The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-09

try, and the labor organizations
now in it. This article will de-
scribe the conditions under which
the New York City messengers
work, and which led to the for
nation of the Telegraph Mes
sengers Union.
The Western Union Company car
ries approximately three-fourths of
the domestic telegraph business in
the United States, and last year
made a profit of $4,364,sS2. The
Postal Telegraph Corporation, con-
trolling the remainder of the bust
ness, is a subsidiary of the Interna-
tional Telephone and Telegraph
Corp, which made profit of 1884,
126 in 1898, in contrast with a loss
of sS,e34, $3.50 the preceding year.
These companies made enormous
profits by forcing their lower
salaried employees to shoulder the
burden of an economy program by
back-breaking speed ups and wage
cuts. But, in the face Of published
financial reports, they answer the
demands of the underpaid and over
worked telegraph workers for the
return of the wage slashes and an
improvement in conditions with the
statement that they cannot meet
them because of their uncertainty
concerning this years profits.
AS a result of the companys de-
sire for more and more profits, the
conditions of the telegraph mes
sengers, always the most exploited,
became increasingly worse. These
young boys, one-fourth of them
under sixteen, had to work harder
in order to make at least the miser-
able sum of So a week.
Work to Support Families
Most of these young boys are
working to help support their fami-
lies, who have suffered severely
from unemployment and the rising
cost of living. Their work, because
of the constant speed-ups and the
accidents resulting from the former,
is very hazardous, not only to their
present physical condition, but to
their future health. Statistics prove
that nine out of every hundred
messengers throughout the country
suffer injuries every year sufficiently
severe to keep them from work.
Because the pay schedules for the
delivery of kilograms are so low,
these boys are forced to deliver
messages with the utmost speed so
that they may return to the tele-
graph Office for another message.
This has caused many boys to suffer
from pulmonary diseases and heart
trouble. Because of the continual
strain on their legs, some of them
suffer considerably with swollen
ankles, fiat feet, and other foot and
leg ailments.
In the boys haste to deliver mes
sages they are frequently struck by
automobiles and street cars while
crossing busy thoroughfares. The
number of messengers injured by
automobiles has mounted consider
ably.
Paid on Piece Basis
Messengers are paid on piece
basis according to zone schedules.
The zone furthest away from the
telegraph office receives the highest
scale and the closer the zone to the
office, the lower the rating. If
particular Office becomes busy and
the boys have an opportunity to
make a trif1e more because there
are more messages, the company
Immediately lowers the zone
schedules and the rate of pay per
message is reduced correspondingly.
In this way the companies keep the
wages of the messengers very low.
The conditions in the various
telegraph offices are very bad. The
boys must come to work in their
street clothes and put on their uni
forms in the wardrobe. In many
cases the Office where the boy
works is situated quite distance
from the wardrobe, but the mes
senger is not paid for the time
which he spends travelling between
them.
In order to save money, many
messengers bring their lunches with
them and are forced to eat them
in the wardrobe, since there are no
accom- M lions In tho offioo fo,. cot