The labor world., 1922-07-15
THE SHOPMENS' STRIKE.

THE SHOPMENS' STRIKE.
The strike Of the railroad shopmen,
unfortunate as it may be held to be, is
one of the most justifiable walkouts
in the history Of labor. It is not a
strike against the railroads. The en-
ployers have had very little to say
about the trouble. All personal rela-
tionship between railroad officials and
the employees was long ago severed.
The human element is absent. Cold
judicial determination has taken its
place, and the results early predicted
by labor are occurring.
The United States railroad labor
board, like the supreme court, has or
at least it is attempting to assume
power not delegated to it by the trans
portation act which created it. Con-
grcss decisivcly defeated provisions in
the Esch Cumnins bill giving to the
labor board absolute power and MAX
ing it unlawful for railroad employees
to strike.
The board is attempting to enforce
it's rulings against labor, but it seems
unable to compel the railroads to com
ply with it's decisions that were adj
verse to them. AS a matter of fact the
railroads have ignored every decision
Of the labor board requiring them to
do anything they did not want to do.
On the other hand the railroads lost
no time in any instance in putting into
effect every ruling Of the board IA
vorable to them and against labor.
The employees have lost confidence
in the integrity Of the ma ajority mem
bers of the labor board. Their repre-
scntatives for years back have based
their claims for increased wages and
better conditions on the cost of living
and the earnings Of the railroads. The
labor board has ignored the matter of
living costs and when the representa-
tives of employees appeared before it
to protest against reductions in wages,
loaded as they were with facts bear
ing on the cost of living they were re-
quired by the board to meet new
argument advanced by the railroads
based on comparative wages paid in
! other occupations, which they were
quiet unprepared to meet.
A wage scale based on the cost of
+ living in accordance with American
standards is recognition Of the hu-
man element. 1t puts the man above
the dollar. A wage scale based on a
comparison with wages paid in other
industries is "level- down. wage
and puts workers, coal, iron and box
cars on common ground. It puts the
dollar above the man. A government
board that would substitute the COM
parative wage for a living wage is
but moving backward with the auto
Gratis of private industry. It violates
the spirit and the letter of federal
law which declares that labor is not a
commodity.
So the strike of the shopmen is a
strike against industrial diluvia!isn
on the railroads. They are making the
fight alone. Whether they win back
their Jobs or lose them they are per
forming a great social service. They
are stemming the tide of industrial re-
action. They have called halt on the
"back to normalcv' policy Of the
! Republican administration. They wi!
win that if they don't win anything
else and every worker in America will
be benefited as the result Of the strug
FL and sacrifices Of the 100000 gallant
shop craftsmen who have had the
temerity to challenge the railroad la
bor board when it became patiently
unfair to all railroad labor.
But the shopmen will not lose theil
jobs There are signs already in the
news stories which indicate that thu
case of the shopmen will be re-opened
by the labor board If the men stand
firm they will rehder railroad strike:
in the future 1estsn~-e--ary. i.