The Washington herald., 1920-04-25
Drivers Get No Stated
Wages and Never
Threaten to Strike.
SHARE IN THE PROFITS
Bonus, Commission, Tips
And Parts Of Return Keep
Chaufeurs Satisfied.
CBy n star correspendent.)


on the old Chicago Record. His
salary represented the greater part
Of the family income. With an in
ereasing appetite. John began to
look around for something better
and. sdmiring the footwork OF an
other copy chaser. became a box
ing manager. Benny Yanger, also
known to fame as the Upton Slash
er," was his meal ticket" accord
ing to rival promoters, but the fact
remains that II was John Hertz who
made Benny his own meal ticket
and almost champion lightweight
boxer Of the United States.
The foregoing has little to do
with the story to follow except to
point out that John Hertz started
to manage" early in life; in fact.
was one of the youngest boxing
promoters in the country. Today he
Is managing 5000 men. does a busi-
ness running into millions of dol
lars. and goes to bed at night with
ont fear his men will strike on the
morrow. Fifteen hundred of these
, 1000 men get no stated wages and
yet there has not been a suspicion
! Of strike among the employees OF
. the Walden W. Shaw Corporation
for the last five years.
First strike Nearly Disastrous.
The Shaw Company drivers-the
l,5OO-haul $4,000 passengers a day
in 80 yellow" taXis, a color dis
tinctiye without being odious in the
present case. There are 1900 more
in the Shaw Company who keep the
wheels moving inside. They are on
the payroll a: so much per. and. like
the others, have shown no DISPOSE
ton to start trouble.
Back in 1910. before the yellow"
had been introduced to the Chicago
taxi public. the Shaw Company went
almost broke on a strike. Young
John had just had his eye-teeth cut
In the auto business and when the
. business agents made a proposition
to settle John got his back up and
refused to come through"
I'VE could have settled for a COM
aratively small amount" said Mr..
Hertz. but VIC decided to hold out
although VIC came near going
broke"
1t wasn't much of concern in
those days. but with the introduce
ton of cheap taNiS the company
grew by leaps and bounds. At the
beginning Hertz didn't have much
authority. but with the growth of
the company he was made vice pres
ident and general manager, and his
word became law. 1t was then he
proposed to the drivers that their
wages would consist of commissions
bonus, profit-sharinE and tips
what the EmpIoye. Get.
The commissions amounted to %
per cent Of all mileage receipts nd
50 per cent Of extra passenger re-
ceipts. The bonus was started by
adding 10 per cent to the weekly
earning during the first six months
of service. Is for the first year. 90
for the second, and % for the third
and succeeding years. In the profit
sharing. the employees cut in on 90
per cent Of the gross profits every
six months. This amounts to about
100000 year now. according to re-
ports. As for the tips, they are 100
per cent clear.
In the profit sharing. all the en-
plOyes get their bit. The rest con-
Germs the chauffeurs only.
In addition the employees were.
from the start. encouraged to buy
stock. They pay the price in in
stallments of 81 week a share.
They now have between 20 and IS
per cent of the outstanding capital
stock. The general manager thinks
that in the near future the en-
ployes are likely to get a controlling
interest.
Il hope that in a very few years
the employees will get actual control
OF the company" said Mr. Hertz.
There is no reason why they should
not. / have all the money 1 want,
N RNA
deserve any more. so why should
not the profts go to the men? That
would be fair. think. 1t wouldn't
do the big stockholders any good
TO 20 on accumulating n lot of
money that they don't need"
TaIis Free Memorial Day.
There are a number of other ad-
vantages the employees enjoy, as,
for instance, free life insurance.
which runs from $500 to $4,000.
There is also a benefit association
with nominal dues of 10 cents a
week. For this they get free med
ical. dental ard legal service. nurs-
ing for the family. when necessary,
and 800 death benefit as we'll as
sick benefit On MEMORIAL Day there
Is free taxi servire to the ceme-
teries for those families who have
suffered bereavsments. As side
frills. a three-Fly gala theatrical
performance once or twice a year
might be mentioned.
The whole scheme, the general
manager pointed out. is cold busi-
ness. To teach the men economy,
the drivers must supply their own
gasoline, which the company fur
nishes At IL cents a gallon. This
tribute was exacted when the men
were given so per cent of the extra
passenger receipts instead of 20. It
vas figured the difference Just about
Crrpresented the price Of the gas,
but the more important thing was
that II taught the men economy.
= When the receipts began to swell
and the bonus began to grow big
the men were asked to bring their
lbanl<' books to the ofice whenever
dividends were declared. This was
ito ind ont how much the men were
saving. II the. figures were disap-
pointing. they were asked why.
There Is no shop committee in the
company. The men don't caro- for
that They figure the present ex-
secutiyes are doing well enough. Be-
Sides they are constantly urged to
bring In any grievances they may
have II they tip the bosses on to
the Kick they get a credit mark:
II they tell II to Q fellow employe
first q black mark Is chalked up.
As matter Of fact. each Is watch
ing the other for fear that by ex-
travs gance and carelessness he may
lessen the profits and bear the