Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-23

Inc the leaders of the workers which,
did not promise we'll for harmonious
relations In the future. The railroads
asked that the national agreement be
abrogated. The officials of the nm
ions offered to meet the cu,,ycs in
national conference and negotiate Il
new agreement based on the old me.
m executives declined.
This controversy then went to The
railroad labor board and while it. wa
pending many of the railroads an
nounc I'D that they intended to re-
luce wages. The board ruled that
no wage reductions should be put
into effect until it had heard the case
n rendered a decision. In spirc of
this. a few roads ignored the board's
ruling and undertook to make wage
reductions Immediately effective. Tie
BOARD has no authority under the law
10 enforce its decisions, but .ts mem
oers did their utmost to persuade the
railway executives to abide by them.
Other Rulings by the Board.
Later the board decided that GER
tain wage reductions should be made.
II set aside the national agreement.
but laid down certain fundamental
principles that should govern the
negotiation of new agreements on the
oANo VI SySlSlIlS. IL AsSD
modified the overtime rule in such n
manner that the workers .contended
That the eight-hour law was being
evaded II not violated.
An election of employees repre-
sentatives on the Pennsylvania sys-
tenn was protested by the unions ard
the board held that the election did
not conform to its rulings. Pennsyl-
vania officials announced their in
tent1on of standing by what they ha1
zone and the board decided to pub
lish the fact that the railroad had
violated one Of the boards decisions.
Thereupon the Pennsylvania went In
to U and secured an Injunction
restraining the board from such cc-
ton. This injunction was set aside
on appeal to a higher court, but the
railroad served notice that it would
carry h case to the supreme court
Of the United States.
Certain railroads also adopted a
policy Of closing their own repair
shops. leasing them to private COM
panies and then turning owe their
repair work to these private
tons. The unions Of the various shop
crafts charged that this was a DELHI
crate attempt on the part Of the roads
to evade the jurisdiction Of the rail-
road labor board. and in effect the
board held that this farming out" Of
repair work was contrary to. the spir-
1T Of the law and should be d~tscontin-
ued. -.
Thus when the wage reduction ap-
plying to the shop workers was an
much bad feeling had been stirred IN
that 1t was not surprising that the
employees decided to strike, in spite
of h boards decisioM They insist
cd that II, the railroads could flout
the boards decisions when they did
not like them the workers should
have the same privilege, and they
proceeded to exercise It, with results
that the general public will be long
in forgetting.
In the circumstances 1t appears al
most, inevitable that. some changes
will be made in the labor provisions
Of the transportation act. Few well
informed peopr In Washington be-
lieves that the railroad labor board
will be abolished. but 1t IL seen that
something must be done II there Is
mo- to be a complete breakdown OF
the law. But It will take time. and
a high order Of craftsmanship to
work out changes that will be effec-
tive. ~ evidence oflthis 1t is only
necessary to point out that II severe
penalties are fixed for violations OF
the boards decisions. the result will
be substantially compulsory arbitra-
ton. and that is something that has
never beenla uccess a. yet, no matter
where ~ hassbeen tried.
That3tha headquarters OF the rail-
road board may be brought to Wash
linston from Chicago is altogether
probable, as experiences has indicated
that the board should be in close
touch with the Interstate conAmerce
commission and with the executive
branch Of the EovernmeHt.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
g. In baseball can a runner score
three outs, retiring the side? "A. e. Il.
"a Baseball authorities say AZ has
been decided that q run scored on d
ldniihfaA HAY NhichEerAfiras w