Evening star., 1922-10-15

lorce In the case of the train service employe, the
nth step brings the issue before the joint review
ing committee, which includes representatives of all
four regions of the Pennsylvania system and the
Altoona works. instead of before regional Joint COM
mttee as In the case of the shopmen. These regions
are the eastern region the general region the north
western region and the southwestern region.
For upward of twenty years the Pennsylvania
railroad has recognized" the railroad brotherhoods.
1t has done business with the elected representa-
tlves or the brotherhoods and has recognized them
as representing a majority Of the employees of those
claSsss AS matter OF fact, although the brother
hoods are what may sbe termed open shop union,
permitting their members to work side by side with
men who are not members Of the brotherhoods to
all inents and purposes membership in the brother
hoods has been 100 per cent. The local committees
anu their chairmen and the general committees and
their chairmen the selection necessarily of the
majority of the workers themselves
The organizations of employees Of the PENNSYLVANIA
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
as Tor instance the telcsraphers and stgnalmen,
and System Federation, No. go" the organization
OF the shopmen-had before them the question as
to whether the name of their organization was to
be written on the ballot or the individual names
of the men, whether they belonged the union
or did not The management was insistent upon
the of individuals being placed on the
ballot instead of the name of the union only, as
the shopmen Insisted.
Division Among Shopmen.
The signalmen decided the matter one way and
the shopmen another. The first decided to partici
pate in the election. placing the initials of their
organization after the names Of their candidates.
while the union shopmen declined to participate.
The elections were held June l. 1921
The signalmen elected solid union committees So
did the maintenance OF way employees and the teeg-
raphers, and in all probability would the
shopmen had they not held aloof. The cleo
tions were held, however, for the shopmen
and the candidates chosen were recognized
by the management, although they were chosen
by minority of the shop craft employees
The company took the position that the election had
been to all the shopmen and the fact that some
of them declined to take did not nvalidate the
elections any more than municipal election would
be invalIdated because large number Of the citizens
remained away from the polls
shopman working for the Pennsylvania road, by
reason Of that employment alone automatically be-
comes member OF what is termed regional
citation of shop craft employees This under the plan
of empoye representation worked by the en-
poyes and tho management. Bylaws formu-
lated for such associations by the employees and man
agement. These bylaws contain the rules govern
ing eligibility for membership, rules for electng
committees and committee chairmen and for han
ding disputes between employees and the manage
ment.
Membership for Employees Only
Membership in the association ceases when the
worker sewers active employment with the company.
Each craft elects three representatives in each d.
vision for terms of year, with the privilege of
reelection. In this way the local committees are
made up To be eligible to act employe rep
resentative worker must be twenty-one years
of age, American citizen and must have had two
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