Letter and wage comparisons, from W. N. Deramus, to all ORC and BLE, 1934

Inclusive date range: 1921-1932

Bulk dates: 1932-1934



This collection contains documentation of a wage dispute between the Kansas City Southern Railways [KCS] and their employees represented by the "Big Four" railroad brotherhoods: the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers [BLE]; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen [BLF&E]; the Order of Railway Conductors [ORC]; and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen [BRT].



The records in this collection document the wages of employees who were members of one of the Big Four as well as how those wages would be affected by a proposed change to wage schedules by KCS management. Reactions to these changes from the union representatives, employees, and various managers are found in both correspondence and in pamphlets printed by both sides of the dispute to try to influence public opinion. The wage schedules are heavily annotated to show how the wages for the employees would fall should the KCS plan be put in place. Newspaper clippings documenting the negotiations are found in this collection. Of interest are the minutes of the meetings of the unions where the vast majority of the employees voted in favor of a strike and the correspondence between the grand chairmen of the Big Four, wherein they establish a series of code words to be used to verify the authenticity of any correspondence regarding a strike. Telegrams calling off the strike because of the intervention of the federal government are also found in the collection.