OCR Text |
Show GREAT VICTORY FOR EMPLOYES 1 San Francisco Dispute Settled by Arbitration. . New York, Nov. 4. The decision of the commission in the street railway wage arbitration handed down today awards an increase of 10 per cent in wages to employes.of two years' standing stand-ing and 5 per cent to those of less service. serv-ice. Hours were left unchanged and the 'wage rate was deemed effective from May 1, 1003, to May 1, 1904. The award was written by Oscar Strauss j and assented to by W. D. Mahon, Colonel Col-onel Patrick Calhoun declining to concur. con-cur. j The award finds that the wage standard stand-ard on the Pacific slope and in San I Francisco is higher than elsewhere in I the United States and that there has I been an advance in the cost of living since April, 1902, referring to the findings find-ings of the anthracite strike commission. commis-sion. Commissioner Strauss expresses his hope and expectation that the award will be binding for many years to come. The case was of far-reaching importance, import-ance, interesting directly more than 3,000 employes of the United Street railways of San Francisco and indirectly indi-rectly employes and trades union men throughout the country. After a strike in April, 1902, the street railway company com-pany and its employes decided to refer the demands of the men as to wages and hours presented in March this year to arbitration and a commission was appointed consisting of Patrick Cal- houn, named by the company: W. D. j Mahon, president of the Amalgamated I Association of Street Railway Employes Em-ployes of America, named by the men, and Oscar S. Straus of New York, selected se-lected by the other two. The men asked for an increase from 25 cents per hour for a ten-hour day to 30 cents per hour for nine hours; the company urged a reduction from the prevailing scale on the ground that it was already al-ready the highest in America for services serv-ices for a similar nature, four Montana cities alone excepted. The men conceded this fact, but declared de-clared that the cost of living in San Francisco had increased 30 per cent since the 25 cent scale went into effect ef-fect and that wages in San Francisco are generally higher than in other parts of the country. The company claimed the increase was but 3 per cent. An immense mass of testimony was introduced, the hearing lasting three months, and arguments j were I heard in this city last month. For the employes Congressman E. J. Livernash advanced the argument that the company's com-pany's ability to pay the increase should be considered, bu,t the commission commis-sion declined to consider this. |