The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1921-05-26
SOME or THE HANDiCAPs
Especial Correspondence

Washington. May 24-Farmers and
other shippers Of goods or railroads
viii be interested in the details Of
some Of the rules and regulations by
means Of which the Government
Director OF Railroads, under the VIII
son administration, compelled the
roads. and, therefore, the shippers, TO
pay either excessively for work. or for
work not done at all. Here are few
instances taken from the testimony Of
Julius Krutt schnitt, Of the Southern
Pacific System, n the recent hearings
before the Senate Interstate Com
merce Committee;
q. The Pere Marquette Railway
was compelled TO pay S9,364 in back
pay for four employees because their
titles under these agreements we're
changed by a decision of the Director
General, while the nature Of their
duties and the volume Of their work
remained the same.
-. A car repairer on the Virginian
Railway was paid 1000 for work he
never did He was laid off with other
employees because there was no work
for him TO do. When he became en-
titled under his Seniority rights" to
be re-employed, he received back pay
and overtime.
"3. The Shop Crafts Agreement
provides that when employees are re-
quired to check in and out on their
own time they will be paid for one
hour extra at the close Of each week,
no matter how few hours they may
have worked This rule in the first
six months Of 1920 cost the railways
Sc 100000 or at rate Of S13,000,000 a
year.
"a On the Chesapeake & Ohio
Railroad piece work car repairers de-
creased Ala per cent snd air brake
repairers 33.4 per cent in efficiency
under a guarantee Of fixed minimum
rate per hour.
"5. On the abolition Of piece work
on the Union Pacific Railroad in the
wheel shop at Omaha, Neb., the time
required for the same work was in
creased 31.9 per cent and the output
was cut down "a per cent; and in a
coach-cleaning yard at Denver the
time required was increased 1873 per
cent and the output decreased 2s per
cent.
"6. An employee OF the Southern
Pacific Tucson shops was paid S50.05
for three days work because he was
sent 2l4 miles TO repair a gas engine,
asa hours being punitive overtime
most Of which was spent in travelling
or waiting. As a result Of several
of this kind he was
allowed 377la hours in a 23-day
month, earning S272.16, and a
pipe filter from the same shop was
allowed 391 hours in a 23-day month,
earning s2s1.52 mostly punitive and
loube time allowed while travelling, in
addition to his expenses.
az. A conspicuous example OF
high compensation to un-
killed labor is that Of gang Of men |
m the Southern Pacific who place
,lue-hag signals on trains in yards I
md who couple and uncouple steam
nd air hose. When any Of these men
we're absent car cleaners were used as {
the classification OF these :
eing changed by the Director General I
rom watchmen with laborers' pay to )
ar men and back pay awarded to ?
anuary /, 1918. The gang consisted a
Is men, all unskilled, and they were h
iven back pay during Federal control c
s14,436. o
as. On Southern Pacific, employees h
hose sole duty was TO keep watch on y
tationery engines and to stop the en- o
inc in case anything went wrong b
ere reclassified by Director General l.
5 electrical workers. one man on the p
alt Lake division being given back h
ay Of s2,3S1, another s2,094, another f
2 .009. another s2O03, and six others p
varying from 81 500 70 p
/ 900" d
rraigned in Rutland City Court some .