The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1922-06-02
s48, OOO,O RAIL
WAGE CUT MADE
Maintenance of Way Workers
Pay Is SIashed by Board.
is BASED ON ADJUSTMENTS
Railroad Labor Board Orders General
Decrease Ranging From I to
Cents an Hour, Effective
on July 1.

Chicago, May 29.-Wages or 4UU,UOU
maintenance of way railway employees
are cut from 1 to cents an hour, be-
ginning July /, according to de-
cision announced by the railroad la
Dor board. The slash will mean an
annual saving of approximately $48.-
100000 on pay rolls.
The decision means a return to
practically the same scale as that
prevailing February %, 1920, when
the roads were turned back to their
of the size Of cuts that will be made
In the scale of workers in other de-
partments.
A dissenting opinion is filed by three
labor members of the board. It Is
believed to be the first time dissent
has been registered under the sigma
ture Of all members Of a group.
Called insufficient.
The labor group contends that the
wage scale provided in the decision
Is insufficient to sustain life on any
thing like the basis of American stand
ards. They cite tables and opinions
Of social workers and arbitration spe-
cialists to sustain the dissent.
The pay scale of maintenance Of
way employees after July / will be
from % to 35 cents an hour as COM
pared with the present rate of % to
40 cents.
In announcing a separate decision
for this class of rail workers, the
board states that it is complying with
q request made by the United Broth
erhood of Maintenance of Way En-
ployees and Railroad Shop Laborers,
which asked that it's case be given
precedence.
The board calls attention to the
fact that this adjustment is based
on previous wage adjustments both
by the director of railroads under
federal control and by the railroad
labor board since that time.
All matters were based upon hori-
zontal increases o. decreases of the
scales prevailing before federal con-
troll, all of which were different in
various parts of the country and on
different divisions of the railroads.
The minimum rates authorized In
the present decision will apply only
on few divisions in a small group
of states, principally in the South
and Southwest.
The decision says in part:
1.-THE board is of the opinion that
after the reduction under this de-
cision, common labor on the railroads
will still be receiving, as a rule, a
wage in excess of that paid to SIM
liar labor in other industries, and
that the same will be true of all other
classes of labor covered by this de-
cision.
''The board is of the opinion, how
ever, that the hazards Of the en-
ployment, the training and skill re-
quired, the degree of responsibility
to the public, and other elements
contained in that statute (transpor-
tation act of 1920 combine to Justify
the payment of a better wage to these
employees than is paid to similar
labor in outside employment.
Get Living Quarters.
"On very considerable number
of roads the foremen and section men
are furnished by the carrier, living
quarters and fuel
Moreover, the board is not In SYM
pathy with the idea that a govern
ment tribunal, empowered to fix a
just and reasonable wage for men en-
gagged in serving the public In the
transportation industry, should be
controlled by the one consideration
of the low wages that may be paid
to other labor in a period of tenn
porary depression and unemploy-
ment. It is But just to say that rail-
road arrangements have indicated no
desire for such result"
In dissenting the three labor men,
bers, A. o. Wharton, Albert Phillips
and w. L. McMenimen assert that
under the new scale ''the earnings of
this large group of railroad employees
will not provide the father of a fam
fly with as much food as Is allowed