The Connecticut labor news., 1923-06-22
RAIL BOARD IS DIPPED BY 1PENNA,'
 SAYS CHAIRMAN
Hooper Explains Reasons Why Board Latter Issued
 Public Rebuke

"The management of the Penn
 sylvania Railroad are now striking
 against a decision of the Board an act
 of Congress, and decree of the Supreme
 Court" declares Chairman Hooper, of
 the United States Railroad Labor Board,
 after the executives of the Penn
 sylvania Railroad have brazen1y notified the Board that they do not intend to
 obey or even to recognize its Decisions
 Nos 218 and 220.
 From the standpoint of the public" ,"
 Chairman Hooper's condemnation con- tinues, ''the attitude of the Pennsy1- vania management IS extremely re- grettable It is futile to try to befuddle the public about what IS involved in this case The railway manage
 ment negotiated the rules agreement with the representatives of the lnslgnlfl- cant minority of their shopmen, and en- joined the Board from issuing a decision declaring their conduct violation of the Boards former decision. The Su- preme Court of the United States de cided against the Pennsylvania Railroad. The road now persists in violat- ing the act of Congress and the decision of the Labor Board in refusing to per init a fair ballot to be taken. Il The denial of common, old fashioned fair dealing to emplopes will never get us anywhere in this country"
 The Railroad Labor Board summoned President Samuel eRea and other execu- tives of the Pennsylvania road to appear before 1t on May 21st to show cause why they continued to violate the Transportation Act and fout the orders of the Board. President Req bluntly notified the Board, We will take no action" and to date has not appeared, | i Alzz mons On the contrary, as con- temptuous slap at the Board the Penn sy1vania executives order an election of representatives to their company union" on the very day that the labor board sought to arraign them for their last illegal electionl What kind of elections" these are is indicated by the last ballot 1 ing among the Pennsylvania office clerks, most of whom belong to the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, and refuse to aid the Penn sylvania in breaking the law by partici- pating in its issegal elections" On the Akron division, for instance, out of 172 clerks a maximum of votes was cast for any of the company union repre- sentatives On the Baltimore division even the unorganized clerks voted for a Brotherhood representative, whose 414 ballots were thrown out by the road and a committeeman declared elected who received but 28 votes. Out latest ad- vice (May 24th), Is that the Labor Boards threat to serve a subpoena has brought word from President Req that he will appear before the Board under protest"
 This is not the only respect in which the management of the Pennsylvania Railroad is openly violating the law. It Il. :I, employees have reported time and time again for serious major defects. Occa- sionally the over-worked government in- snectors find these defects; many times they do not. Even so, Senator Cope land states that the Interstate Commerce Commission advises him that 70 per cent of the locomotives of the coal carrying railways are out of order" And yet when representatives of the transportation brotherhoods met re- gently with officials of the Pennsylvania to adjust certain grievances, they were asked to promise that they would get their labor journals to cease all criticism of the Pennsylvania management before | their grievances would be considered!
 Even if the management is obtuse the | shareholders of the Pennsylvania Rail road ought to realize what a foolish and | expensive extravaganza this 1abor-bait- ing program is. Relationships between management and men are so strained | that Vice President Atterbury admits | the expenditure of $80000000 in one | year alone for police protection"- | maintenance of private arsenals, the en- ployrnent of detectives and gunrnen, the creation of a spy system, and the pur- chasing of leather-covered clubs. We say this situation ought to concern the Pennsylvania stockholders, since they pay for this folly with their dividends. But 1t also concerns the public, for whom the standard railroad of the world" is supposed to be operated, since in the last analysis the public has to put up the none for both detectives and dividends