The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1916-11-03
OFTEN A PRE- TEXT FOR DELAY

Workers In the Past Have Found That
Arbitration Is Sometimes Used by
Employers to Postpone Adjustments.
Capital Must Deliver Its Full Share
of the Bargain.
The subject of arbitration of labor
disputes is very prominent in the pub
lie mind at the present time as re-
suit of the controversy between the
railroads ana the different brother
hoods of railroad employees. Proba
bly, there is more public interest in
this question ut the present time than
at any previous time in our industrial
history The imminence of a railroad
strike involving Il tieup Of all forms
of neceSsaries of life, together with the
curtailment of nearly all manufactur-
ing industries, dependent as they are
upon uninterrupted transportation ia
cilities, brings the question of railroad
service. or the suspension of it, close
home to every individual who stops to
think at ALL
The railroad managers have an
nounced in the press, through paid ad-
vertisements and news reports. their
devotion to the principle of arbitra-
ton, and there has been manifest in
the press more or less criticism of the
railroad brotherhoods because they
have declined to accept arbitration as
q solution or means Of settlement of
the differences between the railroads
and their employees
We shoe workers, who are members
Of the Boot and Shoe Workers union.
can fairly lay claim to being strong
supporters of arbitration of labor dis
putes, since we have pursued the arbi-
tration policy as a fixed policy for a
matter of eighteen years; but while
we have pursued this policy in our
own calling as a general rule, it does
not follow that the railroad brother
hoods should be satisfied to accept ar
bitration under the circumstances ex-
listing between them and the different
railroad managements.
There are different kinds of arbitra-
ton 1t makes a whole lot of differ
ence what spirit exists. and it i'll be-
comes any employing interest that has
used arbitration as a buffer to prevent
the settlement OF labor disputes to
shed crocodile tears when employees,
having repeatedly accepted arbitration
in good faith and having found by bit
ter experience that it was only used
ON the employers part as a means Of
postponing adjustments, decide that
that kind Of arbitration can no longer
be satisfactory 10 them.
We understand That the previous cx-
perienceS of the railroad brotherhoods
with arbitration have been of this ma
ture We understand that the various
kinds of arbitration arrangements have
been used as a preteXt for delay that
the awards under them have been in
significant-in some cases amounting
to about cents a day and that in
many cases agreements of settlement
that have been reached have not been
followed Immediately by the railroads.
1t takes something more than an
eleventh hour advocacy OF arbitration
by an employer to make rcal arbitra
ton 1t necesSitatcS n spirit of good
faith and integrity ON both sides II
it is expected that labor SHAH abide
by It's arbitration contracts in good
faith, If it is cE etcd that labor shall
adopt or contiuu am arbitration pol.
icy, capital must be intelligent enough
to know that it must deliver its full
share of the bargain, accept arbitration
in good faith and abide by the awards
CAPITAL must do more than this. It
must realize that with the prices OF
foodstuns and all necessarics of life
advancing by leaps and bounds there
must be continuously advancing wages
In our own experience we have
found shoe manufacturing concerns
that were willing to adopt arbitration
only as means to further their own
immediate selfish purposes. We have
had instances where every pretexi
was used to defer arbitration on the
theory that the longer it could be post
poned the farther away the time
would be when the new wage rate
would be in force. We have seen met
Ia our own experience small enough
to be willing to sacrifice the whole
principle of arbitration iii order t
save the few dollars that few weeks
postponement might bring them.
We are happy to say that these
cases have not been in a majority an(
that the general results of arbitration
in our craft have been excellent W.
have followed the policy so long that
as rule, both employers and EN-
ployees recognize its beneficial effects
but there have been instances whert
we have been obliged to terminate on
arbitration contract because of th'
failure of the employer to live up t
his own obligations under that con
tract-Shoe Workers Journal
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y PRACTICE LOYALTY.