Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-08-18

r. ]. Smith Of the Intematlona
p,otbarbopd Of Electrical Workers
representing the Railway Employees
Department Of the 4. F. Of l., spok
a. he mass meeting held at the Yves
side marx. Sunday afternoon. II
came in place of Nike Mahon, VIII
was scheduled to address the meeting
Mr.. Smith described himself as
adeck-hand orator. created by tn
necessity for speakers arising out 0
the sbopmen's strike; but at that, h
evidently underestimate his abilities
for he proved himself equal 10 tn
oreagion' and delivered one Of the bes
talks ever heard in local labor circles
His talk was for the purpose of tell
ing the public the cause of the strike
and he went into detail in explaining
every point touched upon. Briefly
his address was as foilows:
The shopmen are on strike agains
starvation wages. Contrary to popu
lar belief. the railway employees 0.
America have never received an ade
ouate wage. Always they have haC
To deprive their families of comfort.
to which they are entitled, and mer
with large families have had to take
in boarders or supplement the family
income in other ways.
In 1900 the average annual earn
ings of all railway employees were
1867. In 1918 they were S757. Thus
slowly did wages climb. How far they
Jagged behind the cost of living may
be readily observed when it is noted
that the United States Department oil
Labor said in 1914 a man must have
S1,316.S5 a year to keep his family in
the minimum Of Health and decency.'
Nor was the war period the Paradise
for railroad workers which employ
ers' papers tell you about. The buy
ing power of average wages at the
close of the war was less than that OF
the starvation wages of 1900.
The belated 1920 pay increase for
railroads merely brought railroad
wages up to the buying power of the
wages they got before the war. As
already pointed out, those pre-war
wages did not permit comfortable
and decent living"
Even that small measure of comfort
was soon taken away from the work
ers by the decreases ordered in July,
1921. Tightening up their belts, the
rail employees tried to carry on
under the cut. When the Labor Board
disregarded all the evidence submitted
by the employees and ordered a fresh
cut for July /, 1922, the breaking
point was reached, and the men de-
cided to face starvation on the picket
line rather than on the job.
The term starvation is not used
lightly. That is just what the new
wages would mean to the families of
the strikers. The Labor Board de-
creed a wage of 20 cents an hour for
a large body of workers. 1t protests
that the average wage for this class
of workers is 1927 cents an hour, OF
$500 a year.
Who can raise a family in health
and decency on $500 q year? The
statisticians hired by employers as
sociations to figure out the lowest pos
sible standard of living for workers
do not have the courage to offer a
minimum budget of less than $1,150
Some of these employer-made budgets
run as high as $1,700. The United
States Department of Labor experts
say the minimum subsistence budget
is 81, 400 and the minimum comfort
budget is $4,000.
The railroad, workers had then two
alternates- on the job oil
the use of their economic power foi
food and clothing for their families
They chose the strike. Victory will
mean healthier and more capable
workers, sturdier children and happier
family life. Maintenance of the pur.
chasing power of the vast army OF
railroad workers will mean prosperity
for the wholesale and retail mer-
chant, the small manufacturer and
business man and, above all, for the
farmer. When the workers cannot
buy, the industries supplying the
needs of the workers suffer along with
the workers.
The railroad workers are ON strike
for the preservation of long-estab-
lished working rules, such as overtime
for Sundays and holidays. Long be.
fore the war the workers had estab-
lished their right to extra pay foi
work performed on Sundays and holi.
days. All religious and all medical
and social welfare experts agree that
the worker is entitled to leisure al
stated intervals. Common justice de.
mands that those who must toll wher
others are taking their rest should be
given more than they receive for or.
binary work. The railroads themselves
recognize this in agreements made
with their employees. The arbitrary
discontinuance of this policy was pro
tested by the workers, and persistent
disregard of this protest helped bring
on the strike.
The other working rules, such as
that prohibiting the discrimination.
breeding physical examination which
the strikers are fighting for, are
equally vital to the workers ant
equally well established by custom.
The railroad workers are fighting
the farming out" of repair work
Railroad executives who cashed in OF
all the provisions of the transporta
ton act which were profitable Il
them, shamelessly evaded the provis
ions of the act which guaranteed /,
minimum of justice for their EN-