Montana labor news., 1945-03-29
LABOR DISPUTE
PANELOPENS
D. &R. G. HEARING

ID. &R. 6. HEARING
A panel Of three labor-dispute experts
appointed by President Roosevelt has
opened hearings in the controversy be
tween operating employees and the Den
yer & Rio Grande Western railroad.
At an executive session of the panel
Lief Erickson, former Montana Supreme
Court judge, was elected chairman. IN
der his direction four brotherhoods Of
railroad employees presented their open
ing statements to the board at Il a. m.
In this statement the brotherhoods
stated they are insisting that certain
rules in their working agreements with
the railroad be observed by the carrier
and that they We're not seeking to set
aside any agreements or to adopt any
new rules.
1t was stated by the brotherhoods,
whose spokesman was j. a. Rash, dep
uty president Of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen, that the strike
called by employees Of the railroad has
not been Cancelled or withdrawn, that
it has been merely postponed.
Following the opening statement by
Rash, the 10 awards in dispute were
entered in evidence, the trustees Of the
railroad offered contracts between the
railroad and its employees as evidence,
and the trustees presented their open
ing statement
Erskine r. Myer, as attorney repre-
senting the trustees. emphasized the eff
forts of the railroad to further the in
terests Of its employees, stating that 10
million dollars had been spent under the
trustees on safety measures alone. He
said the claims Of the employees should
be paid provided they are Just, equitable
claims under the law, under the awards,
and under the outstanding agreements %
The two other board members are Rus
sell Wolfe of Philadelphia and Ridgley
p. Melvin Of Annapolis, Md.
Repeats Offer to Submit Disputes
Myer repeated the offer which wilson
Mccarthy one of the Rio Grande trus-
tees, made March / to submit all mat
tiers in dispute to a neutral board Of
three persons-one selected by the rail-
roads, one by the railroad unions and
the third by the mediation board.
In his opening statement, Myer divided
the differences between the parties into
three classes. In these cases where
there is simply a question Of the proper
Interpretation of the adjustment board
award, he suggested they should be re-
ferred back to the board for an interpre-
tation. In the second class Of cases
those in which specific claims were al
lowed by the board and which the unions
claim should be applied outside Of the
claims specifically presented to the
board-he argued the proper procedure
t should be to have the new claims passed
on by the board.
To avoid delay in getting a decision
on such cases, he said the railroad is
willing to join with the unions in max
ing a joint submission, waving oral ar
guments, and said the road will abide
by the boards decision.
Road Willing to Negotiate
In the class Of cases which the adj
iustment board directed should be set
tied by negotiation, Myer declared the
road is willing to continue such negotia-
tons.
"a railroad strike under present ma
tional conditions is entirely too serious
a matter to be trifled with, Myer told
J., the emergency board. we here and now
say to you that whatever may be your
determination in this matter, it will be
accepted and applied by the trustees of
, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Rail
, road company. We invite these (em-
/ ployes' org|anizations) to make a similar
/ declaration and to take a similar posi-
ton at this time in this proceeding"
The opening statement Of the rail-
road brotherhoods asserted that "the
e sole issue in this controversy grows out
{ Of the failure Of the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad company to
apply awards rendered by the first divi-
sion of the national railroad adjustment
board" in certain cases. They commended
, that "the merits of the claims out Of
, which these awards came are not here
involved"
{ The brotherhoods declared "the strike
has not been cancelled or withdrawn. It
/ has simply been postponed, pending the
outcome Of these proceedings"
They accused Trustee Mccarthy Of
/, trying to "mislead" and "bamboozle' the
public.
hrryFu WORK- Smashing a nrO-