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Show IITdf I TO II 8 HOURS Federal Arbitration Board Renders Decision; Award Is Signed by All Parties Par-ties in Interest. NEITHER SIDE GETS ALL THAT IS ASKED Railroad Magnates Fairly Well Satisfied With Result; Re-sult; Say O. K. Has Not Been Given New Law. NEW YORK, Dec. 23.- An eight-hour day, an increase in wages of o cents an hour, and straight pro rata overtime was granted to the members of the Switchmen's union employed by thirteen eastern and middle-western railroads in an award filed here today by the federal fed-eral board of arbitration that heard their differences. The decision of the board had been eagerly awaited by the railroads in general gen-eral and the four major brotherhoods of railroad trainmen for what bearing it might have on the controversy between them over the Adamson act, in which the eight-hour day is a question at issue. The decision says that ''eight hours or less shall constitute a day's work," gives "an increase of 5 cents au hour on the present rates of pay," and rules that ' ' overtime shall be paid at pro rata rates," to be computed "on the basis of the actual minutes worked." Switchmen at present receive- a maximum max-imum rate of 40 cents. The award increases this rate to 43 cents, so that, as explained tonight by (,'. B. Howry, chairman of the board, on the eight-hour basis they will receive $3.60 for a day's work, -AO cents less than they received under the ten-hour basis. By working ten hours under the new rate, they will receive $4.50, or 50 cents more than under un-der the old rate. Labor Not Excessive. In a statement appended to the award by Judge Howry and Professor Jeremiah W. Jenks, the neutral members mem-bers of the board of six, it is declared that the long hours of switchmen do not imply "excessive physical labor,"; that it has been established ' it will I not be possible to make the actual -work- : ing eight-hour day effective in "the case of more than a small percentage of the switching crews," and that "with the ' exception of one experiment, the testimony testi-mony was unanimous to the effect that the efficiency of switchmen on the shorter work day would be only slightly increased, so that the burden of the shorter hours would fall almost entirely : upon the railroads." AVhile the switchmen asked for a 10-I 10-I cent increase, the statement emphasizes i the point that the 5-cent advance is the j largest given in any arbitration. The increase was granted, the neutral arbi-' j trators explain, because of the high cost ! of liviug nnd the hazards and hardships j of the w:ork. " " V Burden on Railways. "The increase," they state, "imposes a heavy burden upon the railways, which, owing to the interstate commerce '. law, they are unable to transfer to the shippers and thence to the public." They add that "it is the duty of the properly constituted governmental au- ' thoritios to protect railway interests in this regard so far as it is necessary." The arbitrators were not unanimous in arriving at their drcision, although all six signed the award. James B. Connors Con-nors of Chicago, assistant president of the Switchmen's union, and W. A. Titus of 'lev el nnd, vice president of the union, who represented the switchmen , nn the board, filed a minority report dissent ins from the awards of the 5 . cents an hour increase and the pro rata overtime. E. F. Potter of Minneapolis, assistant general manager of the Minneapolis, Minne-apolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway, rail-way, and T. YV. Evans, as sis a nt general gen-eral manager of the New York Central, representing: the railroads, also filed a minority report dissenting to the eight-hour eight-hour crant. Work of the Board. The board held its fir-t meins here November ! last. Public hearings were held from that date to IVccmber S. and 140d rao's of testimony were taken. The original agreement to arbitrate provided for f :iing The award within thirtv day of the datf from tin; first hearing. When the hoard found it could not lie up to the nirreemeiit. a supplement supple-ment al one was drawn ex ten dim: thp time to IV. -ember -K Ju-t about that time the differences between the members mem-bers were still o L'reat it was learned that a not her extension was arranged, expiring tn-i'-iy. The award maker! nn mention of the date the new v:zc s-';i:c b'1. Times effective, effec-tive, Vi it was n su me' i bv rrr. i roa "1 offb-'i's thnt it would at-p'v at once. "Much empi.asis has 'b.