The Strike Problem Upon Electric Railways

That something must be wrong in an industry where every year about one-third of the employes give up their work or are dis- charged is an unavoidable conclusion.This is the condition pre- vailing on all street railway systems in large cities.Every year these companies are compelled to employ and train from twenty- seven to thirty-three per cent of new men.The reasons for this condition are obscure.The principal rea- son cannot be the prevailing rate of wages, for the yearly earnings of motormen and conductors, who average twenty-three cents an hour for about ten hours a day, are more than the yearly earnings of the most skilled trades-workers.The latter's wage rate per hour is, of course, higher, but employment on urban electric railways is steady throughout the year, while irregularity of employment is the rule among skilled workers.As nearly as the writer can discover, not more than half of the men who employ as motormen and con- ductors intend to make this work their permanent calling.Car service seems to be regarded as a makeshift until &dquo;a better job&dquo; can be obtained.The conditions of employment, the hours of labor, constant friction with the public, and~ in short, the annoyances of platform duty appear to make it an undesirable employment from the viewpoint of the workingman.Under such conditions, without the esprit de corps fOlmd among steam railway workers and the feeling of common interest that exists only among permanent employes, it is inevitable that labor disturbances, critical or subdued, rather than peace, should charac- terize the relations of street railway companies and their army of motormen and conductors. IThe recent conflict between the street railway company and its employes in the city of Philadelphia affords an opportunity to study the trend and results of labor disturbances in all their phases.The

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