Daily Kennebec journal., 1918-01-24
NEGOTIATIONS OFF
Between Bay State Rail
way and Striking Car
men

Boston, Jan. 2S.-Negotiations be-
tween the Bay State Stret Railway Co,
and it's $500 union carmen over wage
questions were terminated tonight.
w. A. Mahon, international president
of the Amalgamated Association of
Street and Electric Railway Employees
Of America, announced that cooper
ative plan" offered by Receiver Wal
lacfie B. Donham of the company. had
been formally rejected.
A meeting Of the general committee
Of the carmen will be held tomorrow
afternoon.
Tomorrow night, there will be simul-
taneous meetings of the Is unions IN
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Ne"
Hampshire 1t is understood that
ballot on the question Of striking will
probably be taken.
Mr.. Mahon and other union leaders
held an all-day conference with Re
ceiver Donham and other officials of
the road. Tonight, both Mr.. Mahon ana
Mr.. Donham issued statements. Mi.
Mahon said:
THE company presented co-opera-
tive plan, which looks to me 70 be
simply a scheme to undermine our or
gani2ation. The new plan meant that
the men were promised an increase or
two cents an hour if the savings de-
vices installed on the cars proved e1ll-
cient--that is, to save power anu codI
under new system OF meters anu
coasting clocks, and if receipts were IN
creased through more patronage. more
skillful handling of freight and feWer
accidents.
THE rejection of this cooperative plan
doesn't mean a strike; it simply means
that we have decided to live up to the
present contract and propose that the
company shall do the same; the compa-
ny violated provision of that contract
by changing the schedules of runs some
time ago, but Receiver Donham said that
it was done without his knowledge ana
since then he has adjusted that griVance
and paid the men involved for the money
they lost by that change
Receiver Donham said:
when came into the Bay State Street
Railway as receiver of the property
found a labor contract running until May.
1920, executed six months before we en-
tered the war.
"A week after I became receiver with
out any warning the men took strike
vote based on the necessity of my shut
ting down part of the service on account
of the coal shortage. notwithstanding tie
fact that they were fully paid, under the
terms Of the contract, whether they work
ed or not.
"At the second conference arising out
of this situation l told them that in my
opinion this was not the real issue be-
tween us, but that they wanted increased
wages. 1 told them further that l sym
pathized with their feelings. l told them
the Bay State Street Railway had no
funds out of which it could pay any in
creased wages whatever. but that we were
making an effort to work out plans under
which we could get more money.
''They demanded a little under Ss00,0o0
additional wages per year for the men
covered by the contract. which was OF
course an utter impossibility.
Because l desired to work out a meth,
Ou uHueE WHICH lHeS tUulu get IilOIe IuOH-
ey we presented a plan under which, with
their cooperation in saving operating ex-
penses, we could make substantial saw
ings, most of which l was prepared to
give to the men. / guaranteed, out Of
the share in the savings which would un-
der the plan go to the company, to pay
them one cent an hour in addition to their
contract wages I further guaranteed Tat
their share in the savings would equal at
least one cent an hour additional i
made an offer to guarantee two cents an
hour during the period Of the war and six
months thereafter, and to give them an
additional one cent if they could save 1t
as l believe they can"
I. The carmen have demanded an increase
in their present minimum rates Of from
five to six cents an hour, an advance in
their present maximum of from 80 to 40
cents an hour with a reduction to two
years in the pr>Sent maximum period of
awaiting of five years.