UC-NRLF SB Mb Shfl ROYAL COMMISSION A DLSPUTtt RESPECTING HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD, OPERATORS AT TORONTO, ONT. ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF LAHOI'l^ CANAD. OTTAWA G O V E R N Al E N T P R I N T ING B U R E A U 1907 GIFT OF E !P O R T OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON A DISPUTE RESPECTING HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD. AND OPERATORS AT TORONTO, ONT. ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR, CANADA OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1907 56671 t! K tX. f'7 * ROYAL COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS : W. L. MACKENZIE KING, C.M.G., Deputy Minister of Labour, Chairman. His Honour JOHN WINCHESTER, Senior Judge, County Court of the County of York. COUNSEL REPRESENTING BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY : WALTER G. V. CASSELS, Esq., K.C., W. A. H. KERR, Esq. COUNSEL REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES : J. WALTER CURRY, Esq., K.C. 343050 566711 iii CONTENTS PAGE. Commission vi Letter transmitting report of Commissioners '. . . . ix I. Introductory 1 i II. The strike of Telephone Operators at Toronto Its Causes, Nature and Incidents 4 III. The Remuneration of Work and the Cost of Living. ......... 27 IV. The Duration and Intensity of Work 38 V. The Methods of Work and Elements of Nervous Strain 53 VI. The Opinions of Leading Physicians 65 VII. The Proposed Schedule and the Schedule as Revised before the Commission 79 VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations. . 94 COMMISSION APPOINTING HIS HONOUR JOHN WINCHESTER AND WILLIAM LYON MAC- KENZIE KING, ESQUIRE, C.M.G., COMMISSIONERS, TO INQUIRE INTO THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED, AND THE OPEiRATORS EMPLOYED IN ITS OFFICES AT TORONTO WITH RESPECT TO WAGES AND HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT, AND ALL MATTERS AFFECT- ING THE MERITS OF THE SAID DISPUTE AND THE RIGHT SETTLE- MENT THEREOF. CANADA. GKEY. (SEAL.) EDWARD THE SEVENTH, ly the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India. To all to whom these presents shall come, or whom the same may in anywise concern :' GREETING : WHEREAS in and by an order of Our Governor General in Council bearing date the second day of February, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven, provision has been made for an investigation by our Commissioners therein and ' hereinafter named with respect to a dispute between the employees of the Bell Tele- phone Company of Canada at Toronto and the said company as upon reference to the said Order in Council, a copy of which is hereto annexed, will more fully and at large appear. Now KNOW YE, that by and with the advice of our Privy Council for Canada, we do by these presents nominate, constitute and appoint His Honour John Winchester, Judge of the County Court of the County of York, and William Lyon Mackenzie King, C.M.G., of the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, Deputy Minister of Labour, to be our Commissioners to conduct such inquiry. To HAVE, hold, exercise and enjoy the said office, place and trust unto the said John Winchester and William Lyon Mackenzie King, together with the rights, powers, privileges and emoluments unto the said office, place and trust of right and by law appertaining during pleasure. AND WE do hereby under the authority of the Revised Statute respecting inquiries concerning public matters, confer upon our said Commissioners the power of summon- ing before them any witnesses and of requiring them to give evidence on oath or on vii Viii TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION solemn affirmation if they are persons entitled to affirm in civil matters orally or in writing, and to produce such documents and things as our said Commissioners shall deem requisite to the full investigation of the matters into which they are hereby appointed to examine. AND WE do hereby require and direct our said Commissioners to report to our Minister of Labour of Canada the results of their investigation, together with the evidence taken before them and any opinion they may see fit to express thereon. IN TESTIMONY whereof We have caused these our Letters to be made Patent and the Great Seal" of Canada to be hereunto affixed : WITNESS: Our Right Trusty and Eight Well-Beloved Cousin the Right Honourable Sir Albert Henry George, Earl Grey, Viscount Howick, Baron Grey of Howick, in the County of Northumber- land, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and a Baronet, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, &c., &c., Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of our Dominion of 'Canada. At our Government -House, in Our City of Ottawa, this second day of February, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven, and in the seventh year of Our Reign. By Command, (Signed) J. POPE, Under Secretary of State. (Signed) E. L. NEWCOMBE, Deputy Minister of Justice, Canada. EXTRACT from a Report of the Committee of the Privy Council, approved ~by His Ex- cellency the Governor General on February 2, 1907. On 'a report, dated February 2, 1907, from the Minister of Labour, stating that the Mayor of Toronto having on January 29 ultimo requested the intervention of the Department of Labour for the purpose of averting a threatened strike of the em- ployees of the Bell Telephone Company in that city, he directed Mr. Mackenzie King, the Deputy Minister, to proceed at once to Toronto and lend the good offices of the Department of Labour under the Conciliation Act with a view to effecting, if possi- ble, a settlement of the difference. The Minister observes that the mayor stated in his communication to the depart- ment that the time of the operators was to be lengthened from five to eight hours; that they contended it was a physical impossibility with the enormous telephone business of the city of Toronto, to stand the strain of such long hours; that the company refused to deal with them in any way, and that a strike of the telephone operators would seriously affect the public interests. The Minister further states that Mr. Mackenzie King has reported that the anti- cipated strike occurred before there was opportunity of conferring with the parties ; that having used his best efforts to effect a settlement, the company have stated that a joint conference between representatives of the parties is impossible, and that the company are unwilling to refer the subject of the difference to a board of arbitrators. That the operators affected are willing to accept a joint conference or to leave the matter to arbitration and abide by the award of the arbitrator. Further, that the company have stated that they strongly desire that for the information of the govern- ment, the general public, and the operators, a full investigation be made, that an accurate judgment 'may be formed upon the course the company have taken, that the operators have stated that they also desire a full investigation, and will agree in the event of the government appointing a board of inquiry to return immediately to the company's service upon the schedule of rates and hours the company have proposed and abide by the findings of such board. The Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest that this dispute should be terminated as speedily as possible, and both because of the nature of the dispute and the express wish of the parties it is desirable that a full investigation should be made into the subject of the difference, and that to this end a commission should be immediately appointed to make expeditious and careful inquiry into the said dispute and all matters affecting the merits thereof and the right settlement thereof. The Minister therefore recommends that it be referred to William Lyon Mac- kenzie King, Deputy Minister of Labour, and to his Honour John Winchester, Senior Judge of the County Court of York, as commissioners under the provisions of Part 1' of chapter 104 of the Kevised Statutes, 1906, commonly called the ' Inquiries Act,' to hold and conduct such inquiry with all the powers conferred upon commissioners by the said part. The Minister further 'recommends that the commissioners report to the Minister of Labour the evidence and proceedings with all possible despatch and make such recommendations as to them seem advisable. The committee submit the same for approval. IX LETTER TRANSMITTING REPORT AND EVIDENCE OF COMMISSION TORONTO, August 27, 1907. To the Honourable KODOLPHE LEMIEUX, LL.D., K.C., M.P., Minister of Labour, Ottawa. SIR, We have the honour to transmit to you the Report of the Commission appointed to inquire into a dispute between