Evening star., 1948-05-27
Matchmaking Of Rail!
Is Really Last Thing
Labor Unions Want
Leaders Must Have Held
Tongues in Cheek When
Issuing Resolution
By David Laurence

Issuing Resolution
By David Laurence
Naturalization Government
ownership-of railroads is really
the last thing railroad labor unions
want. They have, with one excep-
tion, however, sponsored a resolu-
tion advocating such p course
mostly as a piece Of strategy at the
moment.
What the railroad labor union
chiefs want is to draw attention to
the fact that the workers are not
being given their increases In wages
while the Government, temporarily
in possession of the roads, does not
take control of the revenues or
profits.
This is true only theoretically
Actually today the Government,
through the Interstate Commerce
Commission, does control the
amount of revenue that can be
collected from passengers and ship
pers and in doing SO examines
profits and rate Of return on money
Invested. The price of transporta-
ton has long been fixed by gov
ernmental action and because OF
the amount of red tape involved,
the rises in freight and passenger
rates often lag and are not given
to the railroads till long after their
expenses for materials and wages
have risen. No subsidy is provided
for such loss.
Lag Would Hit Unions, Too.
This lag would happen to the
railroad unions, too, If they ever
came under permanent Government
ownership or control. The rail-
workers unions need only take a
look at what happens to the en-
= ployes of the Federal departments
and bureaus generally. When
workers have to wait for Congress
amid its multifarious activities to
pass legislation to take care of
wages and benefits for Government
employees, they really do some
waiting.
The rail union chiefs know all
this and must have had their
tongues in their cheeks when they
allowed themselves to be persuaded
to issue a resolution favoring ma
tionalization. The truth is they
are on the spot. The unions COM
prising nearly 80 per cent OF the
workers accepted the findings of a
presidential board and q minority
dissented and threatened a strike.
There was nothing left to do but
for the Government to take tenn
porary possession of the roads and
operate them through existing man
agement till the dissenting unions
came to terms.
II the Government had done
nothing and a Nation wide strike
had delivered crushing blow to
the economic system with untold
losses to the public, there would
probably not have been any legal
right to- strike left today among
the rail unions. The rail labor
executives who passed the resolu-l
ton favoring Government owner
ship perhaps thought the reading4
public would forget that Congress
has already prohibited any Govern
ment workers from belonging to a
union that insists on the right to
strike. It seems incredible, there
fore, that the rail unions should be
advocating a course OF action that
would lose them permanently the
right to strike. /
1t is a lucky thing for the railroad
brotherhoods that the Government
took over and did not permit a
strike on the rail systems to mate
rialize. Had there been such a
tie-up Congress overnight would
have passed law stipulating that
all disputes on common carriers
must be settled by arbitration and
making it violation of law for any
railroad union to recommend to its
members rejection of the findings OF
4 fact-finding board appointed by
the President to settle labor dis
putes.
Could Do Nothing Else.
There would have been nothing
Else for Congress to do. Sentiment
for Government operation of the
"ailroads is negligible in America
for the simple reason that there Is
no public outcry against the man
agement or the workers from the
standpoint of efficiency of opera
ton. Certainly, Congress would not
pass such law just to subsidize
railworkers unions. The theory
hat the employees would be better
off under Government ownership
than private management is fam
tastic. Too much proof to the con-
'rary exists as between employees in
Government and private industry.
Compulsory arbitration is by no
means popular either in Govern
nent or private circles 1t implies
an inability of the parties to work
out their own problems on mu-
tually satisfactory basis and substi-
tutes the Judgment usually of one
man who sits as the umpire in
panel of representatives Of en-
ployers and unions. Government
management isn't the answer-the
experience during the latter part OF
the World War period proved that
conclusively-and neither is COM
pulsory arbitration.
The real answer lies In the toler-
ance, good sense and forbearance
OF management and representatives
of the workers In this instance the
10 rail unions that accepted the
settlement recommended by the
presidential fact-f1nding board put
their stamp of approval on the JUS
tice of the award. The other three
unions are just dead wrong and the
sooner they acknowledge their error
and so along with the others the
greater gain there will be for the
process of yolition as opposed to the