The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1919-02-22
WOMAN n !: NJ Member ! | / B!
QUITS BURLES0N
WAGE COMM TEE
Declares She Cannot Remain
and Maintain Herself
'*' Respect.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20.-On the
ground that to retain her position
would "amount to a serious betrayal
of the rights and interests of my fell
low workers whom you have charged
me to represent" Miss Julia O'Connor,
representative, of the organized tele
phone and telegraph workers on the
committee appointed by Director-Gen-
eral Burleson to investigate wages ana
working conditions in the telegraph
and telephone companies. has filed her
resignation. The committee, she states
in her letter to Mr.. Burleson, has at
tempted no procedure worthy Of it's
name, and it's work in general has
been so hampered that its efforts have
been futile.
Many Grave Charges.
Miss O'Connor further: charges that
Reputation of contracts. interruption
Of friendly relations, destruction of
long esta blished arrangements for COL
1ective bargaining, persecution and
hostility for membership in union
this has been the unpleasant history
of government control Of the telephone
industry. Methods of discrimination
unparalleled under. private control
have been practiced by officials Of the
telephone companies upon employees
who joined or remained members Of q
union; and in the absence Of dis
avowal, the odium Of this state Of af-
fairs must rest upon the Post Office
Department"
To Remain In Washington.
Miss O'Connor is president of the
Telephone Operators Department of
the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers and a member
of the executive board of the Ma
tional Women's Trade Union League,
and she was appointed on the wage
committee, in the language Of the
official order. ITO represent the or
ganized telephone workers of the
! country" Her home is in Boston,
| where she has been employed as a
telephone operator. but she will now
remain in Washington. with head.
! quarters in the American Federation
of Labor building, to direct the ma
tional affairs Of her union and stimu-
| late organization of the telephone
t workers.
Pleads for Operators.
incomplete and sketchy as ha!
been the survey made by the com.
mittee," continues Miss O'Connor ir
her letter oMr. Burleson, it ha.
revealed condition which demand:
instant remedy Wages Of telephone
operators and mechanics, particular,
the former, have generally been be
low the living level. On the impor.
tant subjects of hours. of arrange
ments of tricks, overlooking AM
strapping Of boards, the long reach
the degree of supervision and testin,
and whether or not it. is unfair o.
burdensome; in fact all the myriat
and complex considerations of vita
Importance have received no atten
ton whatever."
Repudiated Promises.
AS to the telegraph workers, whom
she also represented on the commit
tee, Miss O'Connor calls attention t.
the failure to apply the increase
wage scale announced for August !
"A memorandum presented to tn
committee showed that on Angus
"a, 1918, the Western Union Tele
graph company made an agreemen
with it's employees by which increase
OF five, ten, and fifteen per cent, base
on seniority, would be granted a
employees and would be dated, t
take effect as of August l, 1918. -Thi
lagreement was never placed in eff
fect, because you denied to the indi
vidual companies operating under tn
telephone and telegraph administra
ton the right to negotiate with thei
employees on the subject Of wages.
Instead, according to Miss O'Con
nor, Director Burleson issued an orde
reducing the maximum. increase fror
Is per cent to 10~per cent, and date
January /. 1918, instead of Angus
!, 1913