the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Limited, and the operators in the employ of the said Company, at Toronto, with respect to wages and hours of employment, and all matters affecting the merits of the said dispute and the right settlement thereof; together with the evidence taken and exhibits filed before the Commission. We have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servants, (Signed) W. L. MACKENZIE KING, JOHN WINCHESTER, Com miss io n e rs. TELEPHONE OPERATORS' HOURS COMMISSION. REPORT OF THE 'COMMISSION. To the Honourable RODOLPHE LEMIEUX, LLJX, K.C., M.P., Minister of Labour. SIR, 117 E, the undersigned commissioners, appointed by Royal Commission, dated the second day of February, 1907, to make inquiry into a dispute between the Bell Telephone Company of Canada and the operators employed in its offices at Toronto, with respect to wages and hours of employment and all matters affecting the merits of the said dispute and the right settlement thereof, have the honour to submit here- with a report containing the proceedings of the commission and the results of our investigations, together with the evidence taken before us, and the opinions and recom- mendations which we have deemed it advisable to express, pursuant to the directions of the commission issued to us by His Excellency the Governor General of Canada. I. INTRODUCTORY. Proceedings of Commission. Witnesses examined. Nature and extent of evidence. Assistance given Commission by parties, counsel, and medical witnesses. Char- ter of Bell Telephone Company. Growth and extent of Company's business in Toronto. Employees, of company. upon the receipt of the Royal Commission we commenced the in- L quiry on the fourth day of February, 1907, by visiting the company's Main, North. and Parkdale exchange, in order to become acquainted with the duties required of the operators, their methods of working and also with the apparatus and appliances used in the service by the operators. Summons to witnesses were also prepared, and a number of the witnesses served for the following morning. The examination of witnesses was commenced on the morning of the fifth day of February and continued from day to day until the eighteenth day of February, during which time there were seventy witnesses examined, as follows : Officers of the Company. Kenneth J. Dunstan, Frank C. Maw, Lewis B. Mc- Farlane, William J. Clarke, John A. Anderson, Mary Bogart, Margaret Irwin. Employees who took the place of strikers. Agnes Pope, Angelina Porteous, Cora Parker, Ethel Walker, Mabel Langford, Mabel Bennett, Gertrude Perry, Grace Ber- tram, Ada Leonard, Ethel Henry, Alice Linton, Mamie Balfour. 2 TORONTO* TELEPHONE COMMISSION Striking -operators. Isabel Dicksc-n, Lottie Kyle, Lily Rogers, Maud Orton, Beatrice Fiegehan, Laura MacBean, Gladys Sangster, Isabel Montgomery, Winnie? Hamm, Florence Maitland, Theresa Corcoran, Mamie Breck, Kathleen Lazier, Hilda Walton, Hattie Davis, Marie Strong, Laura Rockall, Emily Richmond, Lena Cham- berlain, Mabel Smith, Olive Towns. Medical witnesses. Doctors Murray McFarlane, William Britton, Alexander Davidson, Charles Sheard, William Oldright, Walter McKeown, James Forfar, James Anderson, William H. Alexander, Gideon Silverthorne, Richard A. Reeve, John F. Uren, G. Herbert Burnham, Charles Trow, William B. Thistle, William P. Caven, Charles K. Clarke, J. M. ^EcCallum, James M. Forster, Robert Dwyer, John Noble, Alexander McPhedan, Alexander Primrose, A. R. Pyiie, Alton H. Garrett, D. Camp- bell Meyers, Dr. Fotheringham was sworn but not examined. The following doctors were summoned and attended but were not examined for the reasons which will hereafter appear, namely: Doctors R. B. Nevitt, John Fergu- son, R. D. Rudolf, H. B. Anderson, A. R. Gordon and R. Shaw Tyreil. Other witnesses. John Armstrong, Secretary of the Ontario Labour Bureau ; Fred. G. Evans, A. Alliston and Jessie Leckie. The transcribed evidence extends over 1,700 typewritten foolscap pages, exclusive of all exhibits. By prolonging the inquiry this might have been supplemented at con- siderable length. However, the evidence obtained, and the documents and corre- spondence submitted to the commission have, we feel, made us fully acquainted with the material facts and circumstances relevant to the purposes of the inquiry, and -such additional evidence as might have been obtained by fuller investigation would, we believe, have been merely corroborative of the facts disclosed, and have further con- firmed the opinions we have ventured to express. We have pleasure in stating that the parties to the dispute followed the proceed- ings of the commission with close attention throughout, and were represented by able counsel, whose assistance in disclosing and securing a consideration of all the relevant facts was of the utmost value and much facilitated the work of the commission. We believe too that the thanks of the public no less than of the commission are due to the medical witnesses, many of them the recognized leaders of their profession in the province, who in a public spirited manner and at considerable sacrifice of their time gave very full and direct testimony before the commission. The following facts and figures in regard to the charter issued to the company and the growth and extent of its business in Toronto may assist to a better understanding of the subject-matter of the differences into which inquiry was made. The Bell Telephone Company of Canada commenced business in Toronto twenty- seven years ago. The company obtained a special Act of Incorporation from the Dominion parliament in the year 1880, passed in the 43rd year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (Chapter 67). By this Act it was given power to manufacture telephones and other apparatus connected therewith, and to purchase, sell or lease the same and rights relating thereto, and to build, establish, construct or lease and main- tain and operate or sell or let any line or lines for the transmission of messages by telephone in Canada or elsewhere and to make connections for the purposes of tele- phone business with the line or lines of any telegraph or telephone company in Canada TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 3 or elsewhere. The company's business has steadily grown, with the result that at the beginning of the present year its subscribers under the Toronto management numbered 14,900. The last annual statement shows a ( total expenditure for the year 1906, for salaries and wages of $329,714.82 on account of the Toronto and Toronto Junction exchanges, and $800,445.22 of receipts. The business of the company has been carried on from the outset at the company's offices situate on Temperance street, at which place the company's main exchange is located. In 1884 a branch exchange was opened in the north part of the city known as the ' North ' exchange. In 1889 the Parkdale or ' Park ' exchange was opened, in 1892 the Toronto Junction exchange, and in 1903 the ' Beach ' exchange. In the year 1906 a contract was awarded for the con- struction of an exchange at the corner of Bellevue and Oxford streets, to be called the ' College ' exchange, which it was expected at the beginning of the present year would be completed and equipped by June 1.* The telephone business comprises the operation of both local and long distance lines. The employees of the company at Toronto on January 1, numbered in all 878, comprised as follows : Exchange. Operators. Staff Chief Operators, Supervisors and Monitors . Total. Main 180 120 81 55 8 8 34 25 14 11 1 1 214 145 95 66 9 9 Long distance . . North Park Beach Junction. Special service, Linemen, inclu< Instrument anc Business office, department including private switchboards 538 56 138 69 77 ling underground. . switchboard men superintendent's department, including service, wir , stores department, collectors, canvassers, &c e chiefs, trouble 878 * This exchange had not been completed at the time of the signing of this report. TORCXTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION II. THE STRIKE OF TELEPHONE OPERATORS AT TORONTOITS CAUSES, NATURE AND INCIDENTS. General statement of causes. Increase in hours of work. A five-hour schedule intro- duced at Main Exchange in 1903. Continuance and extension of 5-hour schedule. Determining factors in arrangement of operators schedule of hours. The traffic curve. The sex and age of employees. Advantage of 5-hour schedule. Objection to 5-hour schedule. Inefficient service leads to in- veftfigatian Report ~by H. V. Hayes, Chief Engineer of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Report ~by Jos. C. J. Baldwin, expert of same company. Important communication of local