Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-04-15
Men Declare Strike Because
of New Pay-as-Y You
Enter Order.
TWO CARS r
IN CITY
Superintendent and 1nspec
tor Of Company Act as
Motorrnen Today.

Only two street cars are running
In the city today, ALI other trafic
having been temporarily suspended
IN consequence Of a strike suddenly
declared by the conductors and
motormen who feel aggrieved over
adopted this morning.
The cars in service today are rum
ming on the University avenue line
on half-hour%s schedule, and the SUPER
|intendent and an inspector of the
company were acting as motormen
this morning. Early this afternoon
traffic had not been resumed on any
o~ther~line.
Plan Disliked by men.
Owing to a decrease in traffic and
to the scarcity Of men. the officials
|of the Grand Forks Street Railway
company decided to adopt a one-man
there would be only a motornan
working, assuming the additional
duties Of the conductor with the ex-
ception of collecting the fares.
Passengers are requested to deposit
their fares in a slot in the car i'm
mediateV upon their entering it, and
the Observation-Disclosures would give
change whenever needed.
Apparently this system did not at
S~Os .SsS NV -SoAllp0bISs
Nevertheless. they agreed last week
to make their various runs, accord
ing to a statement by the street car
officials, who then considered the
matter definitely settled.
Too Much Work. They Say.
Last Saturday evening, however,
the men held a meeting and came to
the conclusion that the system i'm
posing dual duties upon them would
involve too strenuous work for each
man. and it was pointed out by n
of those who attended that a motor
man to be. efficient must keep his UNI
divided attention conferred upon his
motor and the street and tracks
ahead of him.
Another meeting was held last
night, following, the preliminary me-.
gotiations of Saturday, and it was
then decided hat none of the en-
morning. Accordingly, no one was
to be seen at the car barn today
when traffic was to start. The COM
pany quickly decided hat e%xtraordin-
airy measures must be adopted for the
purpose of keeping at least n
line running, and as the need was
particularly pressing on the Uni
versity venue route, two cars were
started out there and kept going all
udS VII stlQuI ESIlCuulC, Will lIiS
superintendent and an inspector
(names not given out at the ofice)
at h motors.
Strike. Was Unexpected.
: When asked about his view Of the
situation. Thomas Foycraft, manager
of the street a company. said this
morning, that until last night the
company had no inkling that the men
were dissatisfied. A notice had been
posted during the week, Mr.. Roycraft
said, notifying the conductors and
about to be adopted, and advising
them to call at the Office to pick out
their new runs. Before Saturday
evening the aen had been given their
assignments, and. this, Mr.. Roycraft
thought, vas the end of it.
II knew nothing of disagreement
and dissatisfaction until about 8
o'clock last night" the manager
continued, but ! had hoped that the
morning. anyhow; l was merely
disappointed that they didn't"
Men Say It's Unlawful.
The strikers declare that although
several other cities in the northwest
have adopted the one-man Service
system, it is unlawful in North Da-
kota. In addition to that, they say.
the equipment of the cars here is
not At for one-man service.
Late this afternoon the striking
employees declared that they had nc
intention whatsoever of working
under the new system. On the other
hand, efforts are being made to per-
suade the men to be reasonable, as
it was said, and hopes were held
forth at the Office of the company
that full service would be resumed
very o
Altogether about fifteen men are
involved in the strike: