The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1916-03-11
UNFAIR WAGE DEMANDS.
Railroad Employees Not Asking Rea]
Eight-Hour Day.

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The executive committee OF the AS
ISOLATION of Western Railways has IS
sued the following statement:
The wage demands now being voted
on by the Railroad enganemen and
trainmen do not mean a real eight
hour working day. They provide sole
| ~ for an increase in wages that would
amount to 500, 100000 a year.
The public should not be misled by
statements of the brotherhood lead
ers that are asking for an eight-hour
day Their proposes do not provide
either that all shIN work even as
much as eightauassesstea aaHsaRssssnday or that
eight hours shall work any less. Thou
sands of train service employees now
work less than eight hours for a
days pay, and those who work more
receive pay not only for all Of the
time they work but for every mile
they run.
The proposed rules would simply
change from ten-hour to an eight
hour basis of computing wages, 50
that one hours work shall be paid for
as one-eighth rather than as one-tenth
Of days pay or as 1212 miles in
stead of 10 miles.
While the officers of the brother
hoods have attempted to make the
public believe they are seeking a real
eight-hour day, they have taken some
pains to reassure the employees that
no reduction in working hours is con-
templated. Nothing could be more
convincing on this point than the fol-
lowing statement by Val Fitzpatrick,
vice president of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen, published in the
January issue Of the Railroad Train
man:
There is. quite difference he
says, between an eight-hour work
day and an eight-hour basic work day.
The eight-hour basic work day
I (which is the system proposed by the
train service brotherhoods) eontem-
plates that eight hours shall be the
basis for a days work, and any time
IN excess shall be paid for as over
time. Under such a system there is
no limit to the hours that may be
worked"
In railroad train service a days
work cannot be arbitrarily fixed. The
employees know this and they have
no intention of changing their work
ing day. They are asking only the
enormous increase in wages which.
would result from changing the basis
Of payment so that they could earn
money faster.
There is not a word in the proposals
now being voted on by the employees
that would require man to work as
much as eight hours for days pay.
1T is specifically provided that 100
miles or less, eight hours or less"
shall constitute a day. Nor is there
any provision for reduction IN the
hours of work for any one who now
works more than eight hours.
What the men are asking for is re-
duetion of Is per cent in the number
of hours they must work before they
will begin to draw pay for overtime,
this overtime to be at a rate SO per
cent higher than the proposed regular
hourly rate and 871s per cent higher
than the present overtime rate.
This is made plain by article I. (c)
of the demands, which reads ION
runs Of over 100 miles overtime will
begin when the time on duty exceeds
the miles run divided by ~ miles
an hour Under this rule SO long as
d train runs at a speed of 121a miles
or more per hour, SO that the crew is
earning pay at the rate Of one-eighth
Of the day rate per hour or more,
they do not even ask overtime, but if
it runs at a slower rate of speed they
ask overtime. Such rule clearly is
not intended to penalize overtime but
to accelerate the earning capacity of
the crews.
The controversy is not over ques-
ton Of hours; it involves solely a
500, 100000 increase in wages which
the public would have to pay.