New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration Yonkers Railroad Company Records

Mr. William C. Rogers was appointed by the Commissioner of Labor to investigate the strike on the Yonkers Railroad Company, the street car system for the city of Yonkers. Serving with him were Mr. M. J. Reagan and Mr. James McManus. The Board held hearings in Yonkers on January 10, 11, 1913.

The Yonkers Railroad Company had been in the hands of a receiver for five years, and during the time of the receivership the employees had been unable to secure a written contract since the court had said that the receiver did not have the power to sign such a contract. During this period, however, the receiver had agreed to abide by the contract verbally and had done so. One feature of the agreement was that only Yonkers men would be hired, and this was perpetuated in a city ordinance which required a new man to have 15 hours of instruction before he could take a car out alone.

In January of 1913 the president of the reorganized company sent a man to the Yonkers Railroad with instructions to the superintendent that he be hired. The superintendent asked that certain men instruct the new man, and when they refused he fired them. The union upheld the men and workers walked off the job saying that management had repudiated the contract. However, no written contract had been signed since the president refused when it had been presented to him earlier in 1912.