The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-10-30
Company Union
Helps Cut Wages
(By a Former Western Union Worker)

tBy Former Western Union Worker)
NEW YORK.-The Western Union
Telegraph Co. which handles about
IS per cent of the telegraph business
of the world, has q record of wage
cutting, and stagger system (another
wage CUT, think, urlheard OF in
any public utility.
During the boom and crash of the
stock market the Western Union
cleaned up fortune, also during the
earthquake in California this year,
the company reaped profits galore.
True, due to the standstill of bust
ness, the telegraph business has lost
its rush and load. But still, let's look
into the conditions of the workers in
the Western Union.
The first ten per cent cut the COM
pany gave to its employees came about
nine months after the beginning Of
the crisis.
The company, seeing the workers
accepted the cut without any objec-
tions, did not stop here. The follow
ing will give you some conception of
a list of wage cuts given to the
workers of the Western Union:
Hours Cut
Workers had to work shorter hours
ranging from 4, s and 61a hours per
day Eve get paid by the hour. When
this succeeded the biggest swindle
ever put over by the Association of
Western Union Employees "a sweet
name for company unionD oc-
Cured.
One fine Tuesday morning, while
reading my morning paper on the
train, I read in the financial sheet
that the A.W.U.E. accepted another
10 per cent cut, meaning the work
ers agreed to accept another cut.
How could the workers accept an
other cut, when they didn't know a
thing about the cut? This caused
little dissension by the members of
the A.WU.E., which was the reason
I dropped out and in some cases half
of the membership in some locals
dropped out.
Wholesale Layoffs
Even this diSsenSion did not stop
the company from slashing the work
ers' standard of living. Because the
company knows that the leadership
of the A.W.UE. were their Eyes" men.
The company started on wholesale
layoffs. Quite few hundred oper-
ators and clerks (me included) were
given notices that they will be fur
Laughed for a period of two years
and if the company does not recall
them they lose their connection with
the company. Those workers who
were fortunate enough to be working
were forced to take off about week
every month or so. II
Did the company restore anything
to the workers? The papers a few
months ago came out with a head
line of Joy that the Western Union
restored the last ten per cent cut,
also bonus of 3712 per cent of the
amount deducted from the cuts for
six months. This amounted in a few
cases to weeks salary. Two weeks
following this bonus, business started
to get. slow again, so the company
started to give weeks off again and
shortening the hours. Those workers
who received the bonus gave it right
back to the company, by having to
take of. 'H
The Blue Eagle Flies
Now this leads lis to the biggest
joke of the century. The Western
Union plastered the Blue Buzzard in
every window and floor of the COM
pany. Since flying the Blue Eagle
let us see what the company did. To
tell you the truth I would have to
repeat everything have already said
I, am the living fact of what they
have not done. I am still on my
"furlough," and those operators and
clerks they did take back for q while
were laid of and some were denoted
to do some clerical work and the
clerks were laid off.
One thing is certain that the
A.W.UE. is not giving the workers
leadership. The workers know also
that the SOC month they pay to the
association goes to the salaries of the
officials who do nothing but Okay
everything the company Gays.