Paragould soliphone., 1921-07-08
REFERENDUM VOTE
 ON RAIL WAGE CUT


 reduction, which by order of the United States Railroad Labor Board became effective July 1 will be de- termind by referendum vote of the members of the five train ser vicee brotherhoods, and probably of all other rail unions, not later than September |. Meanwhile, an effort will be made to arrange al
 conference between union leaders and railway executives. Following series of daily con ferences here which started last
 Friday, the 1000 general chairmen |of the railway brotherhoods last night issued a statement in which 'they said they could not assume responsibility of accepting wage re- ductions.
 It was officially predicted that other standard railway organiza- tions would subscribe to the brother hoods statement of policy within
 4S hours, thus pledging the 1,500,- 900 railway employees of the country to a united stand,
 The statement was made public
 after it had first been submitted to q meeting of the chief executives 1 of the 16 leading rail labor organi- cations. Attending this meeting. were many of the brotherhood chiefs, Including Warren s. Stone. presi- dent of the Brotherhood of Locomo tive Engineers.
 The statement makes working rules, especially the one as to pay for overtime, an issue of importance no less than that of the wage ques- tion
 Another recommendation of the statement which was formally pre- |sented and adopted as resolution,
 was regarded as of prticular signif-
 icance the one permitting meetings
 between executives and union lead CTS.
 The fact that the union chiefs arc said to be convinced of the futility of strike, lends importance to the plan to put the workers in posses sion of the facts bearing on their problem.
 The resolution follows: "Whereas, The general chairmen representing the Brotherhood of Lo- comotive Engineers, the Brother hood of Locomotive Firemen and
 Enginemen, the Order of Railway
 Conductors, the Brotherhood of Rail-
 road Trainmen, and the Switchmen's Union of North America on Ameri- can railroads where wage reductions | have been ,authorized by the United States Railway Labor Board have
 assembled to take action thereon; ! and
 Whereas, They are required not only to consider wage reduction, but in many instances railroad off cers have served notice of their i'm tention to abolish time and one-half for overtime in road freight and yard service, and in addition thereto | to revise schedules for the benefit
 of the railroad by abolishing many rules and conditions which in the aggregate mean much less money
 and the creation of less favorable
 conditions for various classes of em-
 ployes; and
 Whereas, much unrest and un-
 easiness exist, which cause deep con cern, add to the seriousness of the situation. and establish d condition cally impossible for this body of general chairmen to take the re- sponsibility of deciding these impor- tant questions, for the reason that
 we hold that no reduction in wages of the various classes is justifiable: ands
 "Whereas. it is the earnest desire of the representatives assembled to ido everything possible, compatible
 with their duty to those whom they
 represent, to avoid any inconven-
 fence or loss to the public, and
 "Whereas. in keeping with this
 thought we hereby authorize and di- rect our executive officers to ac-
 quaint those in authority with these
 resolutions. further that they call attention to the fact that certain
 carriers, namely the Missouri and
 North Arkansas, the Atlanta, Birm- ingham and Atlantic railroad have disregarded the decisions and flout- ed the authority of the United States Railway Labor Board and
 "Whereas, despite all these provo cativc circumstances, coupled with a common desire to refrain from talk ing any action that might precipitate d terrible situation, we
 Resolve, that the general chair men here assembled cannot assume the responsibility of accepting the wage reductions, and that not later than September 1, 1921, the entire subject matter be referred to thel through the various gen eral chairmen for acceptance or re- iartinn pa firtbpr