-.'-n ;rn, -Jrifm the fa'; That the hn-;r- of work of the pwjtrhmeu are often "Tg. ' ?avs a state- I (Continued on Page Three.) 1 SWITCHMEN TO WORK 8 HOURS 1 FUTURE (Continued from Page One.) ment by Arbitrators Howry and Jenks, attached to the award. "Although the standard workday has been ten hours, frequently the men have worked from eleven to twelve, and some times even longer." ' ' This decision in the switchmen 's controversy with the railroads has an important bearing on the Adamson law," it was stated here today by an official spokesman for the conference committee of managers of the railroads. ' ' It does not O. K. the Adamson act, in our opinion. The Adamson legislation legisla-tion gave the men ten hours' pay for eight hours of work, or an increase of about 2o per cent in wages. The award today gives the switchmen only nine hours' pay for eight hours of work, or between 13 and Hi per cent in increased wages. We get a great deal of satisfaction satis-faction out of this award." Intervals of Rest. "One of the reasons urged for the shorter workday," the statement by the arbitrators says, "is that men 'need more time to visit with their families, to take recreation anil to secure the other advantages of leisure. This argument, argu-ment, of course, applies to switchmen. A second argument is that the long hours result in physical exhaustion, often to a degree of serious injury to health. The evidence shows clearly that, owing to the nature of the work, there are frequent opportunities for intervals inter-vals of rest and that the long hours testified to are due very largely, almost al-most invariably, indeed, to delays caused by the interference of other trains and to similar reasons beyond the control of the railway managers or of the switchmen. During these delavs the switchmen must usually be idle, s0 that the long hours do not 'always imply excessive ex-cessive physical labor. May Not. Work Out. ' ' Although it has seemed wise to award an eight-hour day as the standard stand-ard minimum day, the overwhelming weight of testimony shows that the conditions con-ditions of the various kinds of railwnv work are so different that onlv a triaf can determine just how far eight-hour shifts can be worked without prohibitory prohibi-tory costs to the roads and undue disturbance dis-turbance of Ihe work of their patrons. "It seems to be clearly established, that under existing conditions and probably even under conditions of traf fic less strenuous than the preseut, it will not be possible to make the actual ac-tual working eight hour-dav effective in the case of more than a" small percentage per-centage of the switching crews, not more than 10 per cent during the first year. While, therefore, it is urged that" the eight-hour day be established, its introduction in-troduction must bo gradual. The percentage, per-centage, therefore, of the switching crews that will be directly affected during dur-ing the period of this award must of necessity be small. Most crews will work ten hours or more. Older Men Have Choice.' "Moreover, owing to the increase in pay awarded to the switchmen, those who seriously desire to shorten their work day two hours for the purpose of employing the added hours of leisure in ways distiuctlv beneficial to themselves them-selves will be able to secure this leisure by the exercise of their seniority rights. Those who prefer the added wn up will generally be abl to secure thai . The seniority rules will enable- the men longest in service to take their choice. If the older men in service should all prefer the added daily wage coming from the long hours, the eigh t-hon r shifts must bo taken by the younger and less experienced men'. Hut 'with n large an element of choice and so smni; a number of positions to be ti!lnl the ; award will enable employers, emplovee f and the public to determine the extent: to which the j-witrhmcn dc-ire t he j shorter hours. ' ' ; The railroads affected by the award : are Michigan Centra!. Xew York ' 'n - i tral, LehiL'h A'alley. P-essemer 4: I.nlu'i Kr'ie, Chicago k Ka stern 111 in ni, ( hi- I en go Great Western, I'enrin Rnihvavj Terminal eompa ny. I )ea wa re. La'' I a - ! i wanna & Western. New York, Chic a -j ' i M. Louis, ' 'irirtiimiti, .Wv Mean j Texas Pacin?, Chicago, Rock. Island 1 & Pacific, Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, Baltimore & Ohio, and Chicago Chi-cago Terminal Railroad company. |