manager upon these reports. A conference of officers of company, held at Montreal during first week of January, 1907. Inefficient service due to> high pressure of work and low wages. Insufficiency of remuneration to meet cost of board and lodging. The necessity of increasing wages leads to consideration of change of hours. Difficulties in the way of changing hours without injustice to employees until equipment at Toronto improved. Evident wish of Montreal conference to effect change in wages and hours immeriately . Decision to change notwithstanding difficulties. Chief operators and assistants of local staff consulted, but not operators. Letter of local manager (January 16) recommending change to 8 hours schedule. Reasons for change clearly set forth. Letter of General Superintendent (January 23) au- thorizing change to be made on February 1. Local staff notified of intended change (January 25, 26). Immediate signs of dissatisfaction among local staff. View taken by operators of proposed change. Meeting of operators held (Sunday, January 27). A petition signed and solicitor consulted (Monday, January 28). Company refuses to see solicitor or to consider petition. A personal interview with manager discussed. A strike threatened for Friday, February 1. Long- distance operators wait on local manager (Wednesday, January 80). A com- mittee of employees wait on His Worship, Mayor Coaisworth (January 80). The Mayor secures the intervention of officers of the Dominion and the provincial governments. Correspondence between His Worship the Major and the Minister of Labour. Intervention of Deputy Minister of Labour for Canada, and Secretary of Ontario Bureau of Labour (Thursday, January 81). The local manager inter- viewed. The strike precipitated by the company. Letter from Deputy Minister of Labour to local manager, suggesting joint conference and arbitration (January 31). Letter in reply from local manager to Deputy Minister of Labour. Mass meeting of operators held at Labour Temple. Resolution passed requesting gov- ernment $o order a public inquiry. Operators agree to return to work if investi- gation made into grievances under oath. Royal Commission appointed. Scope of the commission. Commission enter upon duties at Toronto, February 4- 100 employees brought in from, outside localities to temporarily fill places of strikers- Strike lasts three and a half days. Service partially crippled. Strike ends February k- THE differences between the Bell Telephone Company and its employees which resulted in a laage number of the employees at Toronto going on strike on January 31 were the outcome of the company's decision, reached during the month of January, TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 5 to enforce a new schedule of wages and hours whereby the hours of work of its opera- tors were to be increased from five to eight per day, and the manner in which this decision was made known to those whom it concerned. The circumstances which led up to the company's action require to be set forth at some length. In 1903 the company undertook the enlargement of its premises on Temperance street and the installation of a new equipment. During the carrying on of this work the operators were subjected to considerable inconvenience, to offset which, it is alleged, the company made a reduction in their hours of work, from a day of eight hours with reliefs and intermissions to one of five consecutive hours, the wages scale remaining unchanged so far as the company's then employees were concerned. To newcomers this scale was at different periods of the year as follows : LEARNERS AND RELIEF OPERATORS. $16 per month for first 6 months. $18 per month for next 3 months. At end of 9 months placed on regular staff. REGULAR STAFF. $20 per month for one year. $22.50 per month for next year. $25 per month for next year and thereafter. LONG DISTANCE. After 1 year $2250 After 2 years 25 00 After 3 years 27 50 After 5 years 30 00 Supervisors 32 50 On August 1, 1903, the above minimum salary of $16 was raised to $18 for first six months and thereafter operators were at the end of six months placed on regular staff. The arrangement introduced as a temporary expedient at the main exchange in October, 1903, was continued as such throughout 1904, and then from December, 1904j as an experiment ' on its merits ' until January, 1905, when it appears to have become the adopted and generally recognized practice of the company. The five consecutive hours day was extended to the branch exchanges on or before January 1, 1905. A word of explanation may here be given as to the alleged determining factors in the arrangement of a time schedule for telephone operators. In the first place, the work of necessity varies considerably from d&y to day, though in volume it follows an ordej* very similar. To this is given the technical name ' the traffic curve.' Commenc- ing at seven o'clock in the morning the curve mounts gradually, with the increase in the number of telephone communications as the day advances, until by 11 o'clock in the morning the busiest hour, or what is called ' the peak of the load/ is reached. A falling off occurs as the noon hour is approached, and the rise does not again com- mence till on toward three in the afternoon, when there is a gradual increase in volume till ' the peak of the afternoon load ' is reached about 5 o'clock. From this time, under normal conditions, the work eases off and there is a steady decline in the 6 TORONTO TELEPHONE traffic curve. By ten o'clock at night the ' day operations ' may be said to end and the night work begins. From 10 p.m. till 7 a.m. the calling is intermittent, and except for emergencies can be handled by a greatly reduced staff. The normal curve, is, of course, subject to periodic and special variations and fluctuations caused by exceptional con- ditions such as arise on exhibition or race week, or are occasioned by a fire or inter- ruption to the city's light or car service, or other happenings likely to cause an increased use of the telephone. Saturday morning's business occasions a regular weekly varia- tion as distinguished from these periodic or spasmodic variations. The nature of the lousiness, then, requires that the operating staff shall be divided, so to speak, into in- stalments, and also that extra or relief members should be constantly at hand. To effect this division so as to economize operators both in the regular and the relieving staffs is the problem with which a business manager of a telephone company is con- fronted. The operators being young women, for the most part between the ages of 17 and 22 years, it is necessary that regard be had lor their protection and safety in going to and returning from their employment. This regard places a limit on the hours at which it is desirable for the day staff to leave at night and the night staff to come on, and similarly to the hours at which the night staff is to be replaced by the day staff on the following morning. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., iwith a suitable provision for rest, have become the generally accepted hours of the night staff. Later than this at night or earlier in the morning it would be imprudent to have the young women employed in this calling passing to and from their work through the city and its suburbs. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. is 15 hours. This period, it will be seen, admits of an exact mathematical division of the day staff into groups of three, each group work- ing for a period of five hours, or into groups of two, each working seven and a-half hours. It was claimed in support of the five-hour schedule at the time of its intro- duction that it permitted a division of the staff into three groups, the members of which could be brought on in regular order, the largest numbers being taken on at the time of the heaviest load, there being under this arrangement comparatively little difficulty in arranging the numbers of the staff so as to correspond with the traffic curve. It did away, morevover^ to a considerable extent, (with the need for reliefs. Employees were expected to work five hours continuously without a break, or if relief was sought during this period, it was expected to be for a very brief interval only, and was afforded rather as a matter of concession than of right. It was claimed as a further advantage of this schedule that the work of the operators being confined to five hours in a day 5 they would have more leisure during the twenty-four hours and would, as a consequence, be more refreshed in taking up their work. When it was decided to return to the eight-hour schedule, it was contended by the company that the five-hour schedule