Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-01
SHORE LINE ENPL0 DYES ON STRIKE
Refusal of Company Grant Demands of Crews Causes General Tieup of Traffic Entire System Strike Order Issued at Midnight Wednesday About One Perkins Characterizes Demands Preposterous.

trolleymen is that the union will not 1 accept the companys s offer.
 The lines that are affected by the strike include those in this city. New Lyme, Saybrook and way stations to New Haven; the Connecticut River branch; the Groton, Stonington and Westerly route; the Montville and Norwich line. and lines north of Nor Wich to Taftyille, Baltic. Willimantic, Putnam and West Thompson.
 The trolleymen in this city number about 100 and thereis an equal number in New London.
 international Representative Here.
 The strike decision came to a head on Wednesday soon after the arrival of Patrick J. O'Brien, or Springfield, Mass, a representative of the Inter O'Brfen stated that he had been called Into conference with the local union officials and as a consequence of con- ditions existing in the city the strike order followed.
 Statement from New London Crews. The following statement was made on "Wednesday night by the New Lon don employees of the road:
 In reply to President R. W. Perkins of the Shore Line Electric Railway company: President Perkins says that the demands which were presented to his company on May are preposterous and beyond anything like it in New England from his personal l investigations. We want to ask MT. Perkins if his Investigations took in l the entire New England states, or was his investigation limited to the state of Connecticut and the Connecticut com pany, which, in our opinion, is the parent company of the Shore Line. We
 can take him through Massachusetts
 and show him that for years roads o1 ! that state have been paying six-tenths | of a. cent higher minimum and the same maximum which he has offered to us. MT. Perkins says that the men l of the Shore Line company are earn ing at the present time from $25 tc S2S per week. Now if this is a fact
 and we know it Is not, the present
 demands on the maximum basis of 8 cents per hour and a nine hour day l seven days a week, will give tE1e mo. torrnan or conductor the magnificent sum of $22.05 per week, but as mat. ter of fact the average wage paid upoI
 the Shore Line system for seven dayG
 a week will amount to between $1i
 and SIT per week. In one city within {
 radius of 100 miles the wages of { new man just entered the service ar T Sic Der Week fer 2 -i-,a hour day O. less. This shows that the minimp wage paid street car men O. other line . in New England is higher than tn
 average wage paid to the men of tn , Shore. Line system. Now we could g on and enumerate numerous places il New England wIlo not only pay highe wages but have working condition
 which far surpass those of the Shor
 Line company, that would make tn
 conditions offered by the Shore Lin 2 company to its employees look insignifi
 cant; in fact, there is no compariso 8 between them, for in the first p1ac Q the men in Connecticut (we mean tn : Shore Line and the Connecticut com y panfes) have always been considere s and are the poorest paid and have tn e poorest conditions of any compan 3 east of the Mississippi.