Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1920-07-21
RATE BOOST


lar pay Yard service engineers
drenen and helpers who received an
hourly increase of Is cents. viii get
tho biggest back pay checks, their
three month"; award totaIliug s-111s
Lsast Paid Gets Most
In II decision the board followed
ne broad general policy ia.d down
ny tbs Lane Commission. appointed
n 1s1s thar the man, who received
the least should get the most On a
pereeosage basis the biggest increase
want 10 tina unsettled and semi
skznedeaaborer. while the conductors
Engineers and shopcrafts. the So
called "ar1stocracy' Of the roads. re-
ceived smaller Percentages.
The one notable exception 70 this
general rule was the yard service
men whose Is cents an hour increase
topped all others Here the board
explained. the deciding factors were
the extreme hazard 70 life and limb
and the degree Of SIKH required
Ends Demands for Time
Today's award. If It IS accepted by
the men. VIII bring 70 a close. al least
TOR the present the board believes.
the seemingly endless cycle Of wage
demands, from the railway workers.
Starting with the demands If 1916.
winch were met for 4 tine bN pas-
sage CT The Adamson law, there has
been al almost continued procession
of rail unions before various govern
nent boards and commissions. all
demanding changes n pay.
When the government took con-
-rol Of the roads IN December. 1917 II
found pending requests from MAN.
unions for more money The Lane
Commission responded with 4 g-adu-
atsd scale ranging from IS Der
cent increase for the poorest paid
men 70 nothing for those getting
more than se4s a month. = series
Of adjustments followed Less than
4 year later. n January. 1919 Di-
rector General McAdoo -aceivad
request from the shop crafts asking
mat he add another $500 zoe. 900 %
the wage budgeI - meet the r1sing
cost Of living The request hung
IRE TOR many months. In AUGUST Of
LAST year. President wilson appealed
70 the men 70 wait and give ne
government 4 chance 70 reduce the
cost Of living. they waited until
this year. then pressed their re-
quests again.
Again the matter was deferred
as Federal control of The roads was
about 70 end.
Passage Transportation sill
In February, Congress passed he
Transportation Bill. providing new
machinery'in the tabor board 10 dea!
with the case. but Il was not until
the board was appointed On April
% that work was begun
This long delay ana succession Of
disapp olntments. coupled with TIE
pressure Of : further rise n living
costs produced deep ana not unrea-
sonabie dissatisfaction on the par
Of railroad employees Who fa!t them
selves called upon 70 make sacr7fc es
as they believed. far beyond that of
any other class, the board sad IN
It's report
IT Is clear thar the cost Of living
IN the United States has increased
approximately 100 per cent Since
19l4.' the decision added In hany
instances the increases 10 employees
herein liked together with prior IN
creases granted since 1914. exceed
this figure The cost Of living and
wages paid for similar kinds of work
IN other industries. however. differ as
between different parts of the couu-
Try. Yet Standardization OF pay for
railroad employees has proceeded so
far and possesses such advantages
that Il was deemed lnexpedieat ana
irnpracucable % establish new var
3ations based on these varying conci-
tons
Fixed Just Award
The board has endeavored TO r.x
such wages as viii provide a decent
living and secure for the children Of
the wage-ear1ers opportunity for ed
ucatsun and yet 10 remember that no
class Of Americans should receive
preferred treatment AMI that the
great mass Of the people must ulti-
mateiy pay a great part Of the in
creased cost Of operation entailed By
the increase Of wages determined
herein.
Those persons who consider the
rates determined on too high. should
reflect On the abnormal conditions
resulting from the high cost OF Iiv-
ing and the high rates being paid in
other industries The employees who
may believe these rates TOO low
should consider the increased burden
these rates viii place on their fellow
counr-ymen. many of whom are less
tavorably situated than themselves 9"
Analysis Of Decision
An analysis Of the decision shows
that the $500. 600 900 increase viii go
10 the larger classes of employees in
substantially the following bases:
Railway clerks and freight hand
lers. S1o2. 600. 900.
Maintenance OF way employees.
s760. 29s 0o0.
Engine ana t-ainmen. s75Z. o0o. 600
Railway shopmen. 1927. 900
The remainder viii be divided
among the station employees. rard-
men and tispatchers and marine en-
pioyes on tugs and other railroad
owned harbor boats
Nearly 1900 Of the American
Railway Express Company are not
included IN the provisions Of today's
award. The board will open a hear
ing Thursday 70 pass on their de-
mands. Only bIacksmiths. electric
ians and other shop employees of the
EXPRESS company, some zoe in
I Observation-Disclosures
u