The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-05-05
RAIL LABOR
RESTS PLEA
AGAINST CUT
Arguments Opposing Wage
Reductions Summed Up by
Jewell Before Railway
Labor Board.
LEADER URGES DELAY
(Bv Associated Press)

SuphllttSu " IuC Gill Odu idOoi uOdl u
by railway executives were summed
up today by B. M. Jewell, president of
the railway employees department of
the American Federation of Labor.
He declared that for the board to or
der a wage reduction now would only
bring the dispute over new national
working agreements back before the
board for determination lin a contro-
versy of redoubled bitterness, and We
would have a condition Of utter chaos
in the transportation industry"
Negotiations now in progress on
new working agreements to take the
place Of those recently set aside by
the board could never result in an
agreement before the day Of judg-
ment." Mr. Jewell declared, il new
wage schedules are established now
and attempts are made to negotiate
the new agreements on the basis of a
reduced wage.
Points Out Reason
We admit" Mr. Jewell said, that
the board cannot make an intelligent
and fair decision as to wage rates ex-
cept it re-affirnls the prevailing rates.
until the new agreements have been
fixed and promulgated.
THE reason for this is obvious.
Neither carriers or employees can
know what wage schedules mean or
amount to until they know the rules
by which those schedules are to be ap-
piled We must have our yard stick
before we can measure our cloth.
Manifestly rail workers cannot be ex-
pected or asked to accept a wage
schedule when they have no means
Of knowing exactly how much they are
to receive under the schedule. 1t is
equally manifest, also that to estab-
lish new wage schedule before the
new agreements are negotiated would
preclude the possibility Of our reach
ing any agreement through those ne
gotiations. .
Urges Delay
"If the railroad managements are
not utterly blind to their own selfish
interests they will Join me in request.
ing the board to withhold its decision
in the matter until we have the new
agreements. The delay will be no
longer than the carriers themselves
make it, From the day the roads were
returned to private ma anagement we
have endea.'ore to secure speedy
determination Of the question OF
agreements and the carriers rejected
every overture we made. The respon'
sibility for the delay lies with the
carriers.
For this board to make a decision
in this case, unless that decision be
TO re-affirm existing schedules, before
working out new agreements, would
be to provoke the employees anew and
-4,.sf r,,fc do
standing
Says No Justification
We have shown there is no eco.
romic justification for a reduction in
the wages of railroad workers. We
have shown that there have been no
wage reductions in the tasic indus.
tries that are comparable to the trans
rortation industry and have demon
strated that the changes in the cost
of living have not been sufficient to
warrant a change in the schedules
liked by the bca rd in July, 1920.
The railroads. on the other hand
have proved only that they are in
financial straishts. Thanks to the
mathods of the financial buccaneer,
who have always controlled them
they were hard up when the govern.
n'ent took them over during the war
They were hard I'D when they were
returned to their former management
aid they are hard up today despite
he fact that they have received more
than billion and half dollars from
the treasury of an over-generOuS peo'
pie and that they have been given
rate increases sufficient to cover
everything except their own profit
sacy And they will be hard up until
they are made the servants of the pub.
'ic instead of the playthings of Wall
street
Saws Plea Extraneous.
"ThrOughout these proceedings. the
carriers have made but one real plea
heir financial inability to pay. The
ability or inability of the carriers to
pay the present wage rates has no
bearing on the case. and can have nc
consideration in its determination, but
railroad management has made SO
much of this phase of the transporta-
tion problem and the public has been
permitted to hear so little else that
we cannot ignore the issue
Justice to railroad employees. to the
carries, and the public is not con.
tingent uron The ability Of the carriers
10 pay their labor costs. and a return
10 norUalcy in industry and commerce
does not wait upon reduction in
wage schedules.
Points Reai Issue.
The real issue in this case is the
wages of man versus the wages OF
r,oney. and the time has come for
The people of this country to know and
understand that the wages Of men will
never go back to pre-war poverty
levels.
1T is time for those who do not toll
with their hands to understand and
accept the principle of the living wage
and to realize that the human factor
in industry is the predominant. vital
force in the modern civilized world.
Therefore We can rest our case Sc
cure in the belief that the rank and
file Of railroad workers whom we rep.
resent cannot and will not be
deprived of any measure of the eco.
romic rights which are theirs because
they have earned them and because
they deserve them"