Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-08-10
'$3O,OOO,OOO
Raise Given
ExpressrrleIl
Eight thousand Men Not
Provided for in Rail
road Wage Award Civ
ing Increase in Pay


Dor board today handed down de-
cision increasing wages of employees
Of the American Railway Express
company s30.000,000 yearly.
Eighty thousand men not provided
for by the recent $600,000,0O0 rail-
way wage award are affected.
The award is retroactive to May l..
1920. The wage increase, amounting
to 16 cents an hour, will give mes
sengers and other train service en-
ployes an increase of $38.40 a month.
All other employees will receivu an
increase of $32.64.
Train service employees work on a
240 month basis while all other en-
ployes work on 204 hour basis.
Under the terms of the Esch-Cum-
Minis transportation act, the express
company will be permitted to raise
it's rates sufficiently to meet the i'll
creased labor costs. Arguments in the
rate case already have been present.
ed before the interstate commerce
commission at Washington.
1t was announced that a decision
covering new working rules would
be handed down later.
Applies to All Employees
The express decision applied to all
express employees with the exception
Of $500 shopmen who were given a
13 cents an hour increase in The
railway award last month. The is
cents an hour award is slightly bet
tier than the average increase to the
railroad men, the board finding that
express employees, as class, were not
SO well paid as men in other lines Of
railroad work.
Four unions are affected by the
boards decision. They are:
Brotherhood Of Railroad and steam
ship Clerks, Freight Handlers. Ex-
press and Station Employees
International Brotherhood of Team
sters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen aid
Helpers Of America.
Railway Express Drivers, Chauf-
feurs and Conductors local No. 72o
of Chicago.
order of Railway Expressmen.
For the purpose of the. award the
board divided express employees IN
five classes but the increase granted
was in each case the same, IS cents
an hour. Messengers and orher en-
ployes in the train service whose
,hours are computed on a basis of a
240 hour month will receive an IN
crease of $38.40. All other employees
working on the 204 hour month
basis will receive $32.64 more. The
board directed that pay from May I
to August 81 shall be paid to en-
pioyes separately from their Sep
tember checks in order that they
, may know the exact amount Of back
pay received.
Describing conditions i'm the ,ex-
press service, the board states in its
decision:
"As in the case of the railroad en-
ployes, this long delay and success
sion of disappointments (referring to
the unsuccessful efforts of the men
to get an increase early last spring.
coupled with the pressure of fur
ther rise in living costs. produced
deep and not unreasonable iissatis-
faction on the part of the express
employees even to greater degree
than upon many of the railroad en-
ployes, as the wages paid to th=
express employees were generally less
than those paid for analogous serv-
ice by the railroads and in many
other industries. The express employees
thus felt themselves called upon to
make sacrifices, as they believed, far
beyond those of any other class. i'or
these reasons. and as a measure o.
Justice it was decided that this de
cision, when made, would be e-scct-
i've as of May 1, 1920. and that the
increases herein specified should be
slightly in excess of those decided up
= on for railroad emp.oyes performing
similar service"
Presidents of the express union.
who were present when the aware
: was handed down, were non-commit'
al on the subject of it's acceptabilitN
but the general impression was thai
the labor board had been more gen
erous than either the unions or tbs
express company had anticipated
Two of the unions had demanded in
creases of $51 month. while th'
other two asked an increase Of $25
monthly.