Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-12-24
Award of Federal Board Grants Also Increase in
 Pay Five Cents.
BROTHERHOOD MEN
 SEE SETTLEMENT
Warren $. Stone and W. C. Lee De- clare Controversy Over the Eight Hour Day Probably Will Be Set
 tied Before January 1.

New York, Dec 2-An eight hour day and an increase in wages of five cents an hour and straight pro rata overtime, was granted 10 members of the Switchmen's union employed or 13 Eastern and Middle Western ra'- roads in an award filed here today by the federal board of arbitration, which heard the evidence and testi mony in the controversy.
 The decision had been eagerly awaited by the railroads in general and by the four major DrOtherhoods of railroad men for what bearing It might have on the controversy over the Adamson act, in which the eight hour day is the main question at is sue.
 The decision filed today specifies that 'eight hours or less shall con. stltute a days york; and "an in crease of five cents an hour or the present rates of pay.' and rules that overtime shall be paid at pro rata rate, to be computed Cn the basis If the actual minutes worked
 Switchmen at present receive a maximum of 40 cents an hour. The award increases the pay to 45 cents an hour, so that as explained toni ghr by Judge Charles Howry, chairman of the board, on the eight hour basis they will receive $360 for a days work, 40 cents less than they received on the ten.hour basis. By working ten hours, they will receive $4.5o or 50 cents more than under the old rate. In statement appended to the de- <,ic, hv JrL Dpp Jeremiah .Jenks, the neutral members of the board. it is declared that the long hours of switchmen do not imply excessive physical labor but it has been established "it will not be pos- sible to make an actual working eight hour day effective in the case of more than a small percentage of switch ing crews" and that with the excep- ton of one experiment, the testi- mony was unable to show that the of. feet of the shorter day would effect that efficiency of switchmen so that the burden of the shorter hours falls almost entirely on the railroads Doesn't Q. K. AdamsOn Law. It was said here today on behalf of the railroads that the award was irl- terpreted by them as mot giving an 0. K. to the AdamsOn law"
 The switchmen had asked an ad- vance of Pc to 12c. They had de- manded also time and a half pay for overtime work instead of the pro rata basis fixed by the board
 While all six arbitrators signed the award James B. Connors and w. A. Titus, representing the switchmen. dissented as to the 5-cent increase, to the denial of time and half for overtime and to the award giving ov- ertime at the pro rata rate. B. F. Pot | ter and T. w. Evans, the railroad representatives, dissented to the award of the eight-hour day. Charles B. Howry was chairman of the board and Jeremiah w. Jenks was the sixth member The award affects 13 Eastern railroads.
 Much emphasis has been laid upon the fact that the hours of work of the switchmen are often long," says statement by ArbitratOrs Howry and Jenks attached to the award. All though the standard work day has been ten hours, frequently the men have worked from 1E to 12, and some- times even longer"