The Connecticut labor press., 1920-02-07
RAILROAD MEN
CANNOT SEE THAT
$50 TO $40 WAGE
Take Issue With Statement That
Average Weekly Pay Hits
High Mark.
GET ABOUT HALF IT
Yard Men Have Hard Time On
$50 for Seven Days-Road
Men Worse Off.

Instead of enjoying all the good
things of life on wages between $50 and
$40 week and short hours, the aver
age worker on the New Haven rail-
road system is having a hard time to
struggle along on from $50 to $40 a
week and long hours, according to
statements made by some of them in
reply to an editorial in the Hartford
Courant OIL Tuesday last The editorial
stated that the railroad men were boast
ing of drawing down $50 to $40 a
week" and the replies state that while
some of them may be doing SO, they are
working long hours overtime and are
also much in the minority.
The replies are direct to the point
and while local to the Hartford division
nevertheless apply to terminals, yards
and lines throughout the system. Says
one of those who object to the general
classification:
when you hear men tell OF wages
earned being $50 to $40 weekly you
didn't hear them say how many hours
were spent for those wages. | work as
a brakeman in East Hartford yard and
receive SIS per day. If | don't work
Sunday as well as other days, | ind
it hard to maintain a living on $50 per
week. So you see $35 for seven days
is quite a trivial sum, and the yard
service pays about 70 cents day (elght
hours) more than road service.
Nov a road brakeman receives about
S4.O8 through freight for eight hours,
and about 81. 40 for local freight (and if
YOU ever worked a local you would
realize how well you earned that $4.4O) !.
Then, sir, to earn $50 a week road
brakeman must put lie 1rom II to II
hours every day for seven days. 10
earn $40 weekly, he must put in from
Ia to Is hours daily for seven days, and
be on rest besides. So you see man
spends from 80 to 120 hours and more
to earn the money stated. know they
boast, but they are half dead all the
while, and are subj ect to boast1ng.
Another, road conductor, adds his
bit as follows:
'At the present writing | am employ
ed as yard conductor on the N. Y, N
FL. & H. R R. My regular working
hours are eight hours per day, seven
DAYS per week, which makes total of
So hours per week, for which 1 re-
ceive $3.50. We are obliged to work
II hours per week longer than any
tradesman, or the majority of any shop
employees. In order to make $40 per
week we have to work 90 hours. A
spare man does not receive time and
one-half for overtime, therefore making
it necessary for him to work liz or 10
hours per day for seven days in order
to make $40. Firemen on a switcher
receive $4.16. Allowing him 10 hours
per day for seven days would not aver
age him 500 per week. Road con-,
ductors running between Harlem River,
NJ Y, and Hartford, Conn, receive
$5.42 for eight hours. 1t is necessary
for them to be away from home three
days a week It will cost them on an
average of 81 per day for living ex-i
penses."
Yet another says that while some en-
gineers may make the high wages
spoken of, they are in class by them
selves, are out all hours and in all kinds
of weather, away from home many days
of the week with big expense attached
and that when all is considered the
wage they receive and what they have
left of it are far different stories.