New-York tribune., 1919-08-22
By Henry w. Blake

By Henry w. Blake
Editor Electric Rdiscoy Journal
THE electric railway strikes
which have occurred in New
4 York and Brooklyn during
tAe last month are symptomatic OF
. condition which exists on electric
railways all over the country.
Among the public utilities, electric
railways are particularly affected
By the high remuneration which
row has to be paid for labor, since
more than so per cent OF the oper-
sting expenses of the average cleo
the railway goes to pay the salaries
md wages of the operating force.
Hence, the rapid rise in this item
Of expense during the past two
years, particularly in the amounts
paid to the notornen and con-
dretors, has been the main cause
for the serious condition in which
the electric railway companies now
find themselves. In the following
DISCUSSION, the wages Of the plat
form men only VIII be considered.
because these employees far out
number all Of the others on an
electric railway system, but the
same conditions and tendencies
apply also in the case of the shop
men, trackmen. power station en-
ployes and other wage earners.
Pay Rases
Trensy Years Ago
Twenty years ago the wage paid
10 motormen and conductors aver
aged from Is to 20 cents an hour,
with slightly higher rate in the
larger cities. The figures for five
years ago are availab through
Bulletin No. 204 OF the Bureau Of
Labor Statistics, U. S. Department
Of Labor. That bulletin divides
electric railways into two groups
For one, the data were obtained by
special agents, and they represent,
as whcle, the companies in about
one hundred Of the largest cities in
the country. On these. the median
or middle rate Of wages for motor
men on surface cars was between
~ and % cents, and for conductors
on surface cars between 27 and %
cents an hour. In Group 2, OF the
group Including the roads in the
smaller cities, the median rate for
motormen and conductors was be-
tween rs and 26 cents an hour.
After this country entered the
war President Wilson and his ad-
vsers early recognized the close
connection between the production
OF war material and the nainten-
ance Of good electric railway ser
VICE. Shipyards and munition plants
suddenly increased their working
forces at a tremendous rate, and
while some Of these new employees
could be housed within walking dis
lance OF their places Of occupation,
many others had to be TRANSPORTED
70 and from their daily work. Con
unulty Of service could not be intnr-
fupsed because of strikes on the
transportation systems over the
question of wages and working con-
oltlons, and the settlement Of labor
0Sputes on electric railways be-
came, therefore, the province of the
National War Labor Beard. The
establishment Of this board was well
coined by electric railway compa-
ales. The period between 1914 and
''if had been marked by rapid in
'reases in the cost Of the materials
WHICH the railways had to use and
" some extent by increases i'll
wages, and but few companies had
0een able to secure permission to
a'ake any increase in fares to coun-
efOalance this drain upon their re-
sources. They were willing, there
.Vse' TO leave to the War Labor
ooafd the determination Of what a
.aR rate Of wages was, as we'll as
'ae way Of finding the means to pay
'ny additional wages.
Nage Increases
11ceed $3.50, ,OOO, ,OoO
ine board, however, VIII, accept
l., 4