The Washington times., 1923-11-15
RACE To Be TER
RAIL ROADS
WORK
Managers and Unions Bring
Efficiency Contest to
Washington.
By WILLIAM HARD.

a new era in railroad human effi-
cheney Is claimed out Of activities
disclosed here today in the course Of
the meeting Of the seventeen stand.
ard railroad trade unions.
It comes IN particular from the
shcpcraft unions which last year
waged their great nationwide strike
i against the railroad managemsnts
and which this year are offering the
railroad managements new CO.
operation for new efficiency. and
are already putting Il into practise
through special agreement with
one o9 the largest trunk lines.
This DEVELOPMENT Is regarded as g
revolutionary stage In the history Ct
railroad trade unicnisrn and also In
/ the history Of the attitude Of rail-
road managenentR toward unions.
1t is thought possibly to foreshadoW
q transformation Of the unions from
being combative elements to being
. | cooperative elements within the rail.
road industry.
The railroad on which the chief
experiment In this direction has so
] tar taken place is the Baltimore and
7 Ohio, where seven shopcraft unions
have united in an arrangement with
I the management for the express pur-
lpose Of increasing output and Of i'm
proving the quality as well as the
! Trap dity of the work done in the
Baltimore and Ohio's repair shops.
! More than twenty thousand men are
. engaged in this new undertaking for
cOsoperatfon in efficiency, and the re-
: suit1 achieved are claimed to exceed
those which are being reached on
other railroads BY other methods.
/ Efficiency Race Begun.
The human fact Is that the shop
craft unions, having made an
! | agreement with the Baltimore and
4 Ohio Railroad Company and having
been refused an agreement by the
I Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
are now engaged in racing the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company to
see which Of the two railroads the
union one or the anti.union one
can show the biggest gains in trans
portation efficiency records.
This Is new sport, never before
/ put on by American railroad trade
unions; and the monthly figures Of
the results are scrutinized like base
I hall scores.
The Interstate Commerce Commits
sion's records seem to show that
! the Baltimore and Ohio is now q
: | few lengths ahead of the Rennsyl-
vania, although q year ago it was
! g. few lengths behind. One Of the
standard tests is passenger loco
7 motive miles per locomotive day.
In July Of last year the Pennsyl-
vania was doing 10 while the
! lBaltimore and Ohio was doing LOT,
Z This year, In July, the last month
for available comparison, the Penn
! syIvania was doing 119 while the
Baltimore and Ohio was doing 40.
The Pennsylvania improved, but the
Baltimore and Ohio improved more.
and the shopcraft unions claim that
/ lit is all because of the superior
effectiveness shown by them In keep
ing the Baltimore and OhiO's loco
motives in good repair under their
new cooperative efficiency plan.
So enthusiastic have they become
about efficiency that they now main
tain q consulting engineer Of their
service bureau, which operates
under the direction Of Boyer and
which is furnished free to the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad Company
to show it how to get the most out
Of its men.
Explains His Service.
! Boyer proceeded first to the Bal
timore and Ohio's largest shops.
which are located in the Pittsburgh
district. and there installed his
Service" Boyer explains the idea Of
it to this writer in the following
words:
"Just as the large supply COM
panies who now furnish our rail-
roads with materials-such as mir.
brakes and lubricating oils send
their experts out to help the man.
agements in the efficient use of those
supplies, so can the railroad labor
organizations create their own 'serv
ice departments and send out ex.
perts to help the arrangements in
the more efficient use of the human
organization"
The shopcraft unions which have
Joined in this new offer of q new re-
lationship to the managements are
the following:
The Machinists, the Blacksmiths.
the Boilermakers, the Sheet Metal
Workers, the Electrical Workers, the
Carmen, and the Stationary Fire
men.
4 "A certain special interest in the
matter has been taken by the ma
chinists and by their president, w.
HI. Johnston, of Washington. Johns
ton. who was already a banker as
well as a trade union leader has
now become a railroad EFFICIENCY
enthusiast and out of what he re.
CARDS as the successful experiment
on the Baltimore and Ohio is now
prepared to enter into similar ar
rangements with other railroads.
several of which have been nego-
tiating with him.
Views Of Banker.
He said today:
II think we can now give points
In efficiency and in economy, In
better shop service, and in i'm.
proved morale, to any railroad
which Is still relying on piece.worlx
!; or on other speeding-up devices" !"
Johnston expresses the hope that
trade unions will develop out of
the period of friction and hos.
: tility' and will go forward into q
period of joint effort with the
managements toward Constructive
, measures for mutual advantage"
He anticipates and prophesies
the day when the railroad trade
unions will cease to take the pos
ture of belligerent outside influ-
!. nn0nO in the railroad Sifpaofino orTa