The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-06-10
Taft Intervenes
In Deadlock OF 3
Railroad Unions

Railroad Unions
Washington IPA)-Three Rail.
road Brotherhoods turned to Con
gress last week for action in their
dispute with the rail carriers after
White House efforts to secure a
settlement collapsed. Heads of the
three unions-Grade Chief Alvan-
ley Johnston Of the Locomotive En-
gineers, President ID. b. Robertson
Of the Locomotive Firemen & En-
ginemen, and President A. J. Glover
Of the Switchmen-marked up ia
Capitol Hill and asked Senate lead.
ers to order a sweeping investiga-
ton of the controversy.
They wanted to get out into the
open, before a Senate forum, the
justice of their demands on wage.
and working conditions, and the
manner in which the dispute has
been "mishandled" by the Admin
istration.
The union leaders met with Sen
ator Taft, COP policy committee
leader, and with Senator Wayne L.
Morse (R., Ore.), who has served
in the past on fact-finding boards
in labor disputes on the rails. Taft
promised to "look into" the situa-
ton, but declared that a formal
investigation, if authorized, may
have to be deferred until the Con-
gressional recess after June 10, be-
cause Of the amount Of work piled
up.
Meanwhile, he scheduled meet.
ing with railroad presidents to see
if settlement could be worked out.
81 want to see if there is any hope
of the unions and carriers getting
together" Taft declared. at seems
to me it might be possible for them
to settle their difficulties without
a Senate investigation"
The Brotherhoods went to Con-
gress after DIR. John X. Steelman,
assistant to President Truman, let
it be known last Wednesday that
efforts to get the carriers and
unions to agree on settlement terms
had deadlocked completely.
Union leaders said managements
at that time refused to make the
slightest concessions beyond recon-
previously made by a
Presidential Emergency Board
which the three unions had rejected
az unsatisfactory.
The unions were highly critical
Of the government because of the
fact that, though it is technically
'bossing" the railroads under terms
of a Presidential seizure order and
injunction, it is refusing either to
with the unions directly,
or bring pressure on the private
arrangements to enter into fair
settlement.
Executives of the three unions
concerned cited, in their statement
submitted to members of Congress,
the recent General Motors contract.
"That great industrial concern not
only agreed with its employees that
wages should be adjusted to meet
rising costs of living, but also
agreed that wages should be ad-
justed in conformity with living
costs at stated intervals in the
future" the rail unions pointed
out. GIN in its contract with the
auto workers "then extends its un-
derstanding of a fundamental labor
relations problem, by providing for
an annual increase of &c per hour
in basic wage rates to provide
for increasing the standard of liv-
ng."
"In the light of this historic cost
Of living pattern in the rail in
1ustry," the brotherhood heads told
Congress, "and in view of the con-
tinued endorsement of this prin-
,iple i'm major industries, the in
difference of the Administration to-
ward the employees involved in this
,ase needs explaining"
On the basis of cost-of- living
figures, they pointed out that it
would take 16.1c plus the 15Rc
by the fact finding
BOARD, ito keep abreast of the ad-
cost of living" In addi-
ion, the unions told Congress that
there has been no uniform i'm
of working rules in 25
years."