had failed to meet the expectations of those who had favoured its introduction ; that instead of the operators being in better shape for work in consequence of a longer period of rest, many of them during this period engaged in some additional employment, such as assisting in housework, or the mak- ing of clothes, or other service which taxed their energies, or else participated in amusements of one kind or another to such an extent that they were more fatigued at the time of beginning work under the five-hour schedule than they would have been had the greater part of the day been devoted to the work of operating, as would have been the case under the eight hours. It iwas further contended that the five-hour TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 7 arrangement had failed to. afford the efficient service to the public which the public had a right to expect, and a change of some kind under the circumstances was neces- sary. What, in reality, were the determining causes of the change to the proposed eight-hour schedule, and to what extent the grounds set forth by the company were borne out by the facts as given in evidence will appear later. Reasons for Change from 5 to 8-hour Schedule. It is quite evident that during 1906 the company, whatever may have been the cause, experienced considerable difficulty in carrying on its service efficiently. Mr. Dunstan, the local manager at Toronto, had never looked with any great degree of favour upon the adoption of the five-hour schedule, and had had little faith in the possibility of its successful working. He was inclined to believe that the inefficient service was due to the five-hour schedule, and at different times made representations to this effect to the head office at Montreal. In March; 1906, the head office decided to have a special report prepared upon the subject. Mr. James C. T. Baldwin, an American citizen residing at Boston, and employed by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was retained by the Bell Telephone Company to visit Montreal and Toronto and conduct an -investigation. Mr. Baldwin visited Toronto in the latter part of June, 1906. He remained in the city not longer than two days, but arranged while there to have record sheets and other material sent to him for purposes of exam- ination after his return to Boston. On November 30, 1906, he submitted his report, and this, with a report of Mr. Hammond V. Hayes, the chief engineer of the Ameri- can Telephone and Telegraph Company, dated December 4, 1906, was forwarded from Montreal on December 17, 1906, by Mr. James A. Baylis, the electrical engineer of the Bell Telephone Company, to Mr. Dunstan. The reports are as follows: ' TELEPHONE SERVICE MONTREAL AND TORONTO. ' AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, BOSTON, December 4, 1906. Mr. JAS. A. BAYLIS^ Engineer, Bell Telephone Company, Montreal. ' DEAR SIR, In accordance with your request of May the 4th, Mr. Baldwin looked into the question of the telephone service given in Montreal and Toronto, with the particular point in view of obtaining information with regard to the method used in the latter place of working the operators only five hours a day. I am sending you herewith Mr. Baldwin's report covering the result of his investigations, and I should like to make the following comments in regard to it: ' The suggestion to employ operators only five hours a day is a radical departure from the generally accepted best practice, and it requires most careful consideration before recommending it for general use. Broadly speaking, the system should be judged from the standpoints of cost., service and the ability to secure operators.* i Considering the question of cost, it is obvious that it will take more operators at five hours a day than if they are employed eight hours, unless the loads are in- creased proportionately. I do not believe that such an increase as this is probable, and it therefore follows that the cost of giving service will be increased on this basis unless the pay for each operator is reduced. While it is. probable that some reduction * The italics throughout are the Commission's own. 56672 8 TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION in salary can be made with a five-hour day, such a change would conflict in a way with the third point mentioned above, (which is the ability to secure operators. ' Considering now the ability of an operator to handle more calls if she works only five hours a day than if she is employed eight hours, I feel that some increase can be made as far as the operator herself is concerned, both physically and mentally. The question is, however, primarily one of service rather than of load. There is much more question in my mind if an operator on a five-hour schedule can carry appreci- ably more load than if she works eight hours and give an absolutely equivalent ser- vice. There is one point to be considered in this connection, and that is that the load must be so adjusted as to leave a reasonable amount of spare time in each hour, so that the unusual rush of business can be handled satisfactorily. It is our belief that the operators on an eight-hour schedule can carry a load which involves the maximum advisable working time in the hour. If this assumption is correct, it follows that the operator on a five-hour schedule must handle each call more quickly than she does on an eight-hour basis if the load is to be increased. From the rather elaborate investi- gations which we have recently made of " A " operators' loads, we are inclined to question if this result is possible. 1 The ability to secure operators is a most important point, and this should be given careful consideration. Generally speaking, of course, the operators will prefer to work only five hours a day, and if the pay is not reduced appreciably from the eight-hour schedule there will unquestionably be some advantage in this way. 1 In making a schedule for an office on the basis of a five-hour day, we feel that there may be some difficulties on account of drawing a line between those employees in the operating department who should be on a five-hour schedule, and those who should have longer hours. For instance, there can be nothing gained by the telephone company in having the clerks, monitors, chief operators, managers, matrons, &c., on a five-hour schedule, and the fact of having on one pay-roll employees working dif- ferent numbers of hours per day is very liable to create friction. 1 Turning now from general consideration to the specific cases of Toronto and Montreal, I wish to say that while the five-hour schedule seems to have the advantage from a cursory examination of the data, I do not believe that there is sufficient evi- dence to prove the system in as yet. 1 In the first place, the two systems are compared under widely different conditions, and this makes it impossible to obtain any sort of a fair comparison. As far as the length of the day and character of service is considered, the comparison is a very fair one. A great deal depends, however, in a comparison of this sort, upon the individual managers, and it so happens that the conditions in Toronto and Montreal are not now such as to give a fair comparison to the eight-hour system. ' It is necessary, in the first place, to know the exact loads being carried at the present time in both places, and I am inclined to question if our data is precise in regard to this point. 1 More important than this is the question of service given, and the tests in the two cities are made under such different conditions that the results shown are not con- clusive. 1 We have no records as to the relative lengths of service of the operators in the two cities, and I am inclined to question if sufficient time has elapsed to obtain con- clusive data in regard to this point. ' It may be stated in the first place, that the Montreal manager is not making the best case possible for the eight-hour day. The loads carried by the operators in this city are too low, and under the conditions that exist there, we can see no reason why the " A " operator should not handle at least 225 calls in the busy hour, and the " B n operator on a direct circuit should handle 400 calls. With the loads noted above the standard grade of service can be given when operating under normal conditions. The amount that they should be reduced, due to the complications of having si>bscriber& TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 9 give orders in both French and English, is difficult for us to estimate, but we feel that even under those conditions, loads of 210 per " A " operator should be obtained. 