Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-12
GROSS INEQUALITY
IN WAGES Of j. s.
WORKERS SHOWN
Salaries, S720 to S1.400. to
Phone Operators. for
Same Work.

Gross inequalities in salaries paid in
the government service here for ex-
actly the same class of work were
revealed today in statistics concern
ing the 230 telephone operators in
federal service made public by the
joint congressional commission on re-
classification of salaries in the Dis
trict.
The salary of the chief telephone
operator at the State Department is
1920 a year. and 5000 year at the
District building. as contrasted with
1880 at the War and Navy depart
ments. and s1.400 at the Treasury De-
partment and at the United States
Shipping Board
Junior operators. the lowest class of
telephone workers in the federal serv-
Ice here. receive from 500 to 1920
a year. many being paid nearly twice
what the chief telephone operator a.
the State Department gets.
Unbelievable Differences.
These first authoritative figures ever
presented showing what persons IA
mlliar with government service have
long suspected-strikin- and alnlos.
unbelievable salary differences for ex-
actiy the same class of work-are bui
the beginning of a tremendous tabu-
lation begun by the Reconsideration
ommlss1on to show similar figures
under its Jurisdiction.
employees in the Older department
the tabulations for the telephone serv-
Ice seem to show, receive the poores;
salaries. and the old employees in the
government seem to be getting penaI
lZed for their faithful service" de-
clared a commissioner.
The figures, as of Apri. 80 1915?
snow that the salaries of senior tele-
phone operators range from s720. at
the department of the Interior and
the department of Justice to S140O
year. at the Post Office Department.
the Department of Commerce and the
Council of National Defense.
Average Pay, 1894. Plus Bonus.
Inc annual average rate of pay for
the 230 operators affected of whom
III are women. exclusive of bonus is
chief operator was sl,242; senior op-
orator. $1.062. and for Junior operator.
1851.
The operator at ST Eliza beth's
Hospital received $440 a year. but re-
ceived allowances for board and laun-
dry.
The telephone operator class. ac-
cording to the seven great tables
drawn up, contains few employees of
long service. One table shows that
OF the 2So operators 100 had been in
service less than one year and 1s9
less than two years.
Cancellations DincuIt.
AS only forty-one operators had
served over two years, the recla assist
cation workers found it difficult to
draw conclusions regarding relation
ship between length of service and
salary, other than the general de-
duction already stated. The newer
chief operators are better paid than
those who have served longer. Among
the junior operators the variation
was not found to be great. but there
was found a noticeable absence OF
any progressive increase for contin-
ued service.
The telephone operators as class
are young, according to the tables. o.
the 23O operators, 1S1 are under thirty
years of age, and 121 are under
twenty-five. The operators over
thirty-five, as rule. are earning less
than the younger ones.
Three persons over sixty years or
age are employed as telephone opera
tors in the government service. The
number of single woman telephone
operators is placed at l3S. and their
average pay, exclusive of bonus. -
$3.50.
How Work Is Done.
These first tables were presented =,
the commission today by Lewis
Merriam, statistician as to data on the
missionaries The work is being
done on tabulating machines. and, az
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