Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-06-09
RAILWAY INQUIRY
in WASHINGTON
Excessive Labor Costs and Work,
ing Conditions Chief Causes
of Trouble.
NO CONTROL OVER EXPENSE
Prices and Wages Fixed by Govern
ment Leave Little Scope for
Arrangements.

SIdle Commerce Ill .tlle general lnEeS
tigation into the railroad situation
witnesses for the railroads contendet
that:
: Cd The costs of operation are alb
normal, owing chiefly to wage scales
established by the government which
exceed wages paid for similar work ir
other industries, and to wasteful Labor
: costs, often for work not done, en-,
forced upon the railroads by the sc
called National Agreements"
CO That 911A cents out Of every
dollar of operating expenses i'll 1926
were at prices fixed directly by the
government, or by general market con
ditionS and over which the railroad
homogeneous had no control.
CO That the general business de
preston was not due to the high
freight rates, but to the lack of buy
Ing both here and abroad.
one of the most striking facts
brought out in the testimony present
ed by. the first witness, julius Krutt-
schuitt, chairman of the board of di-
/ rectors of the Southern Pacific, was
the following, in explanation Of the
chief reason for the increase in op-
Grating expenses since 1916:
The labor bill of the carriers in
1916 (Which was before the Adamson
law took effect) stood at 81, 46S, SIC, 3d..
IN 1920 it was S3,69S,216,351, an in
=. crease of $2,229, $50 957.
"The increase by years since 1916
has been as follows:
Increase in 1917. ........ .$27o, 9O5, 743
Increase in 19lS.......... S74,331 200
Increase in 1919. ...... 229, 315,O 2t
Increase in 1920. ......... 955, 037, 919
or an aggregate increase
since 1916 of...........$2, 1929, 1886, o57
! Exhibits were placed before the
committee showing that for the rail
roads of the whole country, increased
. expenses in 1920 over 1919 were as
follows:
Actual expenses for 1920. So, 1863, 49,, 34f
Actual expenses for 1919. 4,667, 774, 131
Inc. for 1920 over 1919. 81, 495, 364,21o
Mr.. KruttSchnitt, in showing how
little control the railroads had over
necessary expenditures, said:
"SiXty-four cents out of every dol
lar of operating expenses were, in
1920, paid out TO labor, and the wages
of labor are fixed by the government.
Fifteen cents out of every dollar
of operating expenses was paid for
materials and supplies at prices fixed
by the government
"Threc and one-half cents out OF
! every dollar was paid for other ex-
penses incgrred by the government in
the first two months of 1920.
"a total, therefore, Of S215 cents oue
of every dollar of operating expenses
for 1920 was paid out at prices direct
~ fixed by the government.
"The remainder, up to 97La cents,
was for materials and supplies, pur-
chased at prices fixed by general mar
ket conditions and beyond the power
Of the railroads to control"
TO illustrate how labor costs were
inflated by the National Agreements
entered into during federal control.
fixing rules and working conditions,
the following examples were cited:
l. The Pere Marquette Railway was
compelled TO pay $685. in hack pay
to four employees because their titles
under these agreements were changed
by a decision of the Director General.
while the nature of their duties and
the volume Of their work remained
the same.
q a car repairer on the Virginan
Railway was paid $1,000 for work he
never did. He was laid off with other
employees because there was no work
for him to do When he became en-
titled under his seniority rights" to
be re-employed, he received back pay
and overtime.
3. The Shop Crafts Agreement pro-
vides that when employees are re-
qured to check in and out. on their
own time they will be paid for one
hour extra at the close Of each week
no matter how few hours they may
have worked This rule in the first
six months of 1920 cost the railways
S65o0,O0O, or at rate of $4,000, 600 a
year.
4. On the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail-
road piecewOrk car repairers deCreas-
ed Al. per cent and airbrake repair
erS 23.4 per cent in efficiency under
guarantee of a fixed minimum rate
per hour
s. on the abolition of piece work
on the Union Pacific Railroad in the
wheel shop 1T Omaha, Nebr., the time
required for The same work was in
creased 31.9 per cent and the output
was cut down "a per cent and in
coach cleaning yard at Denver the
time required was increased 1873 per
cent and the output decreased % per
cent.
6. Southern Pacific employees.
whose sole duty was to keep watch
on stationary engines and to stop the
engine in case anything went wrong
were recla ssifed by Director General
as electrical workers. one man on
the Salt Lake division being given
back pay of $2.381, another S20e4
another $4,000, another $1,000, and six
others amounts varying from S1,500 |
to $1,000.
Z Under the present classification
rules of the shop crafts in order to
change a nozzle tip in the front end
of locomotive it Is necessary to call
q boiler maker and his helper TO open
the door because that is boiler max
ers work; to call a pipeman and his
helper to remove the blower pine
because that is pipemens work: and
call rlachnist and his helper to re- !
move the tip, because that is ma
chinists' work; also for the same force
to be employed for putting in the new
tip.
Questioned by Senator Poindexter, i
Mr.. Kruttschnitt stated that these in
stances might be increased indefinite
ly and We're characteristic on railroads
of the country, as a result of the
Agreements left over from federal