Evening star., 1921-05-06
RAIL UNION MEN
SLAP HIGH RENTS
Brotherhood Officers Say
They Dig Big Holes in
Present Pay.
By the Associated Press,

By the Associated Press.
CHICAGO. May e.-High rents,
which were described as digging big
holes in the pay Of railroad employees
and were said to be a factor in max
| Ing 1t impossible for many workers
to make both ends meet at present
| rates of pay. were cited by repre-
sentattves of the big four railroad
brotherhoods before the Railroad Labor
Board today in replying to the request
OF the carriers for reduction OF wages
The union representatives cited
numerous instances Of increases IN
the cost OF housing during the past
rev years and concurred in previous
| statements by representatives of the
| unskilled workers that railroad en-
ployes' pay should be increased rather
| than decreased.
Hardly acct by" Now.
w. G. Lee, president of the Brother
hood OF hallway Trainmen. cited rent
increases paid by railroad workers in
| a number of cities.
The men can hardly get by now"
he added. "and what they really
should have is an increase in pay
not decrease"
| l.. E. Sheppard. president of the
Order Of Railway Conductors. said he
wished to deny rumors which had
come to his attention that the
| brotherhoods were willing to accept
Is per cent wage reduction.
"On behalf Of the conductors. l
compensation and request continu-
ance Of the present rates." he said.
Cites Conductors Wages.
! Mr.. Sheppard cited wages Of con-
! ductors. ranging up to 81 day. and
said ne knew Of no gang leader,
| foreman, supervisor or ship captain
who did not make 81 or more day"
He maintained that conductors were
| not paid more than similar workers
! in other industries.
Concerning the cost of living. he
| said that in previous hearings he had
| never asked for wage increases be-
[ cause Of higher living costs. but SIM
ply wanted the conductors paid in ac-
cordance with their responsibility and
| duties.
IF the cost of living is considered. -
! he continued. cit should be remem-
| bered that living costs increased 12S
per cent in reaching their peak since
| 1914. Conductors wages have in
creas 80 to 58 per cent. Even if the
| cost of living has decreased some, it
| has not come down so per cent. In
| other words, our wages have not been
increased in proportion to the cost of
Union Heads Heard.
Wage reductions will not solve the
nations transportation problems,
representatives of the big four broth
erheods declared before the Railroad
Labor Board last night in their fight
against proposed cuts in the pay rolls
of train service men on eleven rail-
roads.
Labor was the most available thing
n har rofr rnY1p n ont
was necessary. declared l.. E. Shep-
pard. head of the conductors. but
while the employees were sympathetic,
he said. they were not Abrahams and
have no Isaac to sacrifice"
Warren S. Stone. president of the
engineers. in pleading the case of his
brotherhood. declared that his great
est motive was to give the public
good service and the employees liv-
ing wage. He also said that cutting &
wages was not the solution of the
railroad problem.
THE truth is.' he said. that II
this board wiped out all wage in
creases and the employees donated
| their services and paid their own ex-
penses. some roads would still be on
| the rocks. 1t is impossible for them
to keep aaoat under the present high
financial mismanagement and their
system Of watered stock"
Arraigns Act.
Mr.. Sheppard opened the Big Four
presentation with an arraignment of
| the transportation act. in which he
! asserted that it had not been a
panacea. but a crown of thorns.
| which the railroads are now pressing
| to the brow Of labor" If labor must
| suffer. he said, the employees demand
ed that the public be given the
! benefit.
! He declared that the law had in
| tended the Labor Board as safety
| valve. and that it should not be
stampeded by public clamor. There
; had been some slight decreases in
; living costs. he said. but these had
! been more than offset by other ad-
| vanced prices of necessities.
There is something more funda- =
! mental in this question than re-
his statement, 1.-The question before
you gentlemen. involves the well
! Iare OF our country: it will decide
; whether a few bondholders shall get
| dividends, or whether millions of
! working men shall have an Ameri-
, has come into this country and is
herded together under conditions
/: granting a bare existence.
f; IF American labor is to compete
with such labor it means turning
back the clock of progress 100
..
! should have wages that will enable
them to live as American citizens
should live"
Companions Made.
w. S. Carter, president of the fire.
! mems organization, made compari-
sons of the wages of fremen and OF
blacksmiths in outside metal trades
in the territory Of various roads.
''The railroads have been able to
/ carry on with about so per cent less
| wage increases than other similar
industries" he said.
Agrees on sixteen Points.
NEW YORK, May 6.-Twenty dis
trict chairmen of the middle Atlantic
division of the United Brotherhood. OF
Maintenance of Way Employees and
Shop Laborers agreed that the sixteen
| points recommended by the Railroad
| Labor Board for incorporation in q
new agreement to be signed by July
/ were acceptable without change.
The chairmen were instructed to
! arrange Immediately meetings with
| consider the new agreement. These
| meetings probably will be preceded
by conferences of brotherhood mem.
| bers formally to approve the new
| working conditions. District chair
| men were empowered to take up with
F., the various roads any additional
points desired locally.
ADMIRAL ORDERED HOME.
Andrews and Staff to Be Assigned