The daily worker., 1934-02-24

taken through the wage cut would be-
used to put men back to work.
No sooner, however, was the ink
dry on the agreement, which by the
way, was made without referendum
of the men whose pockets were be-
ing picked, than new layoffs started.
The average number of railroad
workers employed for 1881 was 1884,
900. For 1882 it was 1,030,000, drop
of over a quarter Of a million.
Estimates for 1888, although the Of
fetal average has not yet been re-
leased by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, show further drop of
about $4,000 workers.
More Layoffs Coming
Joseph Eastman, Federal Co
ordinator of Railroads, under the
Railway Emergency Act, passed June
l6, 1888, now proposes to cancel all
limitations placed on railroad dis
missals under Section of this Act.
The only mention of financial as
sistance to the men slated for whole
sale dismissal under the consolida-
tionS to be carried out by the roads
with the approval of Eastman, is 8
yelled statement that "where changes
in methods of operation or admins
tration are made, not because of lack
Of business, but for the primary pur-
pose of performing work more eff
ciently, salvage Of the employe should
be a charge on the savings effected,
within reasonable limits.' There is
xao srtxa 20 Y,taa MI, a fatyar IN %K,fe gI;7
perry statement chat one railroad
worker would ever collect 81 of re-
lief when he is laid off. Not one
Of the 100000 men already laid off
during these last half dozen years
have gotten 81 of relief, although the
government manages to find millions
for every bankrupt road
Plenty of Money for Railroad
Bankers
It should be remembered by un-
employed railroad workers, and those
still on the seniority waiting for a
possible days work here and there,
that the Hoover administration
through the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation loaned the railroads
1896 PSI, ,430, most of which went to
pay interest and dividends. Roose-
Yelt, of course, is carrying out the
same policy having increased r. F.
@. loans to $400,000000. And the
very Emergency Railroad Act which
laid the basis for wholesale console
dationS and more layoffs, gave back
to the roads $400,000,000 due the
government under the Recapture
Clause of the Railway Labor Act. The
Roosevelt government is now loan
ing the roads hundreds of millions
more (interest free for the first year,
with which to buy rails and new
labor saving equipment SO that more
work can be done with fewer men.
There is money for everything but
unemployment insurance.
Easy Money, Wage Cuts, Produce
Profits
Yes, there is plenty of money for
unemployment insurance, but it goes
into interest and dividends instead
Although revenue freight increased
only IT per cent in 1888 over 1882
railroad income rose ASA per cent!
Some idea of what owners of rail-
road stocks are getting can be seer
from the following examples: The
Queen & Crescent declared divi-
dend of $8 share double the May
1882 payment; the st, Joseph 6
Grand Island paid So on it's first
preferred and 81 on the second; the
Sante Fe increased its dividend from
$3.50 to $3.50 share; the Burling-
ton distributed So a share swelling
the income of Northern Pacific anc
Great Northern stockholders by $2,.
100000 each.
Railroad Workers Want UnempIoy.
ment Insurance
The rank and file in the railroad
unions want Unemployment Insur-