New Britain herald., 1916-12-23
SWITCHMEN GIVEN
 EIGHT HOUR DAY
Thirteen Eastern Railroads Affect ed by Arbitration Board Decision
BOTH SIDES DISCONTINUED
Emp1Oyes Insist on Time and Half For Overtime Work and Five Cent h. crease for Foremen and Helpers Railroads Oppose Ruling.

crease for Foremen and Helpers Railroads Oppose Ruling. New York, Dec 23.-The eight hour day with straight pro rata time for overtime is granted to the Switch ] mems union by the federal arbitra- tion board in a decision today in the switchmen's controversy with the l railroads. The award gives an in crease of five cents per hour for both foremen and helpers
 It was said here today on behalf of the railroads that the switchmen's award was interpreted by them "as not giving an o. K. to the Adamson law
 The sWitchmen had asked an ad-
 vance of one to twelve cents. They had demanded also time and half pay for overtime work instead of the
 pro rata basis fixed by the board. While all the six arbitrators signed l the award, James B. Connors and w. , A. Titus representing the switch 1 men, dissented as to the five cent in l crease, to the denial of time and half for over time and to the award giving overtime at the pro rata rate. The railroad representatives dis sented to the award of the eight hour day.
 Charles B. Howery is chairman of the board and Jeremiah w. Jenks was the sixth member.
 The award affects thirteen eastern railroads
 ArbitratOrS Reasons. Much emphasis has been laid upon the fact that the hours of work of the switchmen are often long," says a statement by arbitrators Howery and Jenks, attached to the award. "Al- though the standard working day has been ten hours, frequently the men have worked from Ii to 12 and some times even some hours longer One of the reasons urged for the shorter workdaE,' continues the state
 ment, lis that men need more time to visit with their families, to take re-
 creations and to secure the other ad- vantages of leisure. A second argu ment is that the long hours result in physical exhaustion, often to a de- gree seriously injurious to health. The evidence shows clearly that, on 1 the nature of the work, there are fre- l quent opportunities for intervals of
 
 1 fled to are due very largely--almo ost l invariably, indeed-to delays caused 1 by the interference of other trains and to similar reasons beyond the
 control of the railway managers or of , the switchmen. During these delays
 the switchmen are often idle so that ! the long hours do not always imply ] exhaustive physical labor.' 1 These are that the railroads have 1 been subjected to great increase in 1 cost on account of the high prices of l steel. coal and other articles and that l the demands upon them caused by
 war had been so great that their work l could not be most efficiently per- l formed
 Tn other industries Tn which in creases have been given to the work | CTS these arbitrators pointed out, | conditions are different and many of l these when the war closes must go l out of existence and their men will | be thrown out of employment or the
 employers, will be able to reduce the
 wages of their employees.
 This decision in the switchmen's 1 controversy with railroads has an inn
 portant bearing on the Adamson laws 1 an official spokesman for the confer | ence committee of managers of the ] railroads said today
 ''It does not o. K. the Adamson act l in our opinion. The Adamson legis- 1ation give the men ten hours pay for eight hours of work, an increase of
 about 25 per cent. in wages. Today's l award give them only nine hours pay | for eight hours Of work, or between ] 13 and 16 per cent. increased wages. 1 We get a great deal of satisfaction l out of this award"
 Although it has seemed wise to
 award an eight-hour day as the stan
 dard minimum day, the overwhelm- 1 ing weight of testimony shows that
 the conditions of the various kinds of | railway work are so different that | only a trial can determine just how ] far the hour shift can be worked 1 without prohibitory costs to the roads l and undue disturbance of the work l of the patrons.
 Change Must Be Gradual Tt seems to be clearly established l that, under extreme condition and l under conditions of traffic less stren-
 uous than the present, it will not be possible to make the actual working 1 eight-hour day effective in the case
 of more than a small percentage of ] the switching crews, not more than 1 ten per cent. during the first year l While therefore it is understood that
 the eight-hour day be established it's l introduction must be gradual. The 1 percentage of the switching crews
 that will be directly affected during
 the period of this award must ne
 cessarily be small. Most crews will
 work ten hours or more.
 Moreover, owing to the increase in
 nav awarded to the sWitchmen. those
 who seriously desire to shorten their
 (Continued on Ninth Page.)