The daily worker., 1934-07-13
Dining Car Men
Forced to Give
Free Time to R.R.
y a SeilrOad Worker
Correspondent

- NJ L
am addressing these few lines on
behalf of the oppression used
against the cooks, pantrymen. and
walters of the dining car service.
in the Sunnyside Yards of the
Pennsylvania Railroad. Out of a
possible 600 only about 180 are on
monthly wages. Out of this comes
sleeping costs, the cut and relief.
A crew is comprised of steward,
chef, End cook, 1st, End and 3rd
waiter. Steward, chef, 2nd cook and
1st waiter are under monthly wage
of240 hours working period with
seniority of Is years. The End and
3rd walters are payable according
to the number of hours they make.
They report at the same time and
are relieved the same.
So you see if you have not is
years seniority you are on the
hourly basis of pay though you
comprise the crew. If 1 have Is
years seniority and I am assigend
as swing waiter where the schedule
gives me 100 hours monthly, I re-
ceive only the pay for that time.
SO you see we are not only cut 10
per cent but we don't even get the
advantage of our seniority.
Most of the cars operate with ex-
ira crews and only sometimes you
will find a steward or chef who has
seniority. You are assigned to Pitts
burgh, Harrisburg or wherever it
may be. On arrival there is no reg
ular assignment to return or go else
where, so your keys are turned in
to the agent and you have to wait
for orders. Your time is stopped,
and all expenses, such as sleeping in
company quarters. No provision is
made for your meals. But you must
be on hand on any demand to re-
port when they need you. Some
times you stay over two days. Then
all of sudden you are required
to report at once.
Here is another incident. Men
are told to report from $50, $50
and 1880 at Penn Station. No pay
to protect the respective trains, to
fill out the crews and you are there
sometimes from IL noon to 5 p. m.
before you are assigned, which may
be to Washington for hours and
At min, or to Atlantic City for 3
hours or Bar Harbor for l hour
and 55 min. And they must have
you or that work can't be done.
Meanwhile you are coralled in
a suffocating, dinge room with up
wards of IS to 20 men. The agent
from his ventilated Office comes. Ii
you are at the lavatory or have
gone for some refreshment, you are
insulted and sometimes the assign
ment is given to someone else.
When a vacancy for promotion
is made possible through the retire
ment or death of older men, the
officials try to outdo one another to
make a minimum wage scale for
the benefit of their masters at
Broad ST., seeking the most lucra-
tive position in the official align
ment. Their revenge turns towards
those who have no representation
stewards, chefs cooks, pantrymen,
walters.
There was a slicing of our time.
At times you would leave on p trip
only to return to find schedule,
possibly 5, 10 or Is minutes gone.
Finally all were induced to offer
suggestions to show how intensively
they could speed-up the men. A
certain agent made the most dras-
tic schedule in the reduction of
time on a Philadelphia run and
suggested the hours for reporting
time for the $50, $50 and 7:30
men at Penn Station cut off. This
met approval and was put in force.
I am joining up with the Brother
hood of Dining Car Cooks and
Waiter like the Communists say in
their leaflets. I know the Brother
hood hasn't put up a fight for our
conditions, but we should all join to
get officers in the lodge who will
work to better our state. We should
not have to pay Csc for sleeping
in company quarters. We should get
pay for covering a station or re-
porting. We should get straight
monthly pay and not just for time
on the run.
SUNNYSIDE YARD WAITER