The Key West Citizen Newspaper, March 28, 1947, Page 5

FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1947 A letter from Tokyo written to+ The Citizen by Walter M, Lazier, | voices a nostalgic longing to re- turn to Key West and escape | the “cold, disagreeable winte experienced in Japan, Lazier, whose daughter was one’ af the first babies born at the! Municipal Hospital, speaks of building a “week-end hideout” on Big Coppitt Key sometime and expresses a hope that lateral roads on the better keys will be‘ constructed shortly. The letter reads as follows: Dear Sir: It seems like a long time has gone by since I last strolled down Duval street and, needless to say, I miss the Old Rock very! much, The Citizen is an extreme-| ly weleome vortion of my mail over here in far-off Japan.| We have had a cold, disagreeable! winter and just now an after-| noon on the beach would suit! me just right. | T always used to tell my friend Steve Singleton, that I would always be one of -his| traveling boosters of Key West. The recent cold wave that hit South Florida ve me a chance | for_astew friendly pokes at two of ™y- colleagues who hail from| Dade county. Key West will al-! ways.be close to me for at least | iW Zvery important reasons. | Nimber ene reason is that my | { ier, | { i good Key West In “> Days Gone By AS TAKEN FROM FILES | OF THE CITIZEN OF i MARCH 28, 1937 Next week the committee re- sanizing the Key West Cham- ber of Commerce will complete its campaign, and The Citizen to- day offered a silver cup to the} member of the committee who obtains the la t number of C. of C. members. B. Curry Moreno, super or of the WPA in Key West, said to- | {day that no further cuts arb to be’made in the number of WPA employes in‘ this area. Everett R. Albusy, avho ,had Bounced later. been connected for several years with the lighthouse.. service! in Key West, has been promoted to depot keeper, and left this morn- ing for Portsmouth, Va., to as- sume his r duties, Board of directors of the re-| organized Key West Chamber of| Commerce will be named next| Tuesday. Mrs, Harry B. Peacock, ami, arrived yesterday to relatives and frien visit | Paul Marks, former Key West-| er, is visiting his grandfather, J. Markovitz. | in, S.J., of| Rev. . St. Mary of the Sea Cath- = olic Chu left this morning fot | £ a short stay in Miami. 1 % The Harris School PTA will| ch observe Fathers’ Night on } G ARN about the facts from us. You can de- end on our long experi- ence in telling you how buy a diamond — wisely. =. ’ Pollock S ouacity | pay JEWELERS | ee ¥ 514 Duval Street % See Our Store * Key West Booster In Writes Longing To Be Here} | the adventure and potentalities of ;Some day the lateral roads will | Big Coppitt can be said for Sugar | lege, Miami, of Mi-|&t Japan daughter, Margaret, was one of the first arrivals at the Hospital on Stock Island, which makes her a Conch of which I am proud. Reason number two is the love of the Florida Keys in general. } am! one of the many owners of a bit! of land along the keys on which I hope to build that little week- end hideout ‘that most people dream about at one time or an-! other, My hopes a.e, of course, that be built on those keys which have the greatest possibilities, My articular interest is in Johnson- Ville Sub-division, on Big Coppitt Key just seven miles above the head of the island of Key West. High and dry, Big Coppitt is po- tentially a great asset to Monroe county. T predict many substan- a ottages there as soon as the key is made accessible from the Highway. What I have said about h Loaf, Ramrod, Big Pine, merland and so on up to Key! Largo, with Big Coppitt having the decided advantage of being nearest to Key West. y I close this letter by ex- tending to my many friends in Key West a most hearty greet Sincerely, WALTHER M. LAZIER, ‘'| Tokyo, Japan, March 17, 1847, Sum-! Miss Park To Wed! nsign R.G. Walsh Charles I, Park, 1321 Newton eet, announces the engagement of his daughter, Kathleen Fran- ces, to Ensign Robert Graham sh, son of Mrs, Elsie Walsh, Irvington, N. J. | A graduate of St. Joseph's Academy, St. Augustine, the bride-elect attended Barry Col- and Florida State College for Women. Miss Park} is at present visiting her sister in Iowa City, Iowa. Ensign , Walsh) graduated from high school in his home town and attended Yale University and Georgia Institute of ‘Fechriglogy. He is now supply officer - the USS Catamount. his Wedding’ plans will be. an- Joe Allens Have Son A seven-pound, three-ounce son was born to Mr. and Mrs, Joseph B. Allen, Jr 9 William street, 5:55 o'clock this morning at Municipal Hospital. The baby was named Joseph B. Allen, HM. | 30. The entertainment will be given under the direction of Miss Edna Smith. Today The Citizen- editorial paragraph: ‘The city council finds it diffi- cult to pay its current obligations, but when its members want to go} on a junket, they quickly find} the money.” to THE KEY WEST €ITIZEN ‘There Is ® No Excuse for A Telephone Strike and We Are Trying Hard To Avoid One Negotiations with the Uuion have been going on since February 17th. They are still proceeding and your Telephone Company has hopes that an agreement can be reached that will be fair to everybody. The Southern Bell Telephone Company believes that rd that their wages » paid by other con- rg similar skilk this potiey is its employees should be well ps should contpare