The Alaska daily empire., 1921-10-06
With Doubled Wage Rates
 Fords Get Triple or Quad- ruple of Returns.
WEAKENS DEPENDENCE
 OF MEN WITH UNIONS
Graphic Article Shows How Ford Is Getting Results
 and Men Make Money.

| DE ROl |, shlCf.., ONl. O-Dy iA creasing pay on his railroad, Henry Ford jabbed knife into the broth erhoods, inflicting wound thai might prove fatal were his program to be adopted by the other carriers A master of strategy, Ford, his men say, chose the day general railroad wage rates were reduced 12 per con, to put in effect 40 per cent in crease on his own lines. He weak ened tht mems dependence on their unions and then spurred them on to such efforts that with doubled wage rates he gets triple or quadruple re turns in service. Ford ignored the unions and beat them at their chief pastime-increasing pay.
 Passenger engineers, who with overtime formerly received $500 a month under the national agreement rules" now receive $375 a month. But to earn this they must Day in POS hours of, actual service in a month This may mean 16 hours the first day, four hours the second, CT any combination with the law, but only actual service is paid for.
 1 An engineer on the Ford road may cover three or four times as many miles for the same amount of pay as an engineer on say, the Michigan Central or the Wabash. Assume a passenger run of D miles. The rules" regard this days work of eight hours and prescribe $60S as the pay, notwithstanding that the trip takes two hours actual running time.
 Under the Ford plan the engineer would receive $360 and Ford may order another round trip within eight hours but under the rules" the Michigan Central or the Wabash would have to call four engineers for the same amount of service, giving each days pay for about two hours work, and one hour getting ready. Collectively the four engineers would cover 2S6 miles for $24.32 The Ford engineers would cover an equal dis tance for $l440.
 Rules" prevent cutting down the humber of crews on the second ter minal without reducing service a proportionate amount Hence, most roads are denied the opportunity of realizing any return for the five or six hours pay unearned by the men after, reaching the terminal.
 An inspection of a Ford watch mans shanty showed that the man was not only a watchman but a crossing carpenter, track inspector and part time clerk. He had set of track tools, shovel and several brooms. In each direction the track was swept up clean and bore much evidence of the watchman's efforts.
 In a nearby Wabash shanty sat two idlers. A board was out of the crosswalk and one wing of the cross ing gate was broken. There was much debris. Asked why he did not tix things up a bit, this watchman replied First because the walk is carpenters job and the gate a sig am not being paid for tinkering. " Here again Ford pays twice the rate, $6 against $3.30, but gets nearly three times the service.
 | 1 Ford's road has three switch en- zine crews working in the Detroit yards. The engines are being worked 44 hours a day Recently one broke down and it was found a cotter pin had to be replaced. Instead of sit 1 ting idle while repairs were going on, the conductor and brakemen trot- ted off to lunches and instead of lay. ing up the engine until an exac! duplicate of the cOtter pin could be obtained, the engineer picked up a bolt and with the fireman's help had the engine running within 12 min utes.
 ! Ford can call on his eng!nemen foI any kind of service without penalty But should a road operating under the rules" stop freight train more than three times between terminals to pick up or set out cars, extra fees must be paid the crew notwithstand ing that eight hours have not vel elapsed. How Ford beats the unions in this respect is shown by recent incident on nearby division of an other railroad. .a siE | A freight train was started out foi G5-mile run which, was commonly covered in three hours. Four stops were made within the first five mile. to pick up cars which added, because of the rules $.69 to the engineers pay and $.54 to the firemans Al the last stop instructions were re ceived to go back to the starting point to pick up three cars of perish able freight which came in from 8 connecting railroad after the train IT i question had left.
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