The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-11-07
asy,MoRp wILeUs.
I PART RAILROAD WAGE

the railroad workers are paid wages
far In excess Of other wage earners.
The question arises how such an opin-
ion, false as it is, has been able to
gain wide currency even among work
ers themselves. 1t is not denied that
there are some groups of workers in
this industry who receive wages which
permit them to live in decency. But
to apply this standard to the railroad
workers as unit is nothing short Of
deception.
The existence of the labor aristoc-
racy in the form of the Big Four
Brotherhoods is unquestionably the
chief cause of this prevailing belief
taking root among wage earners in
general. A contributing cause is the
policy Of the railroad employers in
quietly spreading illusions in the press
and otherwise of railroad workers
leisurely driving in to work in their
privately-owned automobiles, with the
consequence that this myth reached
fantastic proportions several years
ago. The mental picture of railroad
worker driving his Gown car" into the
yard seduces the critical faculty of the
average worker completely. He at
once conjures up images in his mind
of the ease and plenty enjoyed by GER
tain groups of workers while he must
toll on endlessly on wages scarcely
permitting the necessities Of life.
HOWEVER, let US look at the facts.
- Let us see just how much wages
these "high-paid" men actually re-
ceive. In a shop one is often in
clined to think: We'll, ! don't get
much wages, but the others must be
getting it." This is but natural in
view of the general secrecy about
wages prevailing in the shops. In ad-
dition to this, the employers for their
own interests, never cease spreading
false rumors and exaggerations in or
der to create jealousy amongst the
men and thus. divide them against
each other. Divide and conquer has
always been the slogan of the mas
tiers. Furthermore, the failure of the
employers to make public their pay
rolls denies the more class conscious
worker source from which to make
comparisons and thus effectively sx-
pose on the spot the Vaccinations and
chicane of the bosses.
The U. S. department of commerce
from which our data is taken divides
the railroad workers in seven groups
as follows:
1-Executives, assistants and staff
assistants.
2-Professional. clerical and gen.
eral.
Maintenance of Way and Struc-
lures.
Maintenance of Equipment and
Stores.
Transportation other than
train, engine or yard.
Transportation masters,
switch tenders and hostlers.
nsportation-train and en-
CINE service.
THIS grouping which corresponds
L with the forms of labor in the in
dustry gives distorted picture OF the
wage scales in force for the workers
as whole. To eliminate this distor-
ton, we have divided the railroad
workers in accordance with minimum
and maximum wages they receive. To
arrive at the actual weekly wages, the
monthly stated wages were multiplied
by twelve and then divided by fifty
two. The workers on the railroads
are generally paid twice a month.
Since there are fifty-two weeks in the
year, it would be erroneous to divide
the monthly wages by four weeks for
a man must eat fifty-two weeks in the
year and not forty-eight. All data is
for the year 1928, but no material
changes have taken place since.
GROUP A-Railroad Workers Receiving
Less Than $25 Per Week.
Of Weekly
Kind Of Work Workers WAGES