favorably with the 1s in the commeanity work requir and equivalent t one! ake sure thi earried oul, we rontinaously comprar with other wages. In the pi offered a f our present liberal t Wage rate increases in 1945 and 1946 amount to approximately 26 million dollars Telephone employees’ wage rates are now the highest They have been increased 75 percent since j ave been in reeent ’ 5, wage increases grant- ed added approximately 26 million dollars to the annual in history. January, 1941. The largest iner years, and only las pay of our employees. to millions of dollars in ri our employees. This is an important point to remember in any dis- eussion of telephone wages. Ww These regular wages have been an advantage to Felephone employees for many yee Under our present cont ployees months. nronths or every year. Here are some typical rates of pay: A five-day, 40-hour week is the ba Non-supervis installers and rey heyond eight hour: premium pay for Sunc work. Dy irmen re day, 40 hours a week, ane ay. holiday and evening The following table shows some of the present wages paid, according to the size of the Telephone exehange: LARGE EXCHANG Starting Top H Rate Operator to $ 39 per Installer-Re} to % 62 per Stenographer lo $190 per MEDIUM EXCHANGES Starting Top Rate Rate Operator $ 25 lo $ 35 per Installer-Repairman = $ 27 lo $ 58 per Stenographer $120 lo S180) per SMALL EXCIIANG Starting Top Rate Rate Operator $ 22 to $ 31 per Installer-Repairt $ 27 lo $ 56 per Stenographer Not usually needed (These rates do not include premium pay mentioned above) We believe most people would agree that these are There are, in addition to good, wages, many lompany, i good wages. other advantages in working for the Telephéne including pensions (with full cost paid by the © sickness and death benefits, attra negotiations with the Union, we have et, but the Union insists upon unreasonably large wage increases. nnds of eur em- reeeive wage inereases as often as every three Other thousands receive increases every six ¢ work period. employees, such as operators, bimemen, eive overtime pay fer work so receive ad night ive working con holidays with pay, and va weeks, depending on leng! ° Union demands total $69,000,000 a year: This is equal to an increase of $3.30 a month in the average Telephone bill The demands of the t » on wages and e ters would increase the cost of providing telephon by about $69,000,000 a year. This comes to 70 pereent of the Company’s wage payments in 1946. It is more than 6 times our net income in 19416. It would make onr pay relt alone over 2 million dollars more than the total of alt the money we teok im last year. s with pay one, two or three of sery wages It terms of the average telephone bill, it amounts to about $3.30 per month to every one of a litthe mere than 1,731,000 telephone subscribers, and it is the telephone user after all who pays us the money that we pay eut in wages. Wages that are too low are not fair to the em- pleyees—whe. do the ‘work. | Wages that are too high are 7 These are increases in wage rates and are in addition bat ‘air to the public—who buy the service. rly scheduled raises given . Further increases in wages would necessitate - . ‘additional increases in our rates “4, We earnestly desire to go the: possible in meeting wishes of our employees Union. But their demands must be practical and realistic. The earnimgs of the Company are such that we are now appearing befere the Publie Service Commissions throughout the southeast asking for inereases in rates to help mect the costs of wage inereases granted last year. Should present negotiations result in large wage increases, we must immediately seck additional telephone raic ses to meet the increase in expenses. Ft is with thi nd that we are proceeding in our present negotiations with the Union. An obligation to the public welfare The telephone Company is asking Union leadership te recognize the obligation of all of us to you—the publie. We are peinting out to the Union in our meetings that only by rendering a constantly improved service in the most ef- fieient manner possible the employees, the Union, and the Management continue to deserve your good will, We nrust rot disregard the welfare of the public, either im eur eharge for service or the quality and continuity of the serviee we render, week | week In view of the facts presented here, there does net month seem te be justification for a complete revision of our working praetices as requested by the Uni nor for large wage demands, consequently, we have offered the Union a year’s renewal of the present liberal eontract, bu week with the right to re-open the matier of wages al a le week when changes in conditions may justify. We sincerely month hope the Union will accept this offer. We want to keep our employees happy about their wages and their jobs. We want to keep you pleased with ee your telephone rate: I serviee, and, we want to keep our week investors satisfied about the money they have put in the sec Felephone business. For it takes all three—telephone user, worker, and investor—to keep this business going. A Felephone strike would be such a serious thing for you, for telephone employees, and for the Telephone Company that everything possible is being done to prevent it. There is no excuse fora telephone strike. SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH COMPANY, Incorporated