Paragould soliphone. (Paragould, Ark.) 1918-1950, 1921-12-02
NEW RAILWAY
SHOP RULES
ANNOUNCED

Continued From Page One)
grievances before the board and az
the rules worked out, union officials
handled the cases, taking their pre-
cedent from the national agreement
negotiations in which union Officials
acted for the employees in drawing
up the agreement under federal con
troll.
1.-THE principle of the open shot,
established by the new rules" {
statement by board members said
will in fact, be more Theoretical
than practical at the present time
since large majority of the rail
road shops are unionized and the ex
listing unions are recognized by the
board and by the transportation act
as representative of the majority.
Old Rules Preserved.
''Most of the older working rules
sanctioned by the experience o.
years, are preserved in full effect
Many of the more rigid rules, how
ever, were considerably relaxed in ia
nized rights of the men are fully
protected and the principle of collec
tive bargaining and union recogni
ton is retained, as contemplated by
the transportation act"
The rules controversy dates bach
to May l, 1920, when the railroads
emerged from government control
Strenuous objections to the nationa
agreeent were made in a hearing
which began January 10, 1921
After several months of testimony
the rules were referred back to the
individual roads with instructions
to negotiate such new rules as they
could with their employees to replace
the federal government rules.
Numerous rules were thus agreed
upon on individual roads, but on nc
road was it possible to draft an en-.
tire new set The rules disagreed
upon were then sent back to the
Labor Board, and the rules rromul-
gated yesterday will replace any
such rules agreed upon by the roads
and their employees. In any case
where a rule has been agreed upon
by the carrier and it's employees
that rule governs, even though the
Labor Board rule may be entirely
different.
Changes in Classification.
The majority of the changes eff
fected by the new rules is in the
classification Of the work to be per
formed by the various crafts. AL
fications are made more elastic. I'm.
der previous agreements with the
shop crafts, including the nationa.
agreement, it has been the custom
to define in detail the various types
of work belonging to each craft.
The carriers have complained that
the national agreement set up il
such minute detail the classificatio
of duties that work not requiring
specialized skill in any craft was
assigned exclusively to a particular
craft. For example work not re-
curing a mechanics skill was as
signed to skilled mechanic, thus
making efficient and economical op.
GRAFTON impossible, according to the
railroads.
The rules effective yesterday
broaden the scope of each crafts
work. The machinist working on
running repairs may connect or dis
connect any wiring, coupling OF
pipe connections necessary to repair
machinery or equipment. This work
was previously assigned to electri-
clans and sheet metal workers only
Under the new rules, engineers
friemen and cranesmen are not pro.
hibited from making such repairs tC
equipment on the lines of, the road
as they are qualified to perform
The new rules thus allow train op-
Vi w pOl IOl III ltDdll WI N tNCI
though it is ordinarily considered
shop mechanics work
Boiler makers helpers under the
new rules are given the job of re-
moving and replacing CRATES. Under
the National Agreement all CRATE
rigging work was assigned to journey
mon hOiIerm lxers
More Work for Helpers.
The classification of the work OF
the sheet metal workers, electrical
workers and car men has been
changed to allow some of the work
previously performed by them exclu-
sively to be done by their helpers and
to mechanics in other crafts, where
the needs of the service require it,
Under the National Agreement car
men We're exclusively assigned to
wrecking crews. Under the new
rules wrecking crews exclusive OF
engineers, will be composed of car
men, where sufficient men are avail
able but when needed, men of any
class may be taken as additional