The Washington herald., 1921-05-16

BLAME LOSSES
ON LABOR COST
Executives Will Take ALI
This Week for Tes-
timony.
ROADS WASTEFUL,
EMPLOYEES CLAIM
Kruttschnitt Cite S Ten
Cases Relating to
Agreements.


part OF next week telling the Sen
ate Interstate Commerce COMMITTEES
their views Of the reasons for thu
existing financial plight of the rail
roads. Daniel willard, president ol
the Baltimore and Ohio. will fol-
low Julius Kruttschnitt, chairman
of the board of the Southern Pa
cific, whose cross-examfnation BY
Senator La Toilette probably will b'
concluded today.
However widely the views of tn,
executives differ on other matters
they are a unit in pronouncing the
high labor costs of railroad opera
tion is the chief factor iny the in
ability of the transportation sys-
TENS to make both ends meet.
Unions Urge Economics.
They will be followed on the wit
ness stand by the representatives
of the employees, who will seek to
demonstrate that wasteful man
agement. not high wages, iss to
blame. They will undertake to Cite
practicable economies which II put
into effect would leave the roads
hohNSohS pAOhI "ilhOuI iCuuS-
ing wages.
In analyzing operating expenses,
Mr.. Kruttschnitt says that the abb
normal increase in labor costs Is
due not alone to high wages. but
in substantial measure to the ma
tional agreements originating under
the McAdoo railway administration
which compel the railroads to pay
for much work that is not done.'N
Gives Ten Illustrations.
He cites the following ten typical
cases. which he says might be mul.
tiplied indefinitely"
/. The Pere Marquette Railway
was compelled to pay s9.364 in
back pay to four employees because
their titles under those agreement.
were changed>by a decision Of tht
director general, while the nature
of their duties and the value OF
their work remained the same"
2. A car repairer on the Virgin.
ian Railway was paid $1,000 fol
work he never did. He was laid
off with other employees because
there was no work for him to do
When he became entitled under hi:
seniority rights to be re-employed
he received back pay and overtime .
3. The shop crafts agreement pro-
vides that when employees are re-
quired 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 1890 cost
the railways s6,50o.00O, or at rate
of s13,ooo.oo0 a year"
Cites Decreased Efficiency.
4. On the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad piece work car repairers
decreased 41.4 per cent and air
brake repairers 33.4 per cent IN eff
cheney under a guarantee of a fixed
minimum rate per hour"
5. On the abolition of piece work
on the Union Pacific Railroad in the
wheel shop at Omaha, Nebr., the
time required for the same work
was increased 31s per cent and the
output cut down "a per cent; anu
in a coach cleaning yard at Denver
the time required was increased 3s.s
per cent and the output decreased
2S per cent"
6. An employe of the Southern
Pacific Tucson shops was paid
s50.05 for three days work because
he was sent 214' miles to repair a
gas engine, 45A hours being punt
tive overtime, most of which was
spent in travelling or waiting. As a
result of several emergencies OF
this kind. he was allowed 377B
hours in a 23-day working month
earning s272.16. and a pipefitter from
the same shop was allowed 3s1
hours in 23-day month, earning
s2S1.52. mostly punitive and double
time allowed while travelling, in ad-
dition to his expenses.
Back Pay for Cleaners.
z. A Conspicuous example, of
'ridiculously" high compensation tc
unskiiled labor is that of a gang
of men on the Southern Pacific who
place blue flag signals on trains IN
yards and who couple and uncouple
steam and air hose. Where any of
these men were absent, car cleaners
were used as substitutes, the classi-
fication of these being changed by
the director general from watchmen
with laborers' pay to carmen and
back pay awarded to January 1,
1918. The gang consisted of fifteen
men. all unskilled, and they were
given back pay during Federal con-
troll of s14,43s.
s. On the Southern Pacific en-
ployes whose sole 5uty was to keen
watch on stationary engines and to
stop the engine in case anything
went wrong were reclassified by the
director general as electrical work
ers," one man on -he Salt Lake di.
vision being given back pay OF
s2.3s1. another man 1904. another
sz,oos. another $4,000, and six 9th.
ers amounts varying from s1.5so to
81 900" :
Expense in Classification.
3. Under the present, classification
rules of the shop crafts 'in order to
change nozzle tip in the front end
of a locomotive 1t is necessary to
call a boilermaker and his helper
to open the door. because that is
boilermakers' work; to call a pipe
man and his helper to remove the
blower pipe because that is pipe
mems work, and tall machinist
and his helper to remove the tip be-
cause that Is a machinist's work:
also for the same force to be en-
ployed for putting in the new tip"
10. Men employed ito couple and
uncouple hose between the cars are
now classed as car men, receiving
80 cents per hour, with time and
one-half for Sundays and holidays.
averaging about $2l5 per month, for
working seven hours and forty min