Evening star., 1921-04-11

tIh1s is the eighth Of series of ar
ticles on the acute railroad and railroad
labor problems The next will appear in
an early ssue.)
Conditions among the railroad
workers today are none too good. the
men say. notwithstanding the in
creases allowed last July. In the
first place, many of them were SO
grossly underpaid prior to the war
that even the increases allowed them.
their wages have only kept along
with the cost of living. This was true
in the case of the workers other than
the trainmen-many of them then
unorganized. The trainmen. members
of the four big brotherhoods, had
Jared sor- ewhat better.
Back in 1915 the committee on in
dustrial relations, appointed by the
President, delved pretty deeply in the
conditions of labor on the railroads.
The voluminous testimony taken
shows cases of men who avHraged S34
month-men with families to bring
up. The men are paid by the hour. and
If they do not make time, they are not
paid.
H. &. l.. Got Jump on Men.
The cost of living, in its upward
flight after 1914, got the jump on the
men. Increases came along later.
There were stretches of evil times to
make up. They were eighteen months
getting the last raise-allowed by the
labor board-and they had seen
mechanics and other labor receiving
far higher wages in other industries
Last fall, when the railroads were
handling vast amount of business
more than ever before in their history
the men with the increased wages
were making good time and good
money.
But conditions have changed since
then. Since the peak was reached
last fall. the number Of men employed
where between 100000 and 100000.
Thousands of men who are still at
work are working only part time. OF
the workers who have been laid off,
many are in desperate straits. and
have been out of employment for
weeks and months. The shopmen
have been hit particularly hard in
the reductions in the forces of the
roads. In some instances-and l am
told they are not few-many of the
men are working part time, SO that
their fellows may work the remainder
of the time and not be laid off al
together.
Trainmen Feel Slump.
The trainmen. though they have not
been hit so hard as the shopmen and
others, nevertheless have felt the
slump In business. they say. When
ever train is cut off, it means that
the crew does not make the time they
would have made if the train had run.
And many trains, particularly freight
trains, have been eliminated.
The situation SINNERS down to
this. If the men were making full
time, with their present wages they
he
large number of them are not making
the time. 1t is the hope of the roads
and the men that business will pick up
in the coming months.
Talk to a railroad worker and you
will find that he does not take mucn
stock in the report that the cost of
living has come down. He will ad-
nit that it is possible to buy some
commodities cheaper than a few
months ago. But he will point to
rents and to many articles that still
are very high in justifica ton of his
dena nd that the cost of living be
to come down before his
men realize that with the fall in
the cost OF living, there must be a
readjustment all along the line and
that wages will be readjusted along
with other things. But they do not
see why the railroad workers should
SS ehS SOotS dS they put IT,
Labor Board Decision Hangs.
No one knows definitely what the
Railroad Labor Board is going to do
in regard to the wage question and
the national agreements with the
workers. The wages were fixed by
the board eight months ago, after
a careful investigation. These wages
were accepted by the roads without
delay, though the men held off for
twenty-four hours or so. not being
entirely satisfied. Now it is urged
that big cuts be made in these wages
because the earnings of the roads
are insufficient to pay the expenses
of the roads and a fair return on the
investment.
The claim is made by the workers
too, that when the Railroad Labor
Board fixed wages July 20, 1920,
granting the increases, the cost of
living figures used by the board were
those collected by the bureau Of labor
statistics, Department of Labor, as
of December. 1919. The bureau puts
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