make it so expensive for the roads to work their train crews for more than eight hours that they will increase the speed of their trains and thus effect reduction in the working hours of the train crews.
 This assertion was explained recent ly by w. G. Lee, president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. who said
 If all terminals were 100 miles apart we would be in a position to demand an absolute eight hour day. But we recognize that the divisions vary in length, many exceeding 100 miles. As a concession to the railroads we have basis in lieu of the absolute eight hour day. On long divisions 1t permits them (the managements) to ignore the eight hour day and escape the overtime by simply making an average speed of trains equal to or exceeding twelve and one half miles an hour"
 On the other hand. the railroad man. agers assert that they cannot increase the average speed of their trains with out decreasing the load of each train and running more trains, which would require the employment of more train ho of freight they now carry. This, they say. would increase operating expenses by even more than the increase in wages would amount to.
 In order to provide for a real eight hour day the railroad managers declare many changes would have to be made not only in the wording of the de- mands as presented by the employees, but also in many of the most impor- tant of the other provisions of the pres ent wage schedules which the brother hoods insist shall be left unchanged. Most of the present schedules applying to freight and switching service pro- vide for days wage for each 100 miles or less their trains run or for each ten hours or less of work, thus guaranteeing a days pay to any man who is called for any work during the day. They also provide for extra pay ment for hours in excess of ten or miles in excess of 100. In passenger service the basis for a days pay is even less. In the case of engineers and firemen it Is five hours in eastern territory and six hours and forty min- utes in western territory. The de- mands provide for d days pay for eight hours or less or 100 miles or less and do not apply to the passenger serv- ice. which is already on basis more favorable to the employees than an eight hour day.
 The demand for time and one-halr for overtime would therefore pennlize the railroads. they say. for time re- duired to complete train run in ex- cess of eight hours or for any delay, while the employees would still con- tinue to draw a full days pay in many cases for considerably less than the standard days work.