The New York herald., 1922-06-10
The Trouble With the Railroads

The American public pays all the
railroad bills, and when the railway
workers are threatening to resist
wage adjustments with nationwide
strikes the American public has a
right to know what becomes of the
bulk Of the five billions to six billions
of dollars year it has been giving
up to the carriers since the colossal
wage and rate increases which came
with Government operation Of the
roads. For the labor costs, of the
roads went up from i9H to 1920 by
two billions of dollars. From 1915
they went up by two and half bill
ions of dollars to a total in 1920 Of
SO, 700, ,o00,O 900.
The trouble with the railroads
which causes the staggering national
transportation bill for the American
public to pay has not been merely
the wage scale of the railroad worker,
1t has been the money paid out as
labor charges week after week, no
natter what the scale might be. Il
has been the money that thousands
of railway workers have been draw
ing in excess of the wage scales,
sometimes without working even the
number Of hours covered by the wage
scales. 1t is the working conditions
put into effect under Government
operation to give the railroads the
maximum of labor cost for a mini
mum of labor effort.
The American public is entitled to
know how the money it pays the rail-
roads was thrown away under Gov
ernment operation and more or less
continues to be thrown away be-
cause of the so-called national agree
ments and reclassifications Of labor
1.-THE Government administrators OF
the roads.
Before Federal control, for exam
pie, when a nozzle tip needed to be
changed in the front end of loco
motive a machinist's helper or any
handy man did the job. But under
Government operation the labor re-
quirements for that simple bit of
work became: a boilermaker and
his helper to open the door, pipe
man and his helper to remove the
blower pipe, machinist and his
helper to remove the old tip and put
in the new one; then again the pipe
man and his helper to replace the
blower pipe and again the boiler
maker and his helper to close the
door.
Pumpers got their names changed
TO electricians under Federal control,
and what this cost the railroads of
the country may be judged by the
fact that because of their reclassifi-
cation three men on the Pere Mar
quette Railway got back pay alone
to the amount Of S9,333.
An employee of the Southern Pa
cific was paid s50.O5 for three days
of work because he was sent 214
miles to repair a gas engine. This
entitled him to ASA hours Of over
time while riding on the train
whether looking out the window or
sleeping in p berth. The same man
in twenty-three day working month
got credit for 3771s hours and col
lected $272.16 on it, or an average
Of about S12 day. In the same shop
pipeftter got credit for 391 hours
in twenty-three days and collected
$2S1.52 on 1t. or an average of about
SLIPS a day.
A gang OF fifteen unskiiled laborers
on the Southern Pacific had long
been. used to place flag signals on
trains in yards and to couple and
uncouple hose. When they were not
on hand to do the work car cleaners
did it. But under Federal control
these men had their classification
changed from laborers to Gear men;
and that netted the fifteen car men
in back pay alone $14,43S.
Ten men whose only duty was 10
watch stationary engines and If any