Evening star., 1938-09-03

u II II OOuS, David Laurence
more or less vi
Imperative in character, after which I
urged that some responsible spokesman
for the union ought to present the
other side of the work not done" con-
troversy so the public could get the
facts without emotion
The answer has come to me from
A. F.. Whitney, president of the
Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. He
says:
The Federal co-ordinator of trans
portation, Joseph B. Eastman. on
his own motion, instituted a survey
of rules on the railroads relating to
payment of men engaged in engine.
train and yard service. The result of
this study was submitted in a report
with his letter of may Is, 1886, to the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
wherein he says these rules have
often been the subject of controversy
and criticism, and there is much mis-
understanding of one kind or another
in regard to them. Controversy and
40 iloe SollddSbAfI
to good railroad labor conditions and
relations and the public ought to know
what the facts are ...
Misconception by Public.
Briefly, the study reveals that there
is no foundation in fact for the popu-
lar misconception that railroad, engine,
train and yard service men are paid
large amounts of money for which
they render no service. The Inter
State Commerce Commission form on
which information for this group is re-
ported, calls for report of 'compensa-
ton paid for straight time hours
worked and compensation paid for
straight time hours paid for 1t is
popularity supposed, and it is charged,
that the difference between these
amounts, which may be from II to
Is per cent Of the payroll represents
payments for time not worked Moth
Ing could be further from the truth.
The co-ordinator in his report
states: In this instance the difference
between the actual hours worked
and the 10 hours entered as paid for
is not really time, but is time equi-
valent'" The company is not paying
for anything which it does not get, for
the mileage run corresponds in full
with the amount Of compensation paid.
incidentally, the amount paid is
which the employe would earn II the
same mileage we're run at the applic-
able speed basis 12l2 miles per hour
rather than at the faster rate in this
case, 1875 miles per hour. The COM
pany secures the advantage of more
economical use of plant and equipment
and the public gets the benefit of
faster transportation service.
References made in your article to
the sum Of $90,000,000, and this is
followed by statement from you that
there's vast sum involved annually
for work not done" and the railroad
brotherhoods think the I. C. C. is
wrong in using this phrase and that
1t Is a myth or a falsehood. If they
think the right figure is different from
those quoted, this correspondent would
like to publish an analysis from the
other side
Says Report Dispels Myth"
1T so happens that this item of
S9000O,00O is substantially the amount
which the layman or casual reader
would infer from the commissions
report for the year 1887 was paid to
men employed in engine, train and
yard service during that year for serv-
ice not performed. We assume, there
fore, that the figure used by you was
expressed in round numbers for con-
venience, and is the conception of Mr..
j. G.. Lyme, the New York editor for
the Railway Age from whom you
quote) of the amount paid men Of
these classes for work not performed
However, the co-ordinator's report
effectively dispels this myth since he
finds that for the month of March,
1884, but 3.4 per cent out Of lat per
cent Of the total payroll represented
by similar item for that month, con-
stituted compensation for time en-
ployes were not actually engaged in
the rendition of service. In other
words, for 81 per cent of this amount
the time equivalent was delivered in
miles run in actual service.
AN analysis of the small proper
ton Of the pay roll which may result
from payments for time during which
the employe is not actually producing
transportation will disclose that the
employe is nevertheless placing his
time at the disposal of the railroad,
and is not the beneficiary of sums
which 1t might be inferred from your
article are in the nature of bonuses
or gratuities.
Held for Duty at Terminals.
"This includes (among other things)
certain time that men in suburban
passenger service may perform no
work between trips of their regular
daily assignment. For >example, at
important centers such as New York.
Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, the
trainmen make one or more trips
from outlying districts to the down.
town sections in the performance of
their daily work and during their
tour Of duty they may be relieved,
but held for duty at one Of their
terminals. They are not free to
utilize such time during which they
are not producing transportation. They
are waiting for further service in the
interest and accommodation of the
public. As early as 1910, a board
Of arbitrators passing upon the ade-
quacy of the then existing rates of
pay rules in the Eastern territory
stated: The trainmen have only two
things to sell, their time and their
labor, and it is fair that they should
receive remuneration for the time they
place at the disposal of the railroads
as we'll as for the labor they expend
IN its service
Men in train service are essenti-
ally piece workers, being paid by the