Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-06
long SEES PROGRESS
WTTHLABOR PROBLEM
General Manager of P. r. R.
Saws Conditions Have Great
IL improved in Ten Years.

..,,sttrNGToN. May 6.-S. c. Long,
.ol manager Of the PENNSYLVANIA
s.aroad. testified before the Industrial
..,ission that the relations between
oVD'. ,,nany and its employees were more
s,y than they we're 10 years ago.
frenuy5 ,ybether he intended to approve
s.sdoral plan of mediation ana con-
.nis,Ioni Long Eatd:
nf have no concrete plan TO add TO
nroblem. If 1 had / would have
iucn iucnssented. If these great disputes
ha settled without friction and
cou'u ,ho millennium would be upon us.
nouyS ,So relations between men and en-
L,ovsr are now friendly and better than
"A years ago. ...,.t. .,.,,..
this was. ,.,, ro ror,,od m,rho
,ooyal sense is more acute than lo years
~ or 20 years ago. Thlrty years ago
~ was no moral sense at ALL
us. urs.nnioining the Pennsylvania system of
hsndling strikes, he said:
h.r,rior to 1908 there were no regula-
49,. or uniform instructions promul-
ss,sd by the management OF the COM
ssnv for the entire system governing the
ksndling of grievances of employees and
n,r.renees of opinion arising between the
a,nanv and its employees on questions
OF compensation uisc'pii''e an" se"e'"'
wofking conditions
TSrs an employe considered that he had
-, been properly compensated for work
ssr,ormed or thought he had been harsh
= dealt with by his superior officer, or
not a man his Junior in service had been
sslected for promotion, or that nc mad
Men treated unjusty In any way. his re-
See was to protest to the head of the
t, ttbirh ha pmDlOVn6
.s,ar the matter was investigated by his
.nrsrIor officer-if the employe failed to
=, what he thought he should have-the
ssss was seldom carried higher.
REGULATIONS AGREED ON
,prhe aggrleved employe generally was
AZ, assisted in the presentation of his
.sss by other employees not involved in
,ho question at issue. The lack of any
srsd riles to govern uniformly, on all
norts Of the system, for the handling of |
grievances of the employees, the strength
snnr of the ranks of the train service |
organizatons, the imaginary and occa- |
slonal real injustices which crept In, the |
alleged favoritsm which may have ex-
sted and particularly, the desire on the |
mart of the employees to be treated as |
elass rather than as individuals. caused |
tbe train service employees, in 1903 to pre- |
sent petition for an agreement between |
the employees and the railroad company, |
to be signed by the general manager. This |
the management of the company refused, |
because of the fact that the employees |
we're under the Jurisdiction of the divi |
sion superintendents. but the manage |
ment agreed to issue regulations in gen. |
era notice form, over the signatures of |
the respective division superintendents.
These regulations were to govern work.
ing conditions on all divisions of the sys-
tenn,
when the regulations as above re-
ferred to were posted. November 4, 1908.
Il established practice that. II an. .em-
ploye was dissatisfied with the decision
obtained from his division superintendent,
he had the right to appeal to the general
superintendent, and If his decision was
unsatisfactory he could appeal to the
general manager, who was the court of
last resort.
REGULATIONS OF 1905.
IN 1905 a general notice was posted
governing iremen, which granted them
certain regulations in addition to those
already covered in the regulations of
iHa
In the same year, 1905, set of regu-
lations to govern telegraph operators, sep
arately, was posted,
The regulations were revised in 1907,
and general notices were issued covering,
separately, engineers, firemen, conGuc-
tors and trainmen. The same condition
prevails at this time,
1T was in the beginning the general
policy of the railroad company not to
recognize a union, but to deal only with
Its own employees, and this was restricted
TO divisional lines. In those days the
men had the right of appeal, and did ap
peal to the higher officers when they con.
Sdered injustice had been done them"
LABOR ORGANIZER TESTIFIEs.
The average laboring man." Organizer
W, H, Pierce, of the Brotherhood of Fed
Grated Railway Employees, told the In
dustrial Relations Commission, "is too
dumb to know what he is earning; it's his
wife who runs things"
The Pennsylvania Railroads greatest
asset, Pierce asserted, isn't the loyalty
ana eificiency" of its employees. as Vice
PRESIDENT Atterbury said, bat its "unor-
ganlzed men,"
Ihey are paid less,r he testified, land
line"
AZ Altoona, Pa, he asserted. clergy
men the Board of Trade and other in
nuenees are used by the Pennsylvania to
crush labor movements.