The Omaha guide., 1939-03-11
A. Philip Randolph Calls for Red Caps
Inclusion In Wages and Hours Law

Mr.. Elmer Andrews
Wages and Hours Administration
Department of Labor
Washington, D. G.
MY Dear Mn. Andrews:
Concerning the question OF the
applicability of the wages OF the
Red Caps to the Fair Labor Stan
dards Act of 1888, may I say that
Justice and fair play demand that
this group of workers come within
the scope of this law.
In your efforts to discover data
upon which to base a ruling on the
right of the Red Caps to the status
of a wage-earning section of rail
way employees, may | say that the
data available must necessarily Dt
fragmentary and nondescript be-
cause of the mass of workers couio
NOT be expected to be adept in the
systematic accounting of a number
of details such as tips that they
ma receive from day to day. a
sudden request upon them to ac'
count for this data would mo-
change their long habit OF casna'
action in recording their tips and
ans them to handle these details
with any measure Of accuracy Oh
constancy.
In the first place it seems TO pe
an unsound policy to attempt eo
determine the wages of this Gas
of workers upon the basis OF Ups
received by them because tips are
uncertain and generally irregular
Resides. the Red Caps do not even
nossess the right to request tips
for services rendered whatever tips
NAV amount to as a form OF IN
come. In other words, Red Caps
are in the unfortunate predicament
where they have no legal right to o
compensation reward for work per
formed. since the terminal comp
any places the burden of making
I'm the income of this class of wor-
kers. such as it is, upon the public
"a burden which the public has no
legal or moral obligation to assume
because the travelling public's right
10 all forms of transportation SER
vices. including that of Red Caps,
is assured and secured when thelf
railroad ticket is purchased.
Moreover, until the Red Caps are
placed under the Wages and Hours
Law, there is no sound basis for
the computation Of their income in
terms of time units, and, hence no
good reason for the establishment
of any definite work day for them.
This, naturally, renders possible
the unlimited exploitation of this
class of emplovees.
Nevertheless, Red Caps may be
fired if they lose baggage OF cause
a passenger to be late In catching
a train, or by m~isdirecting passen-
gers or for insubordination to their
superior officers. In other words,
Red Caps have definite duties and
responsibilities to perform and
bear.
Carriers are setting up the con-
tention that they own the tips Red
Caps receive, and that they should
be considered as wages. In other
words, Red Caps jobs are regarded
as concessionaires granted by the
carriers. This is a strange and I'M
sound Interpretation of tips and
the jobs of the Red Caps. 1t hanks
back to the worst form of feudal-
ism, and is a plan to convert the
Red Caps into a compound of in
dustrial sharecroppers and poems
with not the slightest shred of eco
nomic rights as workers. This pol
icy will not initiate against the
economic and social interest and
well-being of the Red Caps, but is
fundamentally ~anti-social in con-
ception, and constitutes a danger
Gus threat to the whole wage struc-
ture of the American workers.
Tt seems beyond a question of a
doubt that Red Caps should prop