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Show LET'S GET IT STRAIGHT Several weeks ago we published a paid advertisement advertise-ment Irom the Kailroad industry, reierrmg to wage negotiations and charging certain employes with "leatherbeddmg" getting paid ior doing nothing. Some oi our good railroader friends told us "the union men" were talking about "Steve printing antiunion anti-union news stories." Such talk seemed to us so silly that we ignored it. We figured that any reader with even ordinary intelligence intel-ligence would know the difference between paid advertising ad-vertising and news articles. And we felt that surely anyone who knows us would know damned well that when Steve had something to say personally, he said it in an editorial, where opinions are supposed to be expressed. Wednesday evening we had another phone call charging us with "anti-union" publications. So let's get things straight. First, as long as we were "working at the trade" we carried a card in the International Typographical Union (serial 14542), and once (not too many years ago) got fired from a darned good job because of union activity. We feel that we're about as good a "union man" as there is in Milford. Second, we live on paid advertising. Advertising and job printing are our only source of revenue. And we happily - warmly - accept all legitimate advertising, advertis-ing, so long as the content is not malicious or libelous or in poor taste. We can refuse to accept any advertising adver-tising we do not wish to publish, but we can't figure :hese union men denying us the privilege of accepting advertisements which they might not like any more than we think they'd put up with us objecting to them working for a railroad - or a bus or truck line - be-:ause be-:ause we personally might prefer to travel by air. And since it seems to be important to some of our readers, we'll state our position on the "featherbed- ding" controversy. We feel that on some railroads back east where a train crew runs a short division at high speed and draws eight hours' pay for two hours' .work that IS featherbedding, or whatever you want to call it it ain't right. Here in the west, where we have long divisions and snake-curved tracks through canyon country, a fireman is as essential to proper operation of the multiple mul-tiple units, and safety of the passengers and the merchandise mer-chandise carried on freight trains as the engineer or conductor or brakeman. We don't feel that any man should get paid for "just riding," but from what we have learned, maybe a fireman don't fire but he does have essential duties and he performs them. We don't think the firemen working out of Milford are featherbedders. If they ain't firemen, maybe their jobs should be called maintenance men or diesel mechanics me-chanics or something else. Back east maybe, we don't know, but maybe they should change the rules to make the train crews cross division lines and work the number of hours they are getting paid for. Out here they earn their pay. But let's keep things straight! Anytime the Association of American Railroads, the Union Pacific, or anyone else (including the Railroad Rail-road Brotherhoods) wants to put some money on the line to pay for a paid advertisement to present their merchandise - or their views - to our readers that advertisement ad-vertisement will be published in The Beaver County News or The Beaver Press or both, so long as the text is not libelous, malicious, or in poor taste. And if any railroader, merchant, or anyone else wants to know what Steve's personal opinions are, they'll be found in the editorial columns, not in paid advertisements. |
