Evening star., 1955-07-01
Company Side

Company Side
The Capital Transit Co.'S side
lin its dispute with the union, in
brief. Is this:
/. The company just hasn't gotI
the money to pay more to its
iemployes. 1t does not quarrel,
however, with their desire forI
more pay. better pensions and
other benefits.
2. It has been unable to obtain
relief in the form Of a higher
fare granted by the Public Utili-
tiles Commission and from other
possible sources.
8. It has negotiated with the
union in good faith.
4. It is not obligated to arbi-
trate the dispute. and arbitration
would be disadvantageous to the
company.
Basic to the whole matter from
the company's view is its iinan-
lcial position. The company has
said it can give the employees
nothing because 1t has nothing |
to give"
I'VE have to get the money
from somewhere before we cam
Igive 1t to them" said j. A. B. |
|Broadwater. company president.
l"In the process. however, We
cannot ignore our corporate
needs or the return to which
we are. entitled under the law
III the transit company Is 70 re-
main under private ownership"
No Counterofrer
The company maintains It has
|bargained with the union. II Is
true that 1t made no counter
offer to the union demand for
t25 cents more per hour in pay
and other benefits. This goes
back to its position that 1t has
Ino money to offer. It did offer |
Ito extend the present contract
for q year and then offered toI
make the extension only six
months.
On the question Of arbitration, |
the company says the arbitra-
Ition clause In the contract does
mot apply when It comes to me-
lgotiating q new contract.
1t objects to arbitration ont
other grounds. also. Arbitrators, |
according to the company, have |
no responsibility for financing |
any award they might give, nor
any concern with operating oil
company under conditions set
up by an award. Also, they |
never take into consideration q |
lcompany's ability to pay.
Another point made IL that
larbitrators are under pressurel
to give raises. II they did notI
do so, according to this reason. |
ing. unions would never join In !
selecting them again for arbi-
ltration panels.
Figuring Presented.
The question Of the financial
position Of the company In.
wolves. Of course. considerable
figuring. The company hasI
placed its figures before thel
Public Utilities Commission inI
Hts fare increase case.
One tabulation showed that In
the IL months ending last April
80, the company had . net in
come of $69o. .797. This Is the
amount available for stock
holders. In this tabulation, the |
company figured In the reserve
Eset up in 1854 to pay for 1855
vacations. The section of the
law which permitted this wasI
replaced. SO, the commission
asked the company to refigurel
its statement.
The company then presented
q computation showing netl
operating income Of $765, 200 In
comparison with $657, 1892 In the
earlier statement. It Is the netI
operating income which the |
commission takes into account
in setting rates which should
yield fair return. Add to nett
Operating income the income
from other sources non-operat-
ling incone) and then subtract
Interest charges. That gives the |
figure for net income.
The company said the netl
operating income of $765, ,29OI
was a return Of only 3.32 perl
cent. This is about half what
the company Is entitled to. The
commission has said a reason
able return would be betweenI
6A and z per cent.
Put on on Fares
The company has said that,
in view Of the June 80 expirationl
ldate Of the labor contract andI
the expected demand for higher
lpay. the company began going
to the commission last january
to discuss q fare increase. I'll
Quoted the commission as saying
lthe time was not right for such
ian application.
/ The company went back to|
the commission In March and
again in May. Finally it filed its|
application on June s for higher
fares.
There are other possible
sources Of higher company in
come. One is the school fare,
now 8 cents. The Senate yes
lterday passed a bill permitting
the commission to set the school
flare at half the cash fare. Let
THAT measure become law and
1.-THE commission raise the school
/