The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1918-03-02

of nearly 100000 employees Of the
railroads of the United States we
most earnestly and respectfully apeti-y
ton the congress Of the United States
not to Ak q time limit at which the
railroads must bessturned hack toapri-E
leaving thisS question
for future determination, And: thereby ,
giving ample time for the adjustment )
of matters growing out OF the tenn
|porary control of same with" equal:
Justice to all parties at interest," - I
This was. signed by Wills, ccMcNa-
mara, Clark and Doak for the four
railroad brotherhoods, by Wharton
for the Railway Employees depart
ment Of the A. F. Of L., and by Ryan,
Franklin, McNulty, Hynes, Kline and
Johnston for the shop crafts.
Indicative Of. Sentiment.
= i: is important. because it. repre-
sentsf the turning OF the path for the
railway employees toward an active
1eAt for public ownership Just now
they see that they are gettings better
terms from Director General .McAdoo
than they ever got from the: private
managers, They want. no promises
made to the railroad stockholders, on
the part Of congress, which may wipe
out these new gains. -, ..- ),
For, example, every man in the rail-
road service, except a few Of the high
salaried people, is going to set a raise
In pay. from the railroad wage board.
That will be necessary in order to
keep the service UP to an efficient
standard Of operation. It is more
than, likely that a temporary read
| justment will be announced within a
few days, and that by July 1 the
board will have worked out a sched-
| ule of wages based on the study Of
| reports on former wage conditions in
all parts Of the country.
win End Discrimination. . -
At the same time the four. brother
hoods and the A. F.,of L. unions have
reached an agreement with McAdoo
that discrimination against union
! men, and against men for any reason
! whatsoever, except their inability to
perform the work, shall cease. This !:
| means that thousands Of skilled men
| who in past years have been denied
employment because of their age.
their inability to pass a physical ;ex-s
animation, or their record :aac labor
agitators, will now be able to go back
into the railroad service. Some of
the roads have arbitrarily shut or
from aslivelihood the best skilled men,
in their shop towns because those
| men had been strikers, or had passed
certain age, or had bcome slightly
| crippled. The new agreement, en-
4 forced in an order by McAdoo puts
an end ito these injustices. -
| Here, again. the railroad employees
| want to have an understanding with
the private owners of the roads be-
fore there Is any time set to- return
the roads to private management AS
they realize that such an understand
| ing is wholly unlikely to be reached
they move farther and farther toward
demanding straight public ownership
| ; People want Ownership.
I Senator johnson Of Calitorrta, in.
his remarkable speech OF Feb. 49,.
showed that the people want national
ownership, and. that they are going to-
get It. He cited the dne success made
by the municipality owned and oper-s
lated street railway system : in San
Francisco, and he told some blunt
truths about the collapse OF the.
boosted efficiency Of private man-I
agement, and neeesait OF private In:
itiative'' in American 4 railroading
since, We went into the wal HIS
t.argument was o scorcher. S.. ~ ~