New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-07-03
The Rail Gamble

The Rail Gamble
The railroad walk-out which went
into partial effect on Saturday rep
resents an attempt to override the
Judgment Of majority Of the Rail
road Labor Board-siX members
submitting wage decision and only
two dissenting from 1t. 1t is the
purpose Of the unions which have
quit work to coerce the board into
reversing its decision by bringing
indirect pressure to bear on the
railroad arrangements and on the
public.
This is admitted by Mr.. Jewell,
the president of the railroad de-
partment Of the American Fedora
ton of Labor, to whom the nominal
leadership of the walk-out has been
intrusted. He is reported as say
ing in Chicago:
"The United States Labor Board
no longer has any jurisdiction over
our affairs Our men are not now
working for the railroads. From now
on our dealings will be with the
Railway Executives Association.
Our dealings will be with the rail
road executives. If they choose to
come to US through the Railroad
Labor Board then we would treat
with them that way. We do not care
what medium is used, but our nego-
tiations will be with them"
Thus, if Mr.. JEWELS view pre-
walls, the board will have already
been snuffed out as a statutory
body competent to make wage
awards and to regulate the relations
between the carriers and their en-
ployees. The board, however, is not
prepared to be eXtinguished so
easily. Chairman Hooper has al
ready called attention to some of
the implications Of Mr.. JEWELS re-
marks that the men who walked out
are no longer working for the rail
roads. He points out that new men
taking the places of those who have
retired are merely accepting what
Is equivalent to an open position:
the wages and working conditions
Of which have been duly established
by a governmental tribunal"
The transportation law was in
tended to give the railroad worker
an exceptional status. It modifes the
right of the employer to fix wages
and working conditions. 1t made
the Railroad Labor Board the ar
bitter in these matters. How, then,
can Mr.. Jewell and his followers,
denying the boards authority and
quitting the service Of the roads,
expect to retain any Of the advan-
tages of status which they have
voluntarily forfeited? How can they
become railroad employees again
unless they ask the Railroad Labor
Board to reinstate them, to the ex-
tent that their places have not been
already filled in the interval.
Mr.. Jewell says that he is not
looking for a quarrel with the
board. But he has invited quar-
rel with the principle of govern
ment control which is reflected in
the boards wage decision. He
wants to scrap government media
ton and to go back to the aban-
doned system of dog-eat-dog settle
ments between the railroad work
ers and the carriers. Thus he cal
lousy risks all that the workers
have got out of government regu-
lation-and would coolly sacrifice
all that the public has got out of it..
And in doing this he rebels against
q decision which leaves actual
wages increased over those of 1914
as much as 1899 per cent in some
cases, and allows an increase in real
wage purchasing power, compared
with 1914, of 33 per cent for car
men, 10 per cent for unskilled la
Dor, Is per cent for clerks and 10
per cent for unskilled shop men.