100 years ago in The Record
Sunday, June 2, 1918
A strike shuts down streetcar service in Troy and Albany today, but “Occurring as it did on Sunday the strike did not seriously inconvenience Trojans who have had the experience with sufficient frequency of late to know just what to do under the circumstances.”
Members of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees began walking off their jobs with the United Traction Company late last night. Union workers in Schenectady started the walkout yesterday morning. They’re demanding a nine-cent hourly wage increase, taking the top earners among motormen and conductors from 31 cents to 40 cents an hour.
Negotiations continue throughout the day, brokered by Albany mayor James R. Watt. An afternoon session “failed absolutely of results,” but a second session continues past midnight, inspiring hope that some agreement can be reached before commuters return to work tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, “The usual informal and irregular jitney service seemed to meet the Sabbath needs of the people. The cost was more but the riding conditions as a rule were more comfortable and extremely pleasant because of the humidity.
“Autos improvised as buses reaped a harvest and the general good-natured feeling that prevailed extended to the point of auto owners and drivers accommodating free of charge as many as was possible.” The public reportedly blames labor and management equally for the latest strike. “The impression that both the employees and railroad officials were working toward a mutual proposition to compel the federal government to take over the [streetcar lines] had gained considerable ground in Albany, Troy and neighboring cities,” The Record reports. Earlier this year, the Amalgamated lobbied legislators in support of a bill authorizing United Traction to raise streetcar fares from five to six cents. After that bill was tabled, union members threatened to quit their jobs and seek higher-paying work in war-related industries. This weekend’s strike is widely seen as another tactic to force state and local governments to approve the fare hike. With buses, taxis and early forms of ride-sharing available during the strike, “the general attitude of the people seemed to be that a substitute service would be most acceptable.”
Working Among Jews
The Sunday Budget interviews Charles W. Mayer, who has “undertaken a Christian work among Jewish people in Troy.”
Mayer comes to Troy after two years of missionary work among Jewish children in New York City, where he “met with a liberal success, as well as a degree of persecution.” He tells the Budget that “while it is hard to change the Jews, they are not inclined to injure the person or the feelings of the speaker.”
-- Kevin Gilbert