The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-07-20
Federal Injunction Sends Striking /
Switchmen Back On Rock Island Road

Il
striking AFL Switchmen went back
| to work on the Chicago, Rock Is
land & Pacific Railroad July IN
obedience to an injunction obtain
ed by the US government. Three
days earlier, the Switchmen had
ended their strike against four
other western roads after President
Truman implied he would act to
end the walkout which, he said, was
hampering vital grain and cattle
shipments.
On July 8, A. j. Glover, Switch
mems head, refused to send the
men back although the Army had
taken over the road under Tru-
mans orders. Glover said seizure
should affect profits as we'll as
labor. However, the court injunc-
ton followed and he complied
swiftly. Meanwhile, the Army was
nominally running the Rock Island,
but nothing was said about profits.
1t was believed the President was
less interested in breaking the
Switchmen's strike than in heading
off future action by other rail
unions that might affect the Far
Eastern situation. However, he had
told a press conference July z the
strike was unjustified, attributing
it to a union minority.
Meanwhile, upwards of 250 road
chairmen of the Brotherhood OF
Railroad Trainmen and the Order
of Railway Conductors gathered
for a meeting that might lead to a
strike.
All of the unions are fighting
for a common objective-the 40
hour week with 48-hour pay for
employees in various kinds of yard
service. In addition, the Trainmen
and Conductors seek improvements
| in road service pay which would
bring them in line with Engineers
and Firemen.
A Presidential board, named un-
der the Railway Labor Act, recon-
mended the 40-hour week. How
ever, the 18-cent increase the board
proposed would mean slash in
take-home pay, the unions have
contended. The board insisted that
Increased overtime opportunities
would take up the slack.
The Switchmens dispute was ma
tional in scope. One eastern road,
the Lackawanna, met the unions
full terms-and was called "crazy"
| by other roads. For strike action,
the Switchmen singled out the Rock
Island, Chicago Great Western,
Great Northern, Western Pacific
and Denver & Rio Grande Western.
Four thousand union members
walked out June 25. The Great
Northern kept few passenger
trains running but the rest of the
lines suspended until the Switch
men began going back under pre-
strike terms on all bat the Rock
Island.
After the Switchmen were told
the Army had seized the Rock
Island under Presidential order,
Glover announced:
"We have informed the Secre-
tary of the Army that the Switch
mems Union of North America will
restore full and complete service
on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pac-
ific Railroad Co. when and if the
government seizes the profits of
that railroad as we'll as the labor
Of free men. The President has said
the United States is not at war. Is
the democratic President of a
democratic country saying that no
railway union can conduct a legal
strike in peace time ?" The De-
partment of Justice then obtained
the injunction at the Army's re-
quest.
In his first denunciation of the
Switchmen's walkout, the President
insisted the stoppage was in no
way affecting shipments to the
armed forces in the Far East,
thereby disavowing a line being
spread by management. That was
when five roads were crippled.
However, in acting against the
walkout on the Rock Island, the
President said; ut is essential to
the national defense and to the Sc
curity of the nation, to the public
health and to the public welfare
generally, that every possible step
be taken by the government for the
operation of this railroad" He act
ed under his authority as Com
mander in Chief of the Armed
Forces and 1916 statute.