1 Turning to Toronto for a moment, I feel safe in saying that the service is not now satisfactory, and that it should be improved. ' Before attempting to make any final recommendations in regard to this matter further, a most careful investigation must be made. ' Summing up the whole matter, I do not see how we can make any more definite recommendation until the data called for above is obtained. I regret that there has 'been so long a delay in forwarding you this preliminary report, and if we can be of any assistance in the collection of any further data, I hope you will not hesitate to call upon us. 1 Yours truly, ' (Signed) HAMMOND V. HAYES, K.W.W., ' Chief Engineer' Inclosure: Copy of Mr. Baldwin's report, 11-30-'06. i KEPORT ON SERVICE AND OPERATING FEATURES IN MONTREAL AND TORONTO. November 30, 1906. * On account of a request received from the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, I visited Montreal and Toronto the latter part of June, to inquire into the condition of the operating and service in those two cities. ' The principal difference in the method of giving service in these two cities is due to the establishment of a five-hour schedule in Toronto in place of the eight-hour schedule used in Montreal and in most American cities. The underlying idea of the five-ho)u,r schedule is to have the operators work at an extremely high rate during a few hours of the day and have them replaced by fresh operators instead of having an ordinary, system of relief during the longer day. This scheme presents many advan- tages as worked out by the operating department in Toronto. In the first place, there are no relief operators. There is no provision for lunch hours, but there is an elaborate system of transferring operators from one set of hours in one week to another set of hours in succeeding weeks. The practice is to have all of the operators take their turn at the different periods of operating, consecutively. ' The results of this new method of handling the operating force in Toronto, when compared with the cost of handling calls in Montreal, shows up greatly in favour of the five-hour schedhile if the cost of operating alone is considered. Taking the average number of calls handled in the main offices in Toronto and Montreal, and figuring the approximate number of calls handled per month, and getting t^ie operating cost per call by dividing the operating pay-roll of the two cities by the number of 1,000 calls per month in each, gives the result for Toronto as $1.214 per 1,000 calls, and in Mont- real $1.87 per 1,000 calls, a saving of approximately 33 per cent in favour of Toronto. These results represent bwt one side of the question. It is also necessary to consider the quality of the service given to the subscribers in the two cities. For want of other data, I have used the service tests made by the operating departments in the two cities. This, unfortunately, does not give a good basis of comparison for the reason that the tests are made by different departments and are not uniform. This can be shown by a comparison of the summaries of the service tests in the two offices. Taking, for in- stance, the 'ratio of the operators' irregularities on out calls, due to the fault of the operator, the combined summaries for the first six months of this year show that in Toronto these irregularities are made on 8 per cent of the originating calls, whereas in Montreal the irregularities amount to a trifle over 16 per cent. I feel positive from my own observation in the two cities that this difference does not represent the actual service given in the two offices. In fact, I feel that the reverse condition would more nearly represent the actual service given in these two cities. My opinion is that the 566721 10 TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION service observers in Montreal are much more particular than they are in Toronto, and count operating faults where they are passed over without notice by the Toronto obser- vers. There is, however, the possibility of comparing the speed of answer in the two cities which I think is a slightly fairer comparison than the comparison of the irregu- larities, although I feel that the results obtained on the speed of answering tests are far from accurate in either of the cities. I make this statement after having carefully observed the method by which these observations were made. In both cities the lines under test terminated as is the usual custom on lamps in a small monitor set in front of the test clerks. In not a single test that I saw made did the test clerk have the -stop watch in her hand the instant that the lamp lighted, until the attention of the superintendent in each district was drawn to this feature on the part of the test clerk. For this reason I feel that the actual figures in the speed of answer test in each office should be increased by one-half to one second. As this inaccurate method of timing \was used in both cities, it will enable us to form some opinion of the speed of answer in the two cities. The following results are a summary of the speed of answer tests for the first six months of the year : Montreal. Toronto. 2 seconds or less 27 '6 p.c. 40 -8 p.c. 4 86-1 p.c. 74 -7 p.c. 10 98-3 p.c. 91 -9 p.c. Average answer 3*45 sc. 3-83 sec. ' The average number of calls per ' A ' operator during the busy hour for the first four months of the year were, for Montreal 11 '4 -5 and for Toronto, 287 6, showing that the Toronto operators were handling some 113 calls more during the busy hour than they were in Montreal. There is approximately 30 per cent trunlcing in Montreal and 20 per cent in Toronto. ' I think this condition of affairs shows quite clearly in the table showing the speed of answer. On account of the larger number of calls falling in front of the operators in Toronto, there is a larger per cent answered in a short time, but on the other hand, there is a considerable percentage of the calls that have to wait over 10 seconds", in Toronto 9 -1 p.c. of the calls wait over 10 seconds, while in Montreal 1 -7 p.c. take over 10 seconds. From the results shown, it would appear that the service given in Toronto costs much less than it does in Montreal, but on the other hand, the service given in Toronto is poorer than the service given to subscribers in Montreal. .It is fair, however, to say, that by increasing the cost of service in Toronto, by reducing the number of calls per operator in the busy hours, there is no doubt but what the service could be put on a plane equal to that of Montreal, without increasing the cost proportionately. This cheapening of the service, however, must not be attributed solely to the fact of having a 5-hour schedule in Toronto and an 8-hour in Montreal. There are several other factors entering into the question, the most important of which is the personal factor of the managers in the two cities. ' Mr. Maw, the manager (inspector of service) in Toronto, is an extremely widea- wake man, who has among other qualities, the ability of interesting his operating force in their work and keeping them keyed up to their work while at the switchboard. On the other hand the manager (inspector of service) in Montreal, Mr. Anderson, is far from being as forcible a man as Mr. Maw. His object in handling his department seems to be to give as good service as it is possible to give his subscribers, rather regardless of cost. He considers it necessary, for instance, to have one supervisor for each seven operators ; while in Toronto they have one supervisor for about 12 or 14 operators. 