have been included, and we also have a report of the Leiserson Board that heard this case.

I would like to give the committee at this time a printed report of the Leiserson Emergency Board which heard this controversy. (The report referred to was filed with the committee.) Senator BALL. Very well.

Mr. O'BRIEN. The engineers', firemen's, and switchmen's brotherhoods represent 14 classifications of so-called operating employees, that is, employees engaged directly in moving trains. These classifications comprise engineers and motormen, firemen, and helpers, yard conductors, or foremen, yard helpers or brakemen, and switch tenders, together with hostlers and hostler helpers. The railroads of the United States employ in excess of 200,000 in these classifications.

Together with brotherhoods representing conductors and trainmen these three organizations proposed basic working rule changes in the summer of 1945. National conferences and mediation proved ineffectual, and the engineers, and trainmen finally presented their proposals to an Emergency Board in the spring of 1946. That Board has commonly been called the Erickson Board for its chairman, Lief Erickson, of Montana.

Senator BALL. Mr. O'Brien, do I understand that the Erickson Board recommended quite a few rule changes? I was just glancing over it.

Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes. They recommended several, seven or eight favorable to the employees. On two of the more important ones, at least the rule relating to compensation for unreasonable terminal delay; the conversion rule for certain additional services, that the employees receive the higher local rate. The Erickson Board's recommendations were substantially more favorable to the employees than those of the Leiserson Board a few years later.

Senator BALL. Incidentally did the Leiserson Board recommend any of the rule changes proposed by the carriers?

Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes, they did.

Senator BALL. Was that report accepted by either party?

Mr. O'BRIEN. No, sir; neither party accepted in full the recommendations of the Erickson Board.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen and Switchmen had agreed to strike. The President's intervention resulted in the imposition of 212 cents per hour in lieu of any rule changes on either side, and a moratorium on rule changes for a period of 1 year, but both parties rejected the Erickson Board report. Neither party accepted it before.

The recommendations of that Board were not accepted by the organizations or by the carriers and a brief strike ensued. The settlement proposed, or imposed if you will, by the President of the United States was that revision of working rules be postponed for a period of 1 year, and that 22 cents per hour or 20 cents per day be accepted instead. Added to a 16-cent per hour recommendation of the 1946 Emergency Board, the 22 cents per hour made a package adjustment of 1812 cents per hour-exactly the "first round" wage increase granted generally by industry early in 1946.

The 22 cents per hour in lieu of proposed rules revisions was regarded by the labor organizations as a thoroughly bad bargain. In

deed the national policy of wage adjustment during early 1946 required the additional 212 cents in any event. It was not and could not be compensatory for regular night work without additional pay; for Sunday and holiday work at regular straight-time wages; for unpaid waiting time imposed unreasonably and inefficiently upon their employees by the carriers.

Since 1919, the working conditions of railway operating employers have not been materially revised. In the intervening years, employee of other industries have achieved the 5-day, 42-hour workweek, premium pay for Sundays and holidays, night differentials, at least the standard 2-week vacation with pay, and guaranteed earnings for lost work opportunity. None of these advantages is yet enjoyed by operat ing employees.

As promptly as possible after the expiration of the Presidentially imposed 1-year moratorium, the transportation brotherhoods jointly served a new notice upon the carriers on June 20, 1947, not quite 1 year ago today. This notice embodied the same rules proposals requested in 1945 and denied in 1946.

National conferences with the carriers did not commence until October 7, 1947. Meantime, the transportation brotherhoods had de liberately deferred presenting a request for basic wage revision during 1947 in the hope that it would prove unnecessary and in the belief that justified work rules revisions were of paramount consequence to their membership.

The impact of the sharply rising level of prices, particularly pre of foodstuffs, made some measure of wage relief imperative. 0 September 30, 1947, the transportation brotherhoods therefore served their notices for 30-percent increase in basic wage rates, with a min mum increase of $3 per day.

Conferences on the proposed rules changes, including 25 tendered demands of the carriers, were largely fruitless. The brotherhoods withdrew 16 of their demands in the hope that this reasonable concession would smooth the way for fair consideration of the remaining requests. The withdrawal by the brotherhoods at least prompte-i withdrawal by the carriers of nine of their proposals, but otherwise no progress was registered. Early in November the joint conference turned to a consideration of the basic wage increase proposal of the brotherhood.

A board of arbitration, considering a wage demand of nonoperating railroad employees, whose conditions of work and pay are essentially dissimilar to those of the operating employees, had awarded effective September 1, 1947, an increase of 152 cents per hour. The latest cost-of-living data available to that arbitration board had been the June 1947 consumers' price index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics We have brought with us, if the committee wishes to see them, copies of that award made without reasoning, simply 152 cents per hour to nonoperating employees.

In conference with the transportation brotherhoods, the carriers advanced tentatively the suggestion that the same 151⁄2 cents per hour, $1.24 per day, wage increase be made effective for the operating employees on November 1, 1947.

This proposal of the carriers, together with certain relatively minor adjustments in working conditions, seemed attractive to the repre

sentatives of the conductors and trainmen at that time. In separate negotiations, commencing on November 13, the conductors and trainmen worked out a settlement with the carriers, evidenced by a series of agreements and memoranda executed between November 13 and December 12, 1947.

