Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-02

even the summons Of the board to ap-
pear with the railroad executives De-
fore the labor board, after the strike
was called and before it took erect
was contemptuously ignored by the lead
ers of the strikers. who refused to at
tend the hearing. Thereupon it became
the plain duty of the railroads, actlVe,y
and vigorously to undertake to upnoio
the orderly processes for the ADJUST,
ment of industrial disputes contemplate
by the statute creating tne lapoa
board and represented by the declslohs
of that board against which the strlke
in question was directed and at the same
! time continue to the best of their
ability to discharge their duty 10 Tic
public as common carriers.
Many Did Not Strike
MANY men in the service refused to
join the strike, and in so dong were
assured of the seniority rights accru.
ing to them and of the permanence OF
their positions. On some important
lines so per cent or more refused 10
Join the strike. To these old loyal EN-.
ployes have been added thousands OF
new men who were employed and could
be secured only upon a definite promise
that their services would be retained
regardless of the settlement OF the
strike. with all the rights appertalnlng
of such employment, including that OF
seniority under the working rules ana
previously approved by the railroad Ia
Dor board We especially point out that
refusal to the old men who renamed
in the service and to the new men VINO
accepted service of the rights OF sen
iority incident to unemployment wouid
have just the opposite effect to that
desired by the president and would Sc
~riously discredit the labor board.
The board itself prescribed the rules
of seniority under which men refused
to have securd their seniority rights
neither the legal nor moral right to
deprive these men of those rights. BY
public u%tterances since the strike be-
gan the board has recognized and EN-
phasized these rights and to deny them
now would. instead of unfolding the
authority of the labor board, overthrow
its rules and discredit its authority.
"The chairman Of the labor board at
the time the strike was called made
the following public statement:
Upon one question. the striking
employees should not be deceived.
--. their leader has said that the
strikers are no longer employees Of the
railways and they have thus automat-
icall.y abandoned all the rights they
possess under their agreements and
under the decisions Of the board. in
Guiding their seniority. This is not the
boards actions. 1t is their own.
Must Stand by Workers
Many carriers are giving their for
mer employees the opportunity to re-
enter the service within a limited time.
1t must be understood now that men
who remained in the service and those
who are now entering il, will have
rights of seniority that the board could
not ignore.
The chairman of the boards state
ment that This is an individual utter
ance but it expresses. in substance.
the sentiments of a large majority of
Of the members of the railroad labor
board was justified by formal action
of the board taken in its resolution of
July 3. 1922, which stated, among other
things. as follows:
BE il further resolved. that the
employees remaining in the service and
the new ones entering same be accord
ed the benefits of the outstand wage and
rule decisions of the railroad labor
board until they are amended or modi-
fled by agreement with said employees.
arrived at in conformity with the trans
portation act or by decision of the
board, or.
BE it further resolved that if it
be assumed that the employees who
leave the service of the carriers be
cause of dissatisfaction of decisions of
the labor board, are within their rights
in SO doing. it must likewise be con
coded that the men who remain in the
service and those who enter il anew
are within their rights in accepting
such employment; that they are not
strikebreakers seeking to impose the
arbitrary will of An employer on en-
iployes: that they have the moral as
well as the legal right to engage in
such service of the American public
TO avoid interruption Of indispensable
railway transportation. and they are
entitled to the protection of every de-
partment and branch Of the govern
ment. state and nation"
Unfair To New Workers
"It must be understood that any
proposal that employees now on strike
shall be permitted to return to the
service without impairment of their
seniority is merely another way of
suggesting that these men who took
employment in this crisis in good faith,
relying on the promises Of the rail
roads to protect them in their posi-
tons, these promises being justified by
the authoritative utterances of the
labor board and thus have made pos
sible the continued operation Of the
railroad. shall now be sacrificed in
favor of men now on strike who not
only hrnnrht ahnnt the cricic h,,. he