The Washington times., 1916-01-24
RAILROAD MEN TO
DEMAND MORE PAY
Four Hundred Thousand Engi-
neers, Firemen, and COnduC-
tcrS Voting on Question.

NEW YORK. Jan. A.-Engineers'
firemen, conductors, and tralnmen
throughout the United states are now
voting authority to their leaders to
bargain with the roads for more pay.
The result of the vote will be known in
March. and IL It Is favorable, as the
leaders confidently expect. a stimuli
taneous demand will be made on all the
roads to adopt the new wage scale
This will be the first countrywide
demand by railroad workers for more
wages. The battle-ground for bigger
pay checks has never before extended
beyond the boundaries of one section
of the Countrywide East, the West, or
the South and even in these territorial
struggles the four brothorhoods have
never made joint demands.
The demands now anticipated by
the railroads will be made by almost
100000 employees. Complete statistics
have not been prepared for the 1919
fiscal year, but those for preceding
years illustrate the situation.
Number of Men Involved.
In the fiscal year ended June so.
1914. the total number of railroad en-
ployes was reported as 1,695,4S3. That
year, however. was not normal, and
the number OF employees in the current
year probably will be larger than in
1913. when 1.Sl5,2S9 persons were en-
ployed. In that year there were 67,026
enginemen, 7O,477 firemen, 52,OS6 conduc-
tors, and 1855 other trainmen, or a
total of 396,444. These figures do not
include returns from railways with an
nual operating revenues of less than
500. COO
In the same year enginemen received
In . totsl s az Of G23SS$ fireman tota
OF $I3.26l 603. and other trainmen a total
Of $139, 400. .443. an aggregate of $39l,-
259.99O. or approximately 2Slb per cent of
the total payroll. In the same year the
payroll took almost IS cents of each
dollar of operating revenue.
The following table shows total op-
Grating revenues and total compensation
Of employees in the three fiscal years
from 1912 to 1914 inclusive:
Year Revenues. Payroll.
1912 .............. $2.S26 95S.366 81, PAS O34 $50
1918 ............... 3l25, 19S 1873, $50
1914 ............... 3,0i7Ol9,9OS 1873, AZ. .272
IT will be noted that the decrease in
the 1914 payroll was insignificant. al
though the total number of employees de-
, creased from 1,Sl5.239 too 1,695.4S3.
Steady Wage Increases.
The average daily compensation Of en-
Eincers has increased steadily for years.
la 1909 it was s444: in 1910. $4.55: in 1911.
$40; in 1912. So; in 1913 $50: in 1914.
S5.2L Similar steady increases have
been won by firemen, by conductors and
by other trainmen.
Wages earned by the men of the trains
vary all the way from $500 year paid
the green" brakeman to the $500 to
$1,000 a yeaE piled up by the "aristocrats
of the rail- the engineers on the best
passenger runs. Thousands of the men
at throttle earn upward of $1,000 a year
and monthly pay checks of $500 to $3.50
are common. Many of the engineers are
paid more than bank presidents in the
smaller communities through which
they run.
Inc higher wage demands to be made
by the leaders of the brotheThoods pro-
VIDE that the basic pay day, for all ex-
cepCng passenger service, shall be
changed 10 100 miles, or eight hours
WIN pay FOR overtime at one and u
half times the new higher rate.
Raise Sought For Overtime.
In other words. the demand Is that
the freight speed basis tor wage com
putting shall be increased from 10 to l2Is
miles an hour, or 25 per cent, and the
overtime rate increased S7h per cent
When an engineer is now paid 80
for hundred-mile run in ten hours
or at the rate of so cents an hour, tne
proposed schedule would allow him 50
lor the first eight hours, or 62h cents
IN hour; and for the next two nours
"5St cents an hour, making $6.S7 for the
same service now costing the railroads
70. lhis would mean a wage increase
oil 5I1s per cent.
Applying n similar rate of increase
throughout the railroad industry (pas-
ing your figures on 1913 resuits), the
aggregate increase would exceed S5l5,-
OOO,OOO.