The states-graphic. (Brownsville, Tenn.) 1???-1984, 1916-12-01
STRIKE Threatened l
ON n. C. 6 STt
Management Issues Letter to Employ
es Appealing to Their
Loyalty.

AhAOa6A tiAS dSSi'AtASo W. -
tatives of the four brotherhood c1gan'
izations a strike poll is being taken or
the Nashville, Chattanooga & St Lou
is Railway, and announcement is to be
made within the week as to the rey'lt
of the voting.
The men who are active in the strike
movement have demanded that the
officials of the road shall meet repre-
sentatives of all four brotherhood or
ganizations in conference when any
grievance affecting only one organi-
zation is to be considered. THEW
ten contracts with the men only cal
for two organizations to be represented
at such conferences when case Is ap.
pealed to the general manager.
The brotherhood Representatives
claim that such procedure as they De.
demand is the general practice of all
railroads over the country, while The
N. c., & st. L. officials upon investi-
cation have found that of twenty two
roads operating in the southeast only
two have followed such a practice md
that thirty-six lines in the eastern ter
ritory have never been asked to meet
representatives from all four brother
hoods in conference, and that to spb-
NIT to such a demand would be viftu-
ally to surrender their present @n-
tracts with the men and they havekc-
clined.
These facs have been~set ont i a
4 an1enf tssssesl se sSszs s-sss, segre ! q
jaehf Jokn Rf6we Fs5gor, w6s, s,ias,Z,-
ter to the officials Of the brotherh6ods
asks that the road be permitted to
have representative present when the
vote is tabulated so that the real atti-
tude of the employees may be ascer-
tanned.
In letter to every employee in train
service Assistant General Manager
Theo Speiden, Jr., outlines the twelve
cases which have been appealed, and
the company's attitude on them-all
of the questions raised being of minor
Importance. One of the cases has to
do with the reinstatement of a negro
porter on a branch line who was dis
charged for being discourteous to an
official. The porter is not even MEM
Der of the trainmen's organization.
Mr.. Speiden also tells the men of
the consequences of their leaving the
service of the road on strike, and ap-
peals to them to remain loyal to the
company with which many of them
have been connected for almost life
time,
The closing paragraph of his
letter reads: "You are again urged
to give this important matter careful
consideration, bearing in mind the Sc
rousness of the step which you are
called upon to take. Many of you have
spent lifetime inthe service Of the
n c. & st. L. and have families and
homes. Think before you strike Of all
that your act involves.
Are your present grievances so
great as to justify you in jeopardizing
all you have gained while in the com
pany's service?"
There are approximately 1,50O en-
ployes in train service of the 10000.
employees of the system, and the rela-
tons between the men and the officials
have always been more like those of
the members of one big family.
The management believes that the
sober thoughts of the older men in the
service will overcome the apparent
disposition of some of the younger
heads, and that a strike will not be
ordered at the behest of those who are
not residents of this section, and who
have no interest in the property-men
whose official brotherhood positions
would be retained whether there is
strike called on the N. C. & st. L. or
not