The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-06-30
BOARD SLASHES
ALL RAIL WAGES
Every Class of Workers Hit by
the Decision.
INCREASES ARE CUT ONE-HALF
Means Saving to Roads Of About
$4oo,ooo,o00, It Is said-New
Schedule to Take Effect
July 1.

Chicago, June 2S.-The United
States railroad labor board extended
its wage reduction order, effective
July l, to practically every large rail
road in the country. No change from
the average - per cent reduction
granted 104 carriers on June ! was
made by today's decision. The boarus
order today covered 30 roads.
The new wage decision of the Uni
ted States railroad labor board Will
make a reality of the estimated S4OO,-
100000 annual savings expected when
the boards u per cent cut effective
July l, is applied to all employees on
all railroads known as class ! car
riers. The decision, drawn up as an
addendum to the wage-reductiOn order
of June /, was made public today.
1t adds practically every railroad in
class l division to the original list of
104 roads authorized to make the II
per cent reduction.
When the reduction order was Is
sued, it was estimated that, If applied
to all employees on all class roads,
1t would Top approximately 100000
600 from the countrys railroad labor
bill The new decision will make this
cut possible, by ordering reduced
wages for employees not included in
the original case and also by including
employees on roads which were not
parties to the first hearing.
Flood of Requests Received.
Immediately following the announce
ment of the boards wage cut on June
/, roads from every section Of the
country poured in their applications
to the labor board for authority to
make similar reductions. A hearing
set for June included a total of 164
roads and in the next two weeks 81
more submissions were made and in
cluded in a hearing for June 20, a
few roads which had not included all
classes of employees in their first pc
titions for reductions came in with
the remaining classes in the last hear
ing
Many of the roads which asked re-
auctions for only part of their en-
ployees at the original hearing in May
came back with applications to cover
all employees in these two later hear
ings. Virtually every railroad in the
country affected by the labor boards
$600,OO0,000 wage award of July, 1920,
was included in one or more of the
three hearings.
Following the - per cent reduc-
ton, which was generally unsatisfac-
tory to the roads, the carriers returned
to the board with added insistence
that the 1920 wage award be wiped
out. The board, however, was not in
clined to change its scale Of reduc-
lions determined in the June l deci-
sion and merely added to that decision
employees involved in the subsequent
hearings.
Advance Many Arguments.
At the two June hearings the roads
for the most part, contented them
selves with reterating the evidence
presented in May. Their arguments
consisted chiefly of cost-of-living sta
tistics and comparison OF railroad
wages with those in outside indus
tries. The employees took up other
factors laid down by the transporta-
ton act to be considered in the deter
animation of just and reasonable wages
Hazards of employment, the living
wage and similar lines of evidence
were introduced in an effort to pre-
vent any cut in wages.
While no definite returns have been
announced from the referendum being
taken by all the railway unions on
acceptance or rejection Of the II per
cent cut, it was expected that confer
ences here on July / would agree to
accept the boards decision without
any interruption Of traffic