The Washington herald., 1919-01-31

union to the War Labor Board was
practically completed late yesterday
afternoon, when Secretary j. II.
Goodman. of Division $50, and six mo-
tor,nen and conductors completed
their testimony as to long hours OF
work and lack of proper rest, which
constitute some of the main features
of the bad working conditions now
existing on the lines OF the Washing
ton Railway and Electric Company.
Charlton G. Ogburn. A. G. Clap
ham and w. T. Herman. examiners
for the board are conducting the hear
ings and will present their findings
and recommendations to w. II. Taft
and Basil Manly, joint chairmen OF
the board.
Appear for Union.
For the union men there appeared
James H. Vahey. general counsel
of the Amalgamated Association; p.
X. Shea, one of the national officers,
and NJ. +. Mangin. a local attorney.
For the company there were present
John II. Barbour. chief counsel; S.
r. Bowen and President w. F. Haln.
A score or more of conductors and
motormen attended the afternoon and
morning sessions OF the hearings be-
fore the board.
Secretary Goodman testified that he
had been in the employ of the Capt.
tai Traction Company for fourteen
years prior to being elected to his
present position.
Mr.. Barbour, in cross examining Mr..
Cookman, sought to establish soHae
connection between the recent grand
rush. of employees to join the. union
with court proceedings which have
been instituted against eight employees
for alleged knocking down" Of fares,
but the witness declared that the men
were only seeking protection from the
union against bad working condi-
tions
Tracing the growth of the union,
Mr. Goodman stated that in October,
1918. there were $50 employees of the
company in the union; that by Janu-
ary 10 half this number had been
increased to 200 employees of the
Washington Railway and Electric
Company, while since that time there
had been grand rush" to the or
ganization-more than 800 men hav-
ing joined since that time. He stated
lfldl 90 tlilpiOg VI NAit Ndpi1ol L a.
ton. or about IS per cent of all their
employees, were members OF Division
/ 6Se
May File Brief Later.
T. Edward Mitchell. representing
the Brotherhood of Electric Railway
Employees, demanded a hearing for
his organization. but Examiner
Herman interviewed and stated that
the dispute was between the Anal
gamated and the company and that
Mr.. Mitchell could not be made a
party to the proceedings. He stated
that when the testimony is closed
Mr.. Mitchell may file a brief or make
any argument he desires.
Cross-examination of witnesses
was also denied W. Mex. Clayton
representing the Federation of Citi-
zens' Associations.
Six motormen and conductors tes-
titled concerning the long hours
they are required to work. alleging
discrimination against union en-
ployes and half-time pay while
awaiting assignment to runs.
Motorman H. H Kent testified as
to the unsatisfactory arrangement
OF car schedules which require
trainmen on Swing runs" which
constitute about 70 per cent of all
runs under the present system. to
work from twelve to thirteen hours
to get pay for ten hours. He de-
clared these runs are so arranged
that trainmen are frequently de-
prived of getting eight hours con-
secutive rest.
Must Wear Cap.
Conductor George W. Grover testi-
fed that in order to get free rides on
the street car lines of the company a
tTainman must wear his uniform cap,
no passes being issued to the en-
pIoyes
Motorman Benny c. Smith said that
his days work aggregated fourteen
hours outside time in order to
make nine hours and forty-five min
utes of INSIDE" or pay time. In
answer to questions by Attorney Shay,
the witness stated that he had at
tended meetings of the brotherhood. +"
which Mr.. Vahey denounced at the
morning hearing as a flake institu-
tion created by the company during
the 1917 strike for the purpose OF
! breaking up the union. This meeting,
he stated, was held in the Eckington
car barns, and was attended by seven
employees. He stated that he had for