The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1922-04-07
We're Railroad Workers "Slackers"
While the Nation Was mt War!

W lille the Nation was nj war!
Perhaps the most persistently stat
ed charge against the railroad admin
istration is that hundreds of thous-
ands OF workers were unnecessarily
added to payrolls when the railroads
were under federal control and thai
Stacking" by all workers was com
mon practice.
Mr.. Walker ID. Hines, one of the
countrys foremost railroad managers
who succeeded William Gibbs McAdOo
as director general of transportation.
completely refutes this allegation
In his report to the president, March
l, 1920. Mr. Hines said:
The apparent predisposition on the
part of large portion of the public
20 attribute this policy increasing the
working PERSONNEL to governmental
agency has led various speakers AMI
newspapers into wholly incorrect
estimate of the situation"
Working Hours Less Under Federal
Control!
Practically all railroad workers.
Mr.. Hines said, were paid by the hour
| therefore the number of men employ
ed was OF no significance. The oIt-
standing fact is that the government
actually paid for less hours than dur
| ing private operation Mr.. Hines in his
report said:
| The controlling fact in this matter
of the number of employees is that the
number is determined by the number
of hours they work per day. Eight
hours of work can be done in a day
by employees if they work 10 hours
each, while it would take ten employ
ees working eight hours each to do
the same amount of work.
The eight hour day has been estab-
lished as general policy of the Rail-
road administration. This change of
policy has undoubtedly brought about
an increase in the number of employ
ees, but it has not brought about an
increase in the number of hours of
work paid for
1T is the number of hours of work
| paid for and not the number of en-
ployees which is the significant thing
with respect TO operating expenses.
The fact is that the number of
hours OF work paid for by the Rail-
road administration in 1919 was less
than in 1915, 1917 or 1918"
The efficiency of the workers during
| federal control is vouched for by Mr..
| Hines, who declares that they deliver
| ed greater number of traffic units
per man hour than had ever before
been obtained.
Testifyins before the Senate Com
mittee on Interstate Commerce, jan
uary "a, 1922, Mr. Hines said that the
traffic units of service per man hour
had increased from SO per cent in 1915
to SO per cent in 1917 and 1918 and to
1913 per cent in 1919, IA greater num-
Der OF traffic units per man hour than
mad ever been obtained before"
Evidence corroborating Mr.. Hines
tribute to the efficiency of workers
was given by Mr. McAdoo, former di.
rector of railroads, in testimony be-
FORE the Senate Committee on Inter-
state Commerce, February 1922. Mr.
McAdoo said:
Employees Patriotic and LOYAL.
AS a step in the direction of using
more efficiently the available (rail
road facilities and forces. the Rail-
road Administration called on the
representatives of the organized rail
road workers to agree also TO modifi-
cations of the rules governing the pro.
motion of mechanics to apprentices
and helpers.
Under these notifications the rai,
road employees periodically gave IN
privileges and concessions which
their organizations had obtained
through many years of negotiation
ana controversy, in which thew agreed
10 an extension of the hours of sery,,.
10 40 per week, and to the promotion
oil all competent helpers and appren-
ices OF mechanics wherever a short
age of mechanics existed.
The concessions granted to the
government by the labor organiza.
IONS at this time could not have been
on'alhed by the railroad manage
ments under any conditions.
The employees had previously ra
FUSED TO make similar concessions IN
tne railroad corporations because of
their belief that nnoa .ho