Denver labor bulletin., 1918-11-02
WIRE MEN DISMISSED ON
FLIMSY CHARGES.
War Policies Board Has Not
Gained Much Headway in
Program for Standardiza-
ton of Wages; Now
UP to the President.
BY LAURENCE TODD
Especial Representative The Denver Labor
Bulleffu.)

DuihcthuJ
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26.-Tired Of
waiting for Postmaster General Burle-
son to make good his announcement
of more than month ago, that all
telephone and telegraph employees who
had been discharged because of their
union membership and activity would
be reinstated, the Commercial Teleg-
raphers Union yesterday appealed to
the national war labor board to bring
him into line. At the office of the
telephone and telegraph administra-
tion the hint was given out last night
that the reinstatement of the 700 men
and women who have been victimized
for unionism might be ordered very
soon.
President Konenkamp of the Teleg-
raphers said today that the war labor
board would hear the complaint with
in a few days, since it is an appeal
for the reopening of the original COM
plant made against the Western
Union Telegraph Company and the
Postal Telegraph Cable Company early
in the year, which led to the taking
over of the wires by the government.
The case was suspended by the war
labor board when Burleson notified
the board that he was going to rein
state the locked out men and women.
He was cited by the secretary of the
board yesterday to answer the charge
mere scrap of paper"
1t appears that active trade union
lists in the wire service are still being
dismissed on fiimsy pretexts, and that
the real reason for their dismissal can
be found in the fact of their trade
unionism. The 700 victims of this
discrimination who have failed to Sc
cure the promised reinstatement to
seniority rights and to their former
work in the wire service are located
in Seattle, St. Louis, Atlanta, New
two other places.
Standardization of Wages
President Wilson has not yet pro-
claimed the scheme for "stabilization''
of wages toward which the war labor
policies board has been working for
some months past. The policies board
at first attempted to get the big in
ternational unions to agree with the
organized employers to some plan of
standardization" of wages, but the
unions could see nothing in that plan
except maximum wage, and they
refused to take it up. Then Chair
man Frankfurter of the policies board
formulated, with his associates, plan
for creating continuous board for
adjustment of wages in each war in
dustry, and a central board composed
of the chairmen of the various wage
adjustment boards, this central board
having the authority to advise" each
of the adjustment boards against
granting any wage that would be high
enough to attract men away from
other war industries.
This pian-of which the essence is
the central board which would con-
troll the action of the various adjust
ment boards-has now been submitted
to the President. And on the seventh
floor of the labor department building
there are offices fitted up, with the
sign on the door, .Inter-Departmenta
Adjustment Board"
Labor Board Is Judicial
To the plan, it seems, the national
war labor board has refused to be-
come party. Refusal was given in
an open meeting of the war labor
board this week, at which Mr.. Frank
furter was told by Mr.. Taft that the
war labor board is judicial body, to
which all awards by the adjustment
boards can be appealed. In other
words, the Taft-Walsh board reserves
the right to increase the rate of paw
granted by any of the wage adjust
ment boards in the Frankfurter or
ganization. if it considers the "sta-
bilized" wage too low.
Meanwhile, the policies board makes
public . most important statement
upon the conditions which must be
maintained for the women employed
in war industries. AS stated in this
correspondence last week, women in
industry service formulated this state
ment, and Secretary Wilson ap-
proved it.
by vote of the war labor policies
board" it says. "all contracts of the
federal departments now contain a
clause requiring full compliance with
state labor laws, and in each state