The Winslow mail., 1922-06-30

Investigations, personally and on the
ground, Of the wages of common Ia
Dor in one Southern state, and !
found the new rate for section men
appreciably higher than the rates
being paid to similar labor in other
emplOyments.
1t may also be noted just here
that the average pay of section fore
men under the new decision is 1897
per cent higher than it was in 1915
and the purchasing power of the
section foreman's wage is 1873 per
cent greater than it was in 1915
His average hourly rate in 1915 was
1913 cents and under the new deci-
s-r it is SIP cents.
You do not enter into any discus
sion Of the wages fixed by the Board
for other classes of employees, but
reiterate here the statement demon
strated in the decisions of the Board
that the purchasing power of these
rates is very considerably larger
than it was in 9117, just before Fed
eral control, or than it was in the
year you prefer to use as base
1915.
Surely the leaders Of these rail
way labor organizations cannot ex-
pect to win the approval of the peo
pie of the United States by a rigid,
unyielding resistance to the inevita-
BILE process of readjustment which
has been in progress for the past
year. If the public is satisfied that
the railway employees have been ev-
en- more than fairly dealt with. by
comparison with similar labor and
in view of the conditions surround
ing their work, there will be no de-
mand that they shall be treated as
absolutely immune from the opera
ton of the economic processes
through which everybody else must
pass.
The fact cannot be overlooked
that the policy of the leaders of the
employees seems to be to accept no
reduction, however slight For ex-
ample, strike vote is being sub
mitted to the stationary engineers,
firemen, and oilers, whose wage und-
er the new decision shows an enor-
nous increase over the compensa-
ton they received before the war.
Notwithstanding the increased cost
of living, the increase in the pay of
these employees has been so great as
to result in the following percent
age of increase in the purchasing
power of their wages under the pre-
sent decision over 1915:
Percent
Stationary engineers. ..........Y......70
Stationary firemen ........................42.1 i
Enpin orOOn Oi1arc ~
BOilerroOm water tenders. ....25
The increase of their daily wage
under the new decision over 1915
And yet there is submitted to them
a strike ballot.
1t is scarcely worth while to null
tiply these examples of the real
and effect of the Boards S
decisions of which you complain.
Let me say, before concluding,
that the members of your organiza-
ton have no occasion to reflect upon
their official representatives in con-
nection with the conduct of these
wage disputes before our Board The
employees have been ably and loyal
ly repi esented, and, in my humble
judgment have secured results that
should be satisfactory to them. With
the degree of friendly interests that
l feel in these organizations and
with the recognition that I accord
to their great service to their mem
bership, I am hopeful that they will
not adopt course that will surely
prove disastrous to the Organiza-
tions and unfortunate for the men
composing them. 1t is regretable
that such a step is contemplated at
a time when the country is just en-
tering upon an era of some stable
industrial condition, that gives pro-
mise of an enlarged degree of pres
perity to railway employees.
You're respectfully,
(signed) BEN w. HOOPER,
Chairman.
T,,po ~ 1000