Milford chronicle., 1950-07-14
MORE RAILWAY
LABOR TROUBLE
BY CLARKE BEACH
AP Newsfeatures

WASHINGTON - Railroad labor
is having more troubles than it
used tO-mOre strikes and less joint
action among themselves in their
dealings with the railroad owners.
The Railway Labor Act, as amend
ed in 1884, was followed by almost
unbrOken peace for II years. Then
major strikes began in 1916. The
worst strike year of all was 1949,
when railroad employees were idle
because of strikes 81 per cent of
their total working year.
Between 1885 and 1914, the an
nual total was less than .01 per
cent. The rail strike time-lOsS
compares favOrably with the total
for all industries, in which work
ing time lost through work stop
pages in 1949 amounted to SO per
cent. But the increasing strife is
leading some of the carriers to say
that the Railway Labor Act is now
obsolete and should be replaced
by entirely new legislation. Many
of them are giving approval to
Senator DOnnelPs (R-MoD bill to
outlaw railroad strikes and to COM
pei carriers and labor to submit
unresolved disputes to arbitration.
Railroad labor is solidly Oppos-
ed to the DOnnell bill. 1t says the
Railway Labor Act is workable as
ever and that the present unrest
is temporary. The design of the
I Dof1 I oh at -, to 1a1o ~
strikes and to require cOoling-Off
periods while the National Medi-
alton Board examines the issues.
If the boards findings are not ac-
cepted, the dispute is taken to the
White House The next step is the
appointment of an emergency board
by the President to see what it can
do to bring peace. There have been
! times when the President himself
/ has finally conducted the media
! tiOn procedure.
/ There is more and more of a
/ tendency to force the White House
to go through all these processes
until the issues have been weigh
ed by the highest authorities. BY
/ this tactic the unions are able to
argue their cases on the highest
governmental levels. The carriers
if constrained by the findings OF
/ the highest authority to accept q
sediment which is costly to them
are in a good position to demand
that, the Interstate Commerce
/ Commission permit them to raise
rates.
What the railroad unions wan
in the way of new legislation is {
bill, now pending in Congress, t.
permit them to include the require
ment for the union shop in theil
contracts. Present law fOrbids it
Current railroad labor disputes
concern chiefly the fight by th'
five operating unions for a 40
hour week. The incorporating
uniOns-ticket clerks, etc,
the 40-hour week last year. Blu
/ most of the carriers have contend
| ed that it would be impracticablt
: to shorten the present 48-hOu
. week of the operating personnel
These comprise the conductors
p trainmen, engineers, switchmel
e and the firemen and enginemen-
all men who work with MOVING
trains.
TraditiOnally these five group
have worked together in their ne
gOtiatiOns with management. Blu
lately they usually have been act
ing Independently The Is non
operating unions also used to ne
!, gotiate frequently as a unit, bU
! they too are now split up. The rea
son for the lack of cohesion anon
them seems to be largerly maj
ter of personalities among the to
labor leaders. Some of them ar
old men, over 20, and many ar
nursing old grudges.
The railroad unions, organize
mostly between 1885 and 1910, al
y among the oldest and richest III
l. ions in the country. They are val
e iously called brOtheThOOds, order
S associations and unions. Some al
IS in the CIO, some in the AFL, an
e some are independent. They star
S ed out as fraternal organization
1t formed primarily to give deaf
J. pension and other benefits to the
members. Their long history hi
-e produced many battle scars.
r. f. Consider Lighting