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Show SHOPMEN HOLD OUIJOR RIGHTS ADJUSTMENT IMPOSSIBLE IF RELATIVE STANDING OF MEN IGNORED, IT IS ARGUED Industry's Demand May Prompt Executives Ex-ecutives to Settle Long Rail Strike; Meetings Being Held Frequently New York. While both the shop craft unions and the railway executives execu-tives of the country are trying to settle set-tle the rail strike without reference to th question of "seniority" the bugaboo bug-aboo of both sides there can be no adjustment without restoring to the men the same relative standing in the shops that they had before the walkout. walk-out. There can be no compromise on this point. No matter on what basis it may be announced following, the meeting of the railway executives in this city to be held soon, that an understanding understand-ing has been reached and that the men are going back to work, their seniority rights are going to be restored re-stored or the strike will continue. Two weeks ago the policy commjt-tee commjt-tee of the three divisions ot the shop craft unions held a meeting in Chicago Chica-go and decided on the bas'is on which they would permit their men to return to work. They accepted the original peace proposal made by I'resident Harding, granting them their unimpaired unim-paired seniority rights. This committee commit-tee is composed of ninety general chairmen, representing all of the railroad rail-road systems in the United States. The executive committee of the shop crafts has no authority to go beyond the terms which the policy committee reported would lie acceptable. If a compromise was to be considered, it would be necessary for Bert M. Jewell, Jew-ell, president of the shoft craft unions to call a meeting of the policy committee commit-tee to pass on the question. That he has not done so makes it clear that the only proposition which the 148 railway executives will have to consider is a settlement of the strike with the men returning to work with seniority rights as they stood prior to July 1, when the strike was called. The unions are willing to permit the railroads to announce that a settlement settle-ment has been reached which la equitable to both sides, and even V make it appear that the railroad executives ex-ecutives gained some valuable concessions conces-sions and that they are going to keep the promises originally made that tlu "loyal" employees would hold senior ity rights above the strikers. As a matter of fact, according to one of the union officials, most of the men who did not strike stood high on the seniority lists before the strike was called. In many instances the nien who headed the seniority lists did not strike at all. They refused to obey the strike order because they feared to lose their seniority and pension rights, which they had earned through many years of continued employment. These men, of course, will retain their seniority rights. After a frank discussion of the whole matter in the conference between the union officials of the five transportation brotherhoods, brother-hoods, acting as mediators for the shop crafts, and the committee of railway rail-way executives last week, it became apparent that the seniority nightmare was only a had dream after all and could best be settled by ignoring it. There was a private understanding, ; however, that men who did not strike ; would hold seniority rights over the men who walked out only when such rights existed before July 1. |