Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-07-22
STRIKERS GIVE
REASONS FOR A
SHOP WALkOUT

Side OF Case; Chairman
Walton Sounds Only Dis
Cordant Note.
Speakers at the shopmen's pub
lie meeting at the High school au-
ditorium last night devoted their
attention largely to matters closely
connected with the strike. There
was one exception. Chairman w.
RI, Walton of the city commission
used up the major portion of the
time assigned to him to the quoting
of the scriptures and William
Shakespeare, and an attack on the
Morning journal and the Albu-
querque Herald. These newspa-
pers. Mr.. Walton said, are not CO.
operating with the city commits
sion to work for the advancement
and betterment of Albuquerque,
but "snarl and zap while in the
meantime the present admlnistra-
ton is doing something"
Public opinion is likely soon to
swat ticSO newspapers, anu thoy
will go to the newspaper heaven,
which is reached by a creased
Slide" Mr.. Walton declared.
Swope Sounds Keynote.
Ed. Swope, city commissioner
and county treasurer, who said
that only year ago he peeled off
his overalls at the Santa F'e shops,
set forth the strikers position.
Mr.. Swope said lot of statistics
had been published bearing on the
strike that the public had been
misled into believing to be correct
He declared he wished to give
few figures. from unbiased sources,
to set the people right. He said
that in many cases the reduced
wages ordered by the labor board
are too low to to meet decent liv-
ing standards.
Under the new schedule for
maintenance of way men, he said,
wages are from rs to 35 cents an
hour, or $574.O5 to $S17.44 for
average working year.
Shopmen, he said, would receive
$1,753.44 for working every day
and holidays, and carmen $1,607.-
AZ.
Living Still High.
Mr.. Swope said the worker Is en-
titled to a wage that will enable
him to live in comfort, support his
family and get his children an edu-
cation. Education he said, will
bring about conditions that will
end of rilync coi1 I,
a reduction a year ago, thinking it
would be the last until living costs
came down, but they refused an
other cut now because they did not
believe living conditions warranted
it and they had no guarantee that
there would not be more wage re-
auctions.
Mr.. Swope said the Harvey sys-
tenn, which is operated by the San
ia Fe, is charging the same prices
for food that it did during the war.
He read excerpts from trades
paper, Modern Service" advocat-
ing universal military training as
a means of keeping labor under
subsection. He blamed labor for
not using the ballot box for getting
into office men who would rightly
administer the constitution Of the
United States, under which, fairly
lived. up to. he declared, labor and
capital can exist in harmony side
by side
Not Against Government.
Mr.. Swope said retail prices are
two per cent more than they were
month ago, and still rising. He
asserted that this Is not a strike
against the government, as has
been stated. and gave examples of
a failure of the railways to regard
the orders of the labor board. He
said many railroads had turned
their shops over to dummy COM
panies so that work could be done
at less wage than under the labor
boards rules. He said the labor
board did not order a wage cut.
but set a minimum wage, which
the roads quickly seized upon.
Mr.. Swope said the men are get
ting but go cents more a day now
than they did in 1917, and asked
II the increase is commensurate
with the increased cost of living.
In regard to time and a half for holi-
days and Sunday, he stated that
II this is not granted, the men will
be at the mercy of flat seven-day
schedule. Even before the unions.
he. said, the Santa Fe gave extra
pay for holiday and Sunday work,
recognizing it as a principle.
Individual Settlements.
Individual settlements will not
be made, Mr.. Swope said. declar-
ing that the men went out to de-
fend a principle and would stick
together till they got 1t. Surrender
OF seniority and other rights will
never be agreed to, he said. Mr..
Swope explained that the law un-
der which the labor board was Gre
ated calls for adjustment boards in
various sections. The RAILWAYS
have not allowed these to be set
up, he said. but the men are An
sisting upon it, as the delays of
getting matters before the labor
board often SO great as to cause
workers serious suffering.
Mr.. Swope said that in every
case where men had been held for
carrying weapons in Albuquerque
since the strike began. they were
strikebreakers. 1--WE will turn over
to the authorities men among our
ranks who start trouble, just as
quickly as we will strikebreakers
who do the same thing" he de-
clared. He said that many state
ments had been made about affairs
Of violence to turn public sentiment
against the strikers.
Spend Money Here.
The speaker called attention to
the fact that shopmen spend prac-
tically all they make right here in
albuquerque. and said that il the
reduction order stands. Albuquer-
que merchants will lose s1S3.000 a
year. do you think the railways
80, -