New-York tribune., 1921-12-10
Agreement for Reducing
Pay 10 to 80 Per Cent
Reached by More Than
Fifty Lines at Meeting
Action Expected
Before Christmas
Salary Basis Prior to Nav
l, 1920, Used; Expect
the Workers to Protest

Representatives of more than fftv
railroads serving districts east of the
mississippi RIVER and north of the
OHIO River reached an agreement ves-
terday at meeting at the Grand Cen
tral Terminal on plan for the reduc-
ton OF wages by from 10 to 80 per
cent or more.
More than 100000 EMPLOYEES will he
aHected' The wage reduction plan, if
i approved, will become effective bv
Christmas.
individual railroads are to notify
their employees of the proposed scale
BY Thursday, the exact date of notif;ca-
ton to De fixed at a meeting to be
held to-day. Each railroad will nepo-
tiate separately with it's EMPLOYEES and
if the differences which are expected
cannot be settled informally they will,
be referred to the Railroad Labor
Board which now has practically a
clear calendar.
Sixty Delegates Attend
The meeting was under the auspices
OF the Bureau of Information of East
ern Railways. John G. Walber, execu-
tive secretary of the bureau, presided.
The railroad men met behind closed
doors, but gave out summary of their
proceedings after each of the two ses-
sions. About sixty delegates were
present.
The. same men met November 8 and
decided upon the general outline of the
Plan that must be adopted All the
Eastern railroads sent out formal no.
tices of impending wage reductions
November 15, but did not say what the
reductions were TO be.
Western railroads adopted similar
measures recently, formulating a plan
for general reductions in wages all
along the line. The Eastern railroad
men followed their lead yesterday, but
went further in reducing wages in some
occupations than the Western roads
had done :.
The entire plan, according to Mr..
Walber, is founded upon report made
tby the bureau of information after ex-
haustlve inquiry into wage conditions
in other industries. 1t will result, he
says, in placing the railroad employees
practically on a level with those in
other occupations. In cases whore the
wage reductions in the East exceeded
those made in the West, said Mr.. Wal
ber the action was justified by cond-
tions in other trades
Basis for Reduction
Under the proposed plan, train serv-
Ice employees will be reduced to the
pay they received prior to May j, 1920
The plan of the railroad executives has
the effect of canceling the remainder
of the wage increase which train serv-
ice employees received by decision No.
2 of the Railroad Labor Board in July,
1920. This decision, which was retro
active to May l., 1920, gave an increase
Of 22h per cent in pay. Last July the
board itself cut this award bv about
templated for train service employees
in the plan adopted yesterday is about
10 per cent.
Shop workers, who are paid now at
the rate of n cents an hour are to be
reduced, it was said to 62 cents an
hour The shop workers of the West
ern roads were cut down. only to 6715
cents an hour.
Car repairers' wages will be cut to
81 cents an hour and helpers to AZ
cents. 1t was evident that the wages
of the maintenance of way employees
was a subject for debate At present
CHCy SCG AIOu OF W 4O CcICS AL uOuT.
After the morning session of the con-
ference Mr.. Walker announced that
their new wage scale would range from
Is to 40 cents an hour. The scale
finally decided upon, however, ranges
from 32 cents to 38 cents an hour.
Increase Demand Expected
The United Brotherhood of Mainte-
nance of Way Employees and Railroad
Shop Workers recently demanded an
increase of wages from the Lehigh
Valley Railroad and their demand is
taken by railroad men to indicate that
employees unions generally will oppose
the wage-reduction plan by demanding
increases in wages.
The investigation made by the bu-
reau of information into wages and liv-
ing conditions in the East in numerous
lines Of employment will enable the
railroads to make strong case, it is
Railroad Labor Board