The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-05-27
About Half of This Amount Will Be Distributed at
 Once as Back Pay
NEW WAGE BOARD IS
 CREATED TO CLEAR
 AWAY INEQUALITIES
Director General Fo9lGys
 Recommendations of the Committee With Some Slight Changes

Washington, May 26.-GeA. eral increases for nearly two million railroad employees wers announced today by Director General McAdoo effective next Saturday and retroactive to last January l, carrying out substantially recommendations of the railroad wage commits sion. The aggregate of the in- crease probably will be more than $30o,o0O,0Oo a year, half .of which will be distributed within 3 few weeks as back pay in lump sums ranging from about $100 to nearly $200 each.
 The director general departed
 from the wage committees rec-
 concentrations in the following
 particulars:
 The principle of the basic eight
 hour day is recognized, but owing
 to exigencies of the war situation,
 hours of employment are not ac-
 tually reduced and overtime is to
 be paid pro rata; future adjust
 ments of pay are to be made on
 the basis of eight hours;
 In addition to the ordinary
 scale of increase, day laborers
 employed mainly on track work, are to get at least 2la cents an hour more than they received De- cember 3l;
 A minimum of 55 cents an hour
 is established for the shop trades,
 including machinists, boilermak- CTS and blacksmiths; Women are to receive the same pay as men for the same work, and negroes are to get the same
 as white men for similar em-
 ployment.
 NEW WAGE BOARD NAMED To work out a multitude of inequalities of pay among employees doing similar work in difficult localities and other in- justices caused by varying rules of em ployment and condition of organization. the director general created new board of railroad wages and working condi- tions consisting of three labor represen- tatives and three railway executives which will conduct extensive investisa- l tions and recommend wage and other ! employment changes PERCENTAGE SCALE BASIS | All increases now ordered will be 'Ie- termined according to percentage scale based on pay received in December. 1915, l and any increases which have been ai- 1 lowed within that time will be deducted. 1 In many cases raises in pay in the last l two and half years are about equal 10 the increases now approved, and conse- quently these employees will get little or no more. To correct just such situations when injustices are apparent will De l one of the principal duties or the new 1 wage board. whose creation was sug- 1 gested by the railroad wage commission. l In no cases are wages to be reduced
 
 1 Men working on the monthly. daily, i hourly, pjece-work and train-mile basis l will benefit by the new allowances. and l members of the four leading railway | brotherhoods whose pay was raised through operation of .ae Adamsan act are to receive from 10 to 70 per cent ld- I ditional a smaller increase than they l had asked Of railroads shortly before | the government took control. 1 APPLIES TO ALL EMPLOYES The wage order applies to all employees l of the ie4 roads now under federal man agement, but not to the so-called short 1 lines unless they are retained by the l government after July l. It affects ein- 1 ployes of terminal. union station, and 1 switching companies, lighters. ferries and tugs owned by railroads. but not 1 employees of railroad boat lines on the lakes. rivers or coastwise traffic. AL 1 though Pullman cars now under 1 government operation. Pullman employees ] will not benefit unless the railroad nd-
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