Ron, > Their typical employee in the example averaged $60 per month in salary and > had 30 years service. This equalled $18 per month for his pension. That sounds much better (data-wise) than the $7/day speculation earlier in the thread. If one applied those kinds of rates to the inflation lookups, it paints a very diferent story than the common mythology. It is hard to fathom the numbers involved here -- but consider the labor agitation and strikes of the period that led men to fight for better pay -- even losing those starvation wages for the length of the strike. > The article goes on to mention that the DL&W set aside $50,000 for the > first year to cover all their pensioners, "an amount as large in > proportion to the number of employees as has been set aside by any large > corporation." Much of Labor considered pensions a scam at the time -- alng with proposals for plans like today's Social Security -- the general figuring was that workers should receive the money immediately rather than ever defer wages, which could easily be stolen. Railroad plans like the DL&Ws were real break-throughs. What is funny (and actually sad in its ignorance) is today's notion that workers **should** have had control over savings -- because at starvation wages -- there would be none. Pensions and insurance plans were both innovations that railroads such as the DL&W and their labor organizations pioneered, and is yet another fascinating subject of a fascinating business. Cheers, Jim Guthrie ELHS #1296 The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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