1 In talking over operating matters with Mr. Maw, his attitude is that all that can be expected from the telephone company is to give reasonably prompt service during all conditions, that subscribers should not necessarily expect as good service at times of extreme rush, as they receive during the ordinarily busy moments ; that no great harm is done if the service falls off rapidly on certain days, due to storms or fire, and that in no other branch of public service do people expect to receive equally good service at TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 11 all times, citing for example, the condition of the street cars during the busy hours of morning and evening, the crowded condition of railroad trains during conventions, &c. * The view held by the Montreal manager, however, is diametrically opposed to this. Pie feels that there should be enough operators on hand at all times to give gilt-edged service to the subscribers regardless of certain rushes of business. ' My personal feeling is that each of these managers has ridden his hobby distinctly too far. From observations made in Toronto during fairly busy times on the switch- board, I am forced to the conclusion' that the service on that board on rush days of the year must be nothing short of wretched], whereas in Montreal, during the busy hours of the day it seemed as if the operators were not loaded to anything like their proper amount. i Regarding the question as to whether it is advisable to introduce the five-hour system in other offices than Toronto, and as to whether it would be advisable to change Toronto back into the eight-hour schedule, my feelings on these points are, that before this question can be finally solved, it would be necessary to have more accurate peg counts and ssrvice tests taken in th3 two cities, and that in equating the results of these tests it would be necessary to remove as far as possible the personal equation of the managers of the two cities. My own opinion is that if a manager of Maw's ability were placed in Montreal with as great an incentive as to show a reduction of the operating cost as Maw has had in his work in Toronto, that the cost of handling calls in Montreal could be very materially reduced, approximating, if not equalling the cost of service in Toronto. ' Signed) JAS. C. T. BALDWIN.' Views of Local Manager at Toronto. In commenting upon thess reports, Mr. Dunstan wrote on December 20th, 1906, as follows: 'BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY, ( TORONTO, December 20, 1906. 1 Subject : Mr. Baldwin's Eeport. ' The Bell Telephone Company, 1 JAS. A. BAYLIS, Esq., ' Electrical Engineer, ' Montreal, P.Q. ' DEAR SIR, I am much obliged for yours of the 17th inst., inclosing copy of letter from Mr. Hayes and Mr. Baldwin's report on Toronto-Montreal service. I regret that it is as anticipated, inconclusive. It could not well be otherwise in view of the limited time which Mr. Baldwin had at his disposal for personal investigation. It would have been more satisfactory had he been able to make adequate tests of the service here and at Montreal from subscribers' stations as well as securing traffic records made under Ms direction and in accordance with a uniform standard here and at Montreal. ' That the peg test records are unreliable is certain. I discussed this point with Mr. Mtiw before receipt of your letter, pointing out the discrepancy in operating errors, clearly showing that Montreal adopted a higher standard, while on the other handt I feel that the speed tests are unfair to Toronto, where personal observation shows quicker, if less certain operating. ' Again, it is a mistake to judge the relative economy of the two systems by pre- sent traffic costs, assuming that those costs are largely resultant from the difference in the hour schedule. Practically the same variation existed before the 5-hour plan was adopted, showing that the comparative economy here results from other and probably a combination of causes, including general methods, closer and more in- telligent supervision and a greater regard for economy. In other words, the result here is due more to the way in which the system is operated than to merits inherent in the system itself. 12 TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION ' Based upon records supplied by the offices interested, Mr. Baldwin concludes that the service here is inferior to that given in Montreal. Notwithstanding the defects of a service which is too hurried to be certain, I am led to believe from many sources that the service here, taken as a whole, is at least as good as that in Montreal. ( Subject to the above, I am in entire agreement with Mr. Hayes and Mr. Baldwin, except that they have not touched upon the important question of switchboard economy resulting from a higher loading of operators, and concerning which you are the best judge. Over a year ago I wrote as follows : " Every credit must be given for the training of operators in team work and in< rapidity of movement. They are subjected to close and intelligent supervision. Personal experience and constant intercourse with subscribers leads unmistakeably to one concslusion, namely, that the present service, while good, is far from perfect, and faults are those of too rapid operating. Com- plaints against transmission except from subscribers having Blake instruments, and against lack of promptness in making repairs are rarely if ever met with, whereas those with regard to wrong numbers^, bells ringing, operators' failure to repeat, hurried utterance, and other troubles from the same cause are common. The service is good, but it is not what it should be. Its strong points are those of the system and equip- menit; its weak ones are those of operating/ ' The experience of the past twelve months has only confirmed the view which I have held from the beginning, and which is supported by the statements of Mr. Hayes and Mr. Baldwin. ' The same careful and intelligent management unhampered by a system funda- mentally wrong would have given a greatly improved service at a materially reduced cost. ' As you know, both Mr. Maw and Miss Bogert were carried away by the plausible features of the scheme, and were at first enthusiastically favourable; because of the general desire to make .the plan a success, unusual efforts were made, and the whole operating force threw themselves heart and soul into the work. People cannot work at high pressure forever, and this is now realized. Mr. Maw is frank and manly enough to now admit that the principle is wrong, and with this Miss Bogert coincides. They based their calculation on the vain hope that at sometime they would have a thoroughly trained, experienced staff. Short hours would secure the best material; everybody would be punctual; there would be no temporary absence and operators would remain for a long, if not indefinite period. By the very nature of things this could not be so. An analysis of the causes which led to resignations prior to the adoption of the system, showed that length of hours did not enter into the question. Experience since its adoption has confirmed this* and we never suffered so severely as during the past summer. Mr. Maw now realizes that the life of the operator is only between two and Jthree years, and that we must always count upon having at least one-third partially. He therefore feels that it is impossible in an office like the Main to employ a plan which involves operators working at an extremely high rate. There is no room for beginners nor for operators who because of sickness or other reasons are not of the best. Success was predicted upon a seasoned efficient staff, something which cannot be obtained. It is the old story of the weakest link, and experience shows that the chain breaks when pressure of traffic due to any of the causes which operate in Toronto becomes too great for the operator not of the highest grade. 'Mr. Maw now says that better results can be obtained by a reasonable load carried for a day not exceeding 8 hours, with a somewhat increased wage. ' As previously pointed out, from SO to 40 per cent of the staff board, and this percentage must govern. They require a living wage, and are now feeling it impossible to meet the increased cost of board. The teacher states that the best applicants, on learning that the salary is but $18, and that they cannot depend upon much overtime, fail to fill in and return their applications. It is a fact that the most intelligent and brightest operators are those who do not live at home, but are thrown upon their own resources. It is a weakness in any system that it should discourage the best material and be applicable only to the less desirable. To pay the present high rate per hour for TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 13 much overtime is most uneconomical, and results are not secured if there is any foundation for the idea that the service suffers when operators become tired. Service may twt be materially depreciated at the end of the day when operators have been working under ordinary pressure, but it certainly must suffer when operators work overtime after being subjected to a heavy strain for the preceding 5 hours. i I feel that events have only justified my original contention that there is nothing about the work of operating which differentiates it from any other work to such an extent as to make a 5 hour day advisable or economical. If this is now the general opinion, it would appear unnecessary to make further tests, although this may be of value in other directions. Unfortunately, we are not in a position' to revert to a longer day, because we have not the equipment which will permit unloading. Until the College exchange is opened the operating force must carry the present traffic, and it would neither be wise nor fair to increase the hours without decreasing the load. It would appear that nothing can be