Norwich bulletin., 1920-07-21
q Per Gent Award
 For Railroad Men
Nearly 100000 Workers
 Benefit by Decision of Rail- way Labor Board Brother hood Officials Not Satisfied.

Chicago. July 20.-(By The A. P.)- The United States Railway Labor Board today awarded the nearly 100000 or ganfzed railway workers wage increases totalling s6OO,0o0.Oo0.
 The increase amounts to approximately 2l per cent. of the present rates of pay.
 The board assumes as the basis of this decision" the award says. "the con- tinuance in full force and effect of the rules. working conditions and agreements in force under the authority of the Unit ed States Railroad Administration
 ''The intent of this decision is that the named increase. except as otherwise stated, shall be added to the rates of compensation established by the United States Railway Administration"
 Railroad officials have declared that any pay increase awarded the men must be followed by a corresponding increase in rates. and they plan, it is said, to file new tariffs with the Interstate Commerce Commissioner as soon as they can be pre- pared
 Whether the award as given will stave off the threat of a general railroad strike remains to be seen. The leaders of .prac- ticcally every one of the sixteen big railroad unions were present this morn ing when Judge R. M Barton handed down the decision. They left immediately to present the award to 1000 general chairmen who had gathered here to pass on its acceptibility
 The union presidents refused to make any comment before the meeting The approximate terms of the decision had been known to them yesterday and they believed then their men would stay in line, al least until a referendum vote can be taken Nearly month will be needed for the referendum
 The boards decision is retroactive to May 1. As the maximum increase grant, ed any class was IS cents an hour, or $30,6 per month, the biggest back pay check due when the settlement is made August l will be S91So The board pro- vides that the back pay checks shall be made out separately. so that each man will know the amount he receives from that source
 Seven things were taken into con sideration in arriving at the award, the preamble of the boards announcement says. They were: The scale paid for similar kinds of work in other indus tries, the relation between wares and the cost of living. the hazards of the ern- rloyment. training and skill required, de- gree of responsibility. character and reg ularity of the employment and inequa1i- ties in increases and trea trnent resulting from previous wage orders.
 Decision Not Unanimous.
 s'Those persons who consider the rates determined on herein too high should ra fleet on the abnormal conditions re- l snltings from the l1igher cost of living and the high rates now being paid in other industry, the board said
 'The emploves who may have these i rates too low should consider the in creased burden these rates will place or | their fellow coun tryrnen, many of whom I are less favorably situated than them. 1 selves
 1 The board has .endeavored to fix s1lcr wages as will provide a decent living l and secure for the children of the wage | earners opportunity for education. and | vet to remember that no class of Amer. i jeans should receive preferred treat nlent and that the great mass of thn !! people ultimately pay a great part o1 i the increased cost of operation entailet | by the increase in wages determined 1 he~ain."
 The decision Chairman Barton ex 1 plained was not A unanimous one, some members dissenting on nearly every sec | tion. The awards given were by ma. 1 iority vote on each section with at 1Sas one member of the public group voting | for each award.
 Demands of the railroad men whc | l are ignored by the board. No referencf l is made to the strikers or their demands 1 The board had refused to hear rerre- sentatives of the new unions. holding with the old brotherhoods. that the n1er were already represented by the official: 1 of the recognized unions.
 Tn addition to the sixteen recognized brotherhoods, two other unions. the Tn 1 ternational Association of Railroad Su | rarvisors of Neeha nics and the American 1 Train Despatchers' Association, are mad i a party to the decision. More than ot l realroads are specifically named as par 1 ties.
 The decision provides that in case O | a dispute as to the internretp ton of th' decision the question shall be referred to the board for decision. The law doe' l not require, however, that either sid' | must accept the award.
 The decision provides that the dail! | increase shall be computed as eight time
 the hourly rate, and the monthly in
 crease as '2o4 times the hourly sched
 ule.
 PROHIBITION OFFICERS SEIZE