The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-04-16
Morltingmen Alarmed.

Naturally. the Workiugmen imagine that
with the abrOgatiOn of the national agree
ment certain aggressive foes of union
labor in the railroad world will assume an
arbitrary attitude and that the strike
weapon, which has hitherto been used as
n means of coercing Il single road, will be
of little avail. If working conditions on
the PENNSYLVANIA system, for instance. are
agreeable and wages are fixed to the sat
isfactiOn of the men, there viii be little
reason for sympathetic action with the
employees of a southwestern railroad. The
power of the railroad brOtherhOOdS has
been their right to negotiate for all the
railroad employees of the country as n
unit. This has admittedly resulted in
jnequities and the railroad systems have
insisted that since the roads came back
to them 200 employers exist, instead of
one federal employer, and it is desirable
for each road to deal directly with its
own men on all questions.
The arbitrary railroad executive, how
ever. will still be subject to the rules of
the railroad labor board, to which an APP
peal can be taken, if there are violations
of the principles in the Chicago decision
just announced.
Meaning of Continuous Service"
On the side of the railroads. too some
thornS will have been removed. 1t will
be noted that the Chicago decision speaks
of payment for the Cight-hUur day on a
basis of practically continuous service
This. of course. doesn't relate to trainmen
and PnginCmen. whose hours were fixed by
the AdamSon law. but it does have vital
| bearing on station agents and other rail-
| road employees for whom the railroads
have actually had only two or three hours
work Il day. but have been compelled to
pay full day. 1t is said that there are
many instances of station agents who open
suburban stations for an hour in the early
morning and again at night, handling only
two trains a day. In the interim, they
| have established themselves in private
! business, drawing pay from the roads
| for an eIght-hOur day, as well as from their
own business pursuits. The full effect of
! the decision will not be Immediately ap-
| parent. The specific rules have yet to be
| formulated by the roads and the repre-
SentativeS of labor. But the Chicago de
ciSiOn affords a basis for compromise and
REIMBURSEMENT and the general feeling in
the national capital here particularly
among those who have made n study of
the railroad problem, is that the Chicago
! decision starts the ball rolling. and that
| if as expeditions action can be secured on
| the general question of wages the rail
roads Will slowly emerge from chaos to the
efficiency which formerly characterized
private operation and control.
President Harding is for the moment
occupying himself with consultations
| looking toward a compromise between both
! labor and employers on the wage agree
ment. which. of course, are untouched by
! the Chicago decision. Some stimulOus
| from the chief executive may be necessary
before a decision is reached on the wage
/ questions, and there is talk of a general
I conference between employers and en-
j ployeS of each region to adjust wage
scales, irrespective of the outcome of the
! cases pending before the railroad labor
board at Chicago.