The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-12-16
TEN HOUR DECISION
Details of New Plan For Railroad
Workers.

Details OF New Plan For Railroad
Workers.
What the United States Railroad
Labor Beard has set up in its So
called ten hour decision for common
labor is not schedule Of ten hours
OF work for q days pay. 1t has re-
tanned the principle of eight hours
OF actual work at regular pay con-
stitutng day. But it cancels the
negotiable, wasteful and demoraliz-
ing system established under Govern
ment operation whereby men got
time and half for part OF eight
hours of regular work and even got
time and a half when they did no
actual work at all.
One example is easily explained.
A section gang going by train to the
place where it is to work on roadbed
Of tracks might travel thither for an
hour, the same time being required
To transport the workers back again.
To get eight hours of work out OF the
men under such circumstances re-
quires ten hours OF their time with
only eight on the job. Obviously, IL
eight hours is regular day and the
regular day is ended eight hours
after the men report, regardless OF
when they go on the job, then to get
eight hours Of actual work out Of
them means that they must be paid
regular pay for the first hour OF
riding to the job and tor the next
seven hours of working and then adj
ditional pay and hat for the eighth
hour OF regular work and for the
last hour Of riding back
Under the ruling of the Labor
Board the men described in the fore
going will be paid for the two hours
when they do not actually work as
We'll as for the eight hours when they
do actually work, but they will be
paid for ali ten hours at the regular
! hourly rate.
/ Another example is worth consid'
ering. A certain kind OF work must
begin from the very nature OF things
Say at 6 o'clock every morning in the
week and every week in the year.
But by an arbitrary fixing Of 5
O'clock in the morning as the begin
ming of the eight hour day, no mat
ter at what hour ii really began.
the Government operation agree
ments compelled the payment Of time
and half for the first two hours OF
such o regular job, regular day IN
the day out, and then q regular eight
hour days pay for the work after .
o'clock although the job itself might
not last eight hours, or even four
hours, after a. M
Under the boards railing a regular
day viii now begin by arrangement
at the hour required by the service
needs of the public and the carrier
The man going on the job at that
hour whether il be 3 o'clock, 8
O'Clock or any other hour, will draw
regular nay from the hour he goes 70
work. n he draws extra pay 1t will
be for extra hours put in after, not
before, he hes dono his regular day
When Government operation pat
TITO effect It's national agreements
under which some men we're paid a
wage and a half for regular YoHk
done and paid a full wage or even
wage and half for work ner
done. the worst result was nc al
ways the immediate swelling Of sdai
payrols. The thing about II q
caused the greatest damage, which
in fact tended to ruin the country
transportation service. was that IN
der this grotesaue system the een
eral morale of the whole workns
force began to break down
Men who did actually work, me-
who worked hard, in responsible
posts. could not be blamed for think
ing they were not getting square
deal when they saw otN"~ men got
ting high pay and extra pay fog do