The New York herald., 1921-10-18
ROADS, ARROGANCE
BLAMED BY Stone
Engineers Chief Reviews
Wage Dispute Leading
to Strike Order.
RECORD VOTE BY MEN
Owners Had Declined Any
Concession Before
Break Came.
RECORD VOTE BY MEN
SERVICE RULES AT STAKE
All Workers Have Won Has
Been by Fair Arbitration,
Says Union Defence.

CLEVELAND, Oct. 17-Warren G..
Stone, president of the Brotherhood
OF Locomotive Engineers, this evening
set forth in a signed statement the
reasons for the big Five" transpor-
tation organizations authorizing a
strike to begin October 80. He said:
"The mems position and their rea-
sons for striking are in part as fol-
lows:
when the transportation act Of
1920 became law it was hoped by the
employees that all disputes would be
adjusted and decisions rendered by
the board would be complied with by
the carriers and employees. Instead
Of complying with the decisions Of the
labor board. the railroads soon began
to disregard or flout its decisions.
fragrant cases Of this being the action
of the Atlanta, Birmingham and At
lantic, the Erie, the Pennsylvania
Railroad and many other cases that
could be cited
From that time on the question OF
wages was discussed on different oc-
casions and was finally submitted to
the Labor Board. In July. 1920. the
board handed down a decision which
based on all the facts they declared was
just and equitable and further stated
that these conclusions wera reached
after long consideration of all the facts
as evidenced by the testimony before
that board.
Later Mr.. Atterbury OF the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad appeared before the
board and In a spectacular presentation
demanded an immediate reduction OF
the wages Of all railroad employees.
notwithstanding the carriers had been
granted material increase in freight
and passenger rates in order to meet
the increased wages granted by the
board. This was denied on technical
grounds because the carriers had not
properly created a dispute in accordance
with the transportation act.
"The railroads then began to serve
notice on all their employees demand
ing reductions in pay, thereby legally
creating dispute which was referred
to the labor board resulting in a ~
per cent. reduction as Of July 1, 1921.
"a conference of all general chair
men was arranged to be held in July in
Chicago. The result OF said conference
was to instruct the executives of the
organizations to meet the executives OF
the railroads some time prior to Sep
.tember 1 for the purpose OF trying to
bring about an amicable adjustment.
'In October the representatives Of the
workers were convened in Chicago and
a canvass of the vote was made. which
indicated that over ninety-four per cent.
were in favor of Withdrawing from the
service
After the vote had been canvassed
the chairman of the Railroad Owners
Association was notified by wire OF the
result and the request for q conference
committee was made. The one hundred
and fifty railroad presidents meeting In
Chicago named committee OF five
railroad presidents to meet the execu-
tive officers of the transportation
brotherhoods. They declined to make
any concession or offer any solution
providing for a settlement, but instead
notified us that a resolution had been
adopted by the railroad presidents ask
ing the Labor Board for a further wage
reduction of the employees. Then, and
not until then. was permission given for
men to leave the service"