done for about a year, but I would recommend that after relief conies through the College office that we should then increase hours and wages and decrease the load. The increase in wages would not equal that of hours, and the cost per 1,000 calls should be lessened. In the meanwhile I think we should get from Mr. Hayes as much information as possible, so that when the change is made we can put in force the most improved schedule. Conditions have been kept in a disturbed state, service and the net revenue have suFe^ed by reason of this experiment, and it is most desirable that in making another change we get the best results ob- tainable. ' Yours truly, ' (Signed) K. J. DUNSTAN, 'Local Manager/ Immediately subsequent to the receipt of these reports, the local manager at To- ronto was requested to attend a conference of the general manager and chief officers of the company at Montreal during the first week in January, 1907. This meeting had been called for the purpose of considering the general question of the wages and hours of the company's employees, and in particular to discuss the advisability of adopting a uniform arrangement of hours in Toronto and other localities. From Mr. Dunstan's letter of December 20, 1906, to Mr. Baylis it will be seen that Mr. Dunstan, while himself strongly favouring a return to an 8-hour schedule, felt at the time the letter was written that a return to the longer hours could not be made until the new exchange on College street was completed, and the company's plant en- larged so as to admit of an extension of equipment, and an. increase in the number of operators sufficient to cope with the increase in the company's business. Nothing, lis thought, could be done ' for about a year.' Mr. Dunstan, moreover, clearly realized that it was high pressure of work and low wages which were responsible for the in- efficient service in Toronto, and he told the head office so very plainly. ' The faults/ he says, ' are those of too rapid operating. People cannot work at high pressure forever, and this is now realized. The principle is wrong. It is impossible in an office like the Main to employ a plan which involves operators working at an extremely high rate ' and, elsewhere in the same letter, ' as previously pointed out, from 30 to 40 per cent of the staff board and this percentage must govern. They re- require a living wage and are now feeling it impossible to meet the increased cost of board.' In a letter of January 16, 1907, hereafter set out, he states 'It is beyond question that there is now much dissatisfaction because operators cannot earn enough to pay for their board and clothing.' 14 TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION The inevitable effect of the low rate of wages paid by the company was, as the local manager stated, the class of operators desired turned away, the applicants for positions fell off, and the company had great difficulty in obtaining either the number or class of operators required to properly carry on its business. It was necessary, therefore, to increase wages, and to do this immediately if the service were not to con- tinue to suffer, and the alternative which apparently confronted the Montreal con- ference, in reference to the Toronto exchange, was whether the increase of wages should take place immediately, the hours remaining as they were, until, at least, after the Col- lege street exchange was completed, or whether there should be an increase in wages and at the same time a readjustment of hours which would help to offset any increased cost of service consequent upon the increase in salaries. i If short hours are continued ' wrote Mr. Dunstan on January 16, l an increase in salary must be made and the pre- sent cost of service thereby advanced. It is very advisable to make the change in hours and wages coincide.' It would appear that when the matter was discussed at the Montreal conference it was the evident desire of those present that the wages and hour question, so far as Toronto was concerned, should be dealt with at one and the same time, that any changes in wages might be accompanied by a change in hours. Also, that if at all possible, the change should be made without waiting for the completion of the College exchange. It was decided to increase the wages of the operators at Montreal, the change to take effect from the first of the year. A salary schedule applicable to the Toronto exchange was tentatively adopted and Mr. Dunstan was evidently instructed to go more fully into the question and see if it would not be possible to have the new schedule put into effect forthwith. It would appear that it had been represented to the conference that there was a considerable number of applicants for positions as opera- tors in the company's office on the Toronto list; also, that notwithstanding his letter of December 20, 1906, Mr. Dunstan had conveyed the impression that it would be possible to so arrange matters at the Toronto Main exchange as to afford the necessary relief to the operators which would be required under the adoption of an 8 -hour sche- dule. Mr. Macfarlane the general manager, was emphatic in his statement before the commission that at the time of the conference he understood the then equipment at the Main exchange afforded sufficient means for providing the necessary relief. After Air. Dunstan's return to Toronto he had a conference with Mr. Maw and Mr. Clarke, the inspector of service and superintendent respectively, and the chief operators. At this meeting he discussed with them the possible adjustment that could be made, and thereafter wrote Montreal stating that he found the number of applicants was far less than had been stated at the conference,- that as a matter of fact there were only 7 out of 106 who could be counted upon as being of any real service. This letter contains the recommendation of the local manager for a change to the 8-hour schedule and sets forth the real reasons why the change was made to take effect at the time and in the manner it did, despite objections which were quite apparent to the company. The letter which is dated Toronto, January 10, is as follows : TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 15 OPERATORS HOURS AND SALARIES. BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY, TORONTO, January 16, 1907. Bell Telephone Company, C. F. SISE, Jr., Esq., General Superintendent, Montreal, P.Q. ' DEAR SIR, Upon my return after the late conference on above matter, I thought it advisable to bring together the various chief operators and their first assistants. It is not wise to consult the staff, but it is very desirable to ascertain the probable feeling before adopting a radical change, and the chiefs and their assistants are so closely in touch as to enable them to speak from the operators' standpoint. My memo- randum of the salary schedule adopted at the conference is as follows: ' Local operators, 1 to 6 months $20 00 " 6 to 12 " 22 50 12 to 24 < 25 00 24 to 36 " 27 50 and thereafter 30 00 Long distance, $2.50 per month additional. ' To complete the schedule we would recommend giving local supervisors an in- crease of $5 on being assigned to that work, or rather after they have shown by a few weeks' experience their ability to make good. A further increase of $5 at the end of six months, not exceeding the maximum rate of $35. ' Monitors, $37.50. ' Long distance supervisors, checkers and monitors, maximum, $37-.50. * I inclose schedule of hours recommended for the Main exchange, ~based upon the principle of an eight-hour day, one hour for lunch, no regular relief, shorter hours for those who take the broken periods and unpleasant hours, the newer operators taking the greater portion of the evening work, but a sufficient rotation among the older ones to make the evening staff efficient. ' The distribution of operators must depend upon the traffic. As- this varies be- tween city and city, and even between particular offices in a city, so must the schedule of hours differ to some extent. We think that the arrangement proposed for the Main here is better than that suggested by Montreal, that is, the operating curve iwill more closely follow our traffic curve. The main thing is that both offices will be applying the same general principle. ' I was very glad to find that the chief operators were absolutely satisfied that the proposed changes are not only in the interest of the service, but that they will be gladly received by a large proportion of the staff. They think there is no doubt as to that. The teacher feels that she will now be able tor get applicants of the right quality, and that they will no longer turn on their heels and go out as they have done in the past. They all expressed themselves as greatly pleased, in which view Mr. Maw and Mr. Clarke heartily coincided. ' It is beyond question that there is now much dissatisfaction because operators canno.f earn enough to pay for their board and clothing. If short hours are continued an increase in salary must be made, and the present cost of service thereby advanced. 