Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-27
Wire Control Boards Duties.

! In statement issued Dy tne foSt-
ma ster General after a conference with
representatives of the American Fed
! Grafton of Labor yesterday. the POST
| mas General declares that when
! the control of the wire systems was
| taken over by the government. the
| Postma ster General. by order. created
| the Wire ontrol Board as govern
| mental agency to direct the operation
| of these properties, which took Inc
place of the War Labor Board in so 1ar
as the wire systems were cohcerheo.
| with full jurisdiction and powers
! Heretofore exercised by the war LABOR
! Board over the relations existing De
| tween the owners and employees Oh
these wire properties. The wire con-
troll Board has repeatedly announced
| that its policy was to adhere Strlcti!
| 20 all rules and regulations which had
been prescibed by the war i'"0o'
! Board
! 1t is on this point that the dispute
| has evolved. President Konenkamp
states that the war labor board hao
| been deprived of jurisdiction IN the
| matter and that it was for this rea-
son that the strike was possibility.
! Postmaster General Burleson. in an
swer to this, declares that the war
| labor boards rulings and findings had
been transferred and Incorporated in
the wire control board. in so far as
wire companies were concerned, upon
the creation of the latter body.
War Labor Board.
THE war labor board had. among
other rules relating to telegraph com
panies" Mr.. Burleson states. la1d
down the following:
81 That the Western Union would
receive a committee of it's own men
only who desired. individually or in a
group composed of the employees, to
present requests for better conditions
of labor as to hours, compensation
and otherwise. and that if an agree
ment could not be reached the matter
should be referred to this board (war
labor) and the question disposed of in
accordance with the procedure pro-
vided for the board under the rules
guiding it: CD That the Western
Union should not be required in any
way to deal with the union or to
recognize it: go That the Com
merciaI Photographers Union should
.agree with the National War Labor
Board and guarantee to 1t that in any
effort by it's members to secure better
conditions of labor il would not itself
initiate it and would not permit its
members to use the strike. but that
it would submit their grievances
to the National War Labor Board and
abide by the decisions under its pro-
. cedure' "a that If any empioye OF the
Western Union Telegraph Company. a
member of the Telegraphers' Union.
should fail to conform with this
agreement and to abide by the rules
and. principles of the board. the West
| ern Onion Telegraph Company might
discharge such employee, and that the
National War Labor Board would sus-
! tain such discharge. The Postmaster
| General required the unemployment
| of all employees of the Western Union
Company who had been dismissed
solely because of utilization with labor
nrp nj n the Postal Ta1p-
graph Company. information from the
Wire Control Board received through
the managerial officers of that COM
pany is that they have never dis
charged employees because of union
affiliation, and that at the time of the
strike no demand had been made on
the company by it's employees and no
specific reason has been assigned by
them for the strike. To repeat. the
Wire Control Board has rigidly ad-
hered during the entire period of gov
eminent control to the policies and
principles laid down by the War
Labor Board for these companies"
Joint Chairman Manly Quoted.
President Konenkamp's letter quotes
a letter from Joint Chairman Manly
of the War Labor Board as follows:
II know that the dissatisfaction
with the wages fixed by the wire
board is much more acute and affects
very much larger number of people.
The War Labor Board, however, has
no jurisdiction over the wages of
telegraph and telephone employees,
and has been unable to take any eff
fective steps in that field."-
The keynote of President Konen-
Ramps letter to Mr. Rurleson is a
/ fiat denial of the statement made by
Mr. Burleson that the telegraph ope-
rators had gone on strike in violatioh
of the rules of the Federal Wire Cot
troll Board. The effort of Mr.. BurlesoN,
Mr.. Konenkamp says to defend his
attitude to the strikers by attempt
ing to put the strikers in a position
of Hostility toward the National War
Labor Boad is a surprise inasmuch
as Mr. Burleson had denied to that
board the right Of jurisdiction in the
talayranh case