The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-08-18
ROADS STAND BY
LOYAL EMpLOYEES
Tell President Harding Old and
New Men Must Be Protected
in Strike Settlement.
NOT A MATTER OF CHOICE
Faithful Employees Have Both Legal
and Moral Rights TO Seniority
and Other Benefits.

New York.-The keynote Of the re-
ply made by railway executives repre-.
scntlng more than $50 Class | Rail
roads Of the United States 10 the prop.
osltion IL President Harding, that "all
strikers be returned to their work and
their former positions with seniority
ana other rights unimpaired,' lies In
the last paragraph from their reply
to the President as follows:
1T is submitted that the strik-
Ing former employees cannot be given
preference 10 employees at present In
the service without doing violence 70
every principle Of right and justice
involved in this matter, and without
the grOssest breach Of faith on the
part Of the railroads 10 the men at
present in their service.
Under these circumstances. II be
comes apparent that the railroads
cannot consider any settlement OF the
present strike which does not pro-
vide protection in their present EN-
ployment both 10 the loyal employees
who remained In the service and TO
the new employees entering it
The executives had accepted the
first two conditions proposed by the
President, namely, that both employ
ers and employees accept the decisions
II the Labor Board, and that all law
suits growing out OF the strike be
withdrawn; and In relation 10 the
third condition spoke not only as
quoted above, but also as follows:
Agree With the President
1.-THE railroad executives and man
ayers agree entirely with the Presi-
dents statement in his letter that 1T Is
wholly ~unthinkable that the Railroad
Labor Board can be made a useful
agency Of the Government in maintain
ing Industrial peace in the railway
service unless employers and workers
are both prompt and unquestioning In
their acceptance Of its decisions
MANY men in the service refused TO
t0in The strike ami i'll 80 doing were
assured Of the seniority rights accru-
ing 10 them and Of the ~permancnce
Of their positions. On some important
INES ~ per 'tIll VI HIbIt IFlhHFh W
Join the strike. To these old loyal em-
plOyees have been added thousands
Of new men who were employed and
could be secured only upon a definite
promise that their services would be
retained regardless Of the settlement
Of the strike, with all the rights ap
pertaining TO such employment, includ,
ing that Of seniority under the working
rules and regulations previously ap-
proved by the Railroad Labor Board
"Just the Opposite Effect"
1--WE especially point out that a re-
fusal TO the old men who remained In
the service and 10 the new men who
accepted service Of the rights Of senior
lty incident 10 their employment would
have just the opposite effect 10 that de-
sired by the President, and would most
seriously discredit the Labor Board.
1.-The board itself prescribed the
rules Of seniority under which the men
referred 10 have secured their senior
ity rights, and the railroad companies
have neither the &gal nor moral right
70 deprive these men Of those rights.
By public u]tterances since the strike
began the board has recognized and
emphasized these rights, and 10 deny
them now would, instead Of UNFOLDING
the authority Of the Labor Board, over
throw It's rules and dlscredit it's au
thority.
THE Chairman Of the Labor Board
at the time the strike was called made
the following public statement
Upon one question the striking en-
ployees should not be deceived Their
leader has said that the strikers
are no longer employees Of the rail-
ways, and they have thus automatic
ally abandoned all the rights they
possess under their agreements and
under the decisions Of the beard. in
Guiding their seniority. This In not
the boards action. 1t is their own
Many carriers are giving their for
mer employees the opportunity 10 re-
enter the service within a limited
time. II must be understood uow
that men who remained in the sery-
ice and those who are now entering
IL will nave rights Of seniority that
the board could not ignore"
What the Proposed Plan Means
1T must be understood that any pro-
posal that employees now on strike
shall be permitted 10 return to the
service, without impairment 10 their
seniority, Is merely another way Of
suggesting that those men who took