'It is very advisable to make the change in hours and wages coincide. 1 The position with regard to applications is this : A statement was made at the conference that we had several hundred on the waiting list. Upon my return I asked Mr. Maw to report, and the following speaks for itself : ' " For the year 1906 and up to date I have on hand 106 applications. Out of these 99 are objectionable and undesirable, leaving 7, which are only fair, but in case of emergency might be considered. Applications previous to 1906 are undesirable and out of date." 16 TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION ' The question as to whether the changes shall go in force at once or be postponed until the operators can ~be relieved of their present excessive load was fully discussed, and without minimizing the difficulty of carrying the present load, nor the fact that a certain percentage of the staff may object to lengthened hours, yet it is the unani- mous opinion that the change should be made on February 1. The chiefs feel that the present staff will be better satisfied. Increased money must be paid in any event, something must be done to attract applicants, and we should stop loading the staff with poor imaterial. With the exception of the Main, there will be little difficulty. There we may give a twenty-minute relief morning and afternoon, in the discretion of the chiefs, to operators handling very busy positions, especially on busy days. This may not be necessary, but can be used to tide over. As a choice of evils, we prefer acting at once rather than continuing the present unsatisfactory conditions. ( I would therefore ask your authorization of the above schedule of salaries and change of hours effective from February 1. ' Yours truly, Signed) *K. J. DUNSTAN, ' Local Manager*. From this letter it will be apparent that at the Montreal conference a salary schedule had been adopted, based on an eight-hour day; that it was regarded by the local manager as a 'radical change/ but that it was not until after the matter had been dealt with by the head officials of the company that any intimation of the in- tended change iwas given to the chief operators and their assistants, or that their views as to whether suitable arrangements and provisions for the change could be made were ascertained. It would appear, too, that this was the only medium through which an effort was made to secure an opinion as to the probable effect which the change would have upon the staff. The Manner in which the Change was Effected. The head office, on January 23, authorized Mr. Dunstan to have the proposed change go into effect on February 1. The letter authorizing the change was as fol- lows : ' SUBJECT : OPERATORS'' HOURS AND SALARIES. THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA, GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE, ' MONTREAL, January 23, 1907. * K. J. DUNSTAN, Esq., 'L.M., Toronto, Ont. ' DEAR SIR, I have your letter of January 21, inclosing clipping from the Toronto Star of the 19th. It is very unfortunate that the proposed change leaked out; this I look upon as a consequence of having taken the chiefs into our confidence in the mat- ter. ' Regarding the questions raised in your letter of January 16, we desire that you put the new salaries and hours schedule into force on February 1, if possible, and we approve of paying local supervisors an increase of $5, if, after having been assigned to that work, they make good, with a further increase at the end of six months, not to exceed a maximum rate of $35. Long distance supervisors to reach a maximum rate of $37.50. 1 Regarding monitors. In Montreal it is the custom to give an operator relief from her duties at the switchboard by allowing her to act as a monitor, but no change in salary is made, as the work is considered to be light compared with the ordinary oper- ating. We do not think that monitors should be paid a higher rate than that of an TORONTO TELEPHONE COMMISSION 17 ordinary operator, unless you find it essential to make exceptions of those now em- ployed in order to retain their services. The same applies to long distance checkers. These girls are simply clerks and we think could be procured at a lower rate. In Montreal the maximum salary allowed the checkers is $30, and we have no difficulty in procuring ample help of this description at the price. ' If you consider checkers as ordinary line operators, the maximum which they could reach would be $32.50. I can see no objection to paying them a maximum of $35, provided their salary was based on their length of service, as- in the case of or- dinary operators. ' I note that no reference is made to the salaries of local or long distance observa- tion clerks, recorders or night recorders. I assume, therefore, that these have been satisfactorily arranged. 1 Yours truly, (Signed) < C. F. SISE, JR., ' General Superintendent.'' This letter was written at Montreal on January 23, and on the following day notice of the intended change was given to the superintendent at Toronto, who caused notices to be subsequently posted in the several exchanges. These notices, which were in the nature of a copy of the letter of the local manager to the local superintendent, were as follows: ' THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD., ' LOCAL MANAGER'S OFFICE, ' TORONTO, January 24, 1907. ' W. J. CLARK, ' Superintendent. ' The experiment of an exceptionally short day, consisting of five hours, having proved a failure from many points of view, including that of the majority of the opera- tors themselves and the advantage to the staff of increased wages to enable them to meet the higher cost of living, make it advisable to return to the ordinary day of 8 hours, with the payment of larger salaries. 1 You will therefore revert to the old schedule of hours and adopt the following scale of salary, both effective from February 1 next: 1 Local salaries 1 to 6 months $20 00 6 to 12 months 22 50 12 to 24 months 25 00 24 to 36 months 27 50' 36 months and thereafter 30 00 ' (Signed) K. J. DUNSTAK' At the Main exchange a similar notice was also posted, giving the salaries for long distance operators. The notices were identical except that rates for long distance operators were $2.50 higher in each case. These notices were the first official intimation that the employees of the company had that their hours were to be changed. The following letter sent by the local mana- ger to the general superintendent would indicate that the opposition to the change which manifested itself immediately was not altogether unexpected, despite the repre- sentation which had been made, and which was repeated in the communication, that the majority of the operators would welcome the change: 18 TORONTO TELEPHONE COMVlssl fore it has been found that high pressure is injurious and it is the pace which is nerve destroying.' ]\Ir. Dunstan admitted that the company had had to call physicians to attend operators who were suffering from the effects of shocks received upon the line. Illness Caused by Overwork. In addition to the evidence as to injuries received from shocks, &c., as above set out, evidence was given by the following operators as to illness occasioned by over- work. Maud Orion gave the following evidence : ' Q. Have you had occasion to quit work as the result of exhaustion or nervous- ness? ' A. Well, I have gone home frequently exhausted, and I am always taking nerve medicines to keep me going, and I am one of the strongest members in the company. . . ' Q. What has been the result upon the operators of this continuous hard work for five hours? 1 A. Well, most of them are very nervous exceedingly nervous. ' Q. Ever anything special happen to any of them? 1 A. They faint, and they are not capable of enjoying themselves the way young girls should enjoy themselves. 1 Q. Do you know whether any of them have fainted while in the service ? ' A. Oh, yes, quite often in my experience of seven years. Minnie Hamm answered as follows : ' Q. You fainted, did you not ? . ' A. I did. ' Q. What occasioned that ? C A. Excitement. 'Q. When? ' A. Well, if it is busy, why I think any person gets excited. ' Q. That is, it was the excitement of being extremely busy ? 'A. Yes ' Q. How many times did you faint ? ' A. Three times, I think. ' Q. And did you faint any time during the strike ?