Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-13
ENCINEMEN ASK
Time AND HALF.
SAYS LEADER
Overtime Then Would Be
! Eliminated, Prediction;
Opposition to 8-FIour Day
Again Charged.

Washington. Feb. discharges by
representatives Of other b~rotherhoods
that the railroad arrangements have
evaded' or sought to discredit the oper-
pleniented today by the statements Of
Timothy Shea, acting president of the
brotherhood Of Locomotive Firemen,
Enginemen and Holsters, al. hearings
of the railroad wage commission. -.
w want time and a half for. over
time. computed on a minute basis"
Mr.. Shea said. II think I can say
that, il this penalty is imposed, very
little overtime will be paid, for the
managenents will readjust the work.
ing shifts to eliminate it,
Mr.. Shea asserted that many roads
had returned to the eight and nine
hour basis. and that in the case of
to reclassify them so that they would
not come under the eight hour law.
lie cited particularly the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, where,
he said. 'hostlers were performing their
old tasks under a new name, working
twelve hours at the old rates.
''Filed With Forensic
Z. The report. of the commission head
ed by Major General Goethals, which
investigated the workings Of the eight
hour law IN accordance with the act
VNo ~ AAINo "
be filled great part with forecasts
of what the railroads believed would
he tin: cost Of the law, rather than the
actual expense of. operation.
''rhe roads have sought to make the
application Of the law as expensive
as possible, for two reasons" he said.
First, they wanted t0 discourage any
suggestions for time and a, half over-
time. and second, they wanted, what
ever. the: cost. of the new basis day, to
have the bill. paid by, the public in
stead of the railroads.
They succeeded. III having ,incor-
porated in the commissions report
statements that originally were pre-
pared for presentation as partisan
evidence"
Increases in pay, said Mr.. Shea, for
members of his brotherhood amounted
to ten per cent generally with a min
imum wage of $3.50 a day.
The possibility OF basing the pay Of
tiren,en on the coal used. with a view
to saving fuel. elected numerous cues
tions from Secretary Lane, chairman
of the. commission and the frank hos
tility OF the union leaders'to any such
system.
Suggests Use of Coal Basis.
We found when 1 was on the in
terstate com merce commission" Mr..
Lane said. that less than ten per cent
VI Inc Iuel unlS We're Utilized. We
are interested greatly in making time
with trains to relieve congestion and
also in the saving of fuel. Could not
the frernen' be paid on a basis of tho
use Of coal?"
"a bonus system ?" asked Mr.. Shea
quickly. IT would oppose any such
plan. 1t was tried on the Pennsyl-
vaniaa lines east and experience show
ed there was no accurate way Of meas
uring the fuel. The experiment caus-
ed more confusion and dissatisfaction
than any other innovation I ever knew.
The bonus system makes a, certain
cla~s of employees dishonest. and I am
opposed to anything with such a ten
dency. a-. -
There should be competent in
structors to teach firemen about COM
huston. though, as a matter Of fact,
we are not burning coal on railroads
ony nloresa To use the railroad term
1t is real estate---slag, slate and dirt"
Mrs Shea will continue his discus
son Of the eight-hour commissions re-
port tomorrow.
Dozens of letters were put into the
records. protesting against the recent
testimony of w. G. Lee, head of the