We wish to emphasize to this committee that the Order of Railway Conductors and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen were only temporarily assuaged. They have publicly announced action looking to a further basic wage increase and to further beneficial rules changes. This program is being hammered out by their committees in Chicago this week for formal service upon the railroads. This morning's newspapers contain an announcement that the demand is for a 25-cent wage increase effective August 1 and will be formally served on the railroads July 1.

If 152 cents could be regarded as an adequate 1947 wage adjustment for railroad employees, it surely cannot be regarded as meeting their problems in 1948. The nonoperating railroad labor organizations whose arbitration award "cut the pattern" of 152 centsserved notice more than a month ago upon all of the railroads for 25 cents basic hourly wage increase coupled with a reduction in straighttime work hours per week from 48 to 40, at no decrease in take-home pay.

The engineers, firemen, and switchmen, not content with piecemeal and partial adjustment of their wage and rules necessities, polled their membership on a question of a withdrawal from service in the event the proposals could not be negotiated to an acceptable settlement. The response of the membership was 97 percent in favor of strike, if necessary.

Mediation efforts by the National Mediation Board concluded with complete lack of success in January 1948, and a strike was called for February 2, 1948. Recognizing the impending emergency in the transportation arteries of the country, the President on January 27 created the Leiserson Emergency Board, consisting of Dr. William L. Leiserson, Chairman; Judge George Bushnell, of the Supreme Court of Michigan; and W. Willard Wirtz, law professor at Northwestern University. Thirty-three days of hearing ensued. Over 6,800 pages of transcript and more than 130 exhibits constitute the formal record of those proceedings, which terminated March 10, 1948. After a brief and fruitless effort at mediation of the controversy, the Leiserson Board produced its report and recommendations on March 27.

Disregarding cost of living figures, budgetary standards, proof of increased productivity, the trend of comparative wages, and the other economic facts of life of the spring of 1948, the Leiserson Board parroted the 152-cent award of the nonoperating employees of September 1947. The committee will be interested to know that Dr. Leiserson was also chairman of the Nonoperating Employees' Arbitration Board.

The Leiserson Emergency Board made recommendations on important proposed rules changes vastly less favorable to the employees than have been rendered by the Erickson Board, considering the same issues and reporting 2 years previously in March 1946. Some of these "notable" retrogressions will be commented on more specifically later in our presentation-particularly those relating to initial terminal delay and the conversion rule.

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Here is a copy of the Erickson report.

(The report was filed with the committee.)

Mr. O'BRIEN. The three organizations convened their general chairmen in Cleveland to consider the Board's report. Careful and con prehensive analysis was printed for the consideration of the con mitteemen. The report as written was unanimously rejected, as mus certainly have been anticipated by any perspicacious observer. The general chairman did accept the Board's report and recommenda tions as "a basis for negotiations."

Never one to miss an advantageous bargain, the railroads of the United States, as was also to have been expected, fervently embraced this Emergency Board report. Conferences reconvened in Chicago on April 14 and continued until April 27, without appreciable results, The carriers declined to budge a comma or semicolon beyond the pattern which had been "cut" in September of 1947 to conform to the "second round" of wage increases generally made effective throughout the spring of 1947.

Following the break-down of these April conferences, the National Mediation Board made another effort to bring the parties together without success, and ultimately a strike was scheduled to be made effe tive May 11, 1948. The intervention of the President, the technical control of the railroads by the Government, and the restraining order have effectually blocked the desires of the employees to withdraw fro the service so as effectively to enforce and implement their demands.

Every step required by the Railway Labor Act was scrupulor taken. Every possible "cooling off" device has had full employme Indeed every procedure contemplated originally by the framers of the Railway Labor Act was effectively applied except the one primary procedure of give and take, across the table, down-to-earth, genuine collective bargaining. In respect to the rules proposals of the tran portation brotherhoods advanced in July 1945 and served again in June 1947 collective bargaining has not yet been tried.

Chief Johnston, President Robertson, and President Glover, who will follow me, will apprise your committee of the steps which have been taken since they came to Washington early in May, at the request of the President of the United States. I may say that the events which have transpired since May 10 have brought these brotherhoods. the railroads, and the country no nearer to settlement of this controversy than did the steps which I have just outlined, taken between July 1945 and May 1948.

The Railway Labor Act has been more and more an instrument of delay, of time lag. Since this controversy was formally initiated on June 20, 1947, almost exactly one full year has passed. The suggestion has been voiced that the brotherhoods should pick up such shattered pieces of their program as were so handsomely tendered by the Leiser son Board report and the acceptance of that report by the carriers. then start over.

Gentlemen of the committee, that solution offers nothing to the transportation employees of the railroads. That was the solution Presi dentially imposed on May 25, 1946, after 10 months had elapsed. If that solution is now accepted after 12 months have elapsed, where will we be 14 months from now? We will be again picking up crumbs and postponing basic working rules revisions and an adequate and undelayed basic wage rate increase.

I had the honor to tell the Leiserson Board that this controversy was susceptible of successful settlement only when settled right. I have he honor to repeat that statement to this committee.

Senator BALL. Any questions, Senator Donnell ?

Senator DONNELL. No questions.

Mr. SHROYER. May I ask a question, Senator?
Senator BALL. Yes.

Mr. SHROYER. This Board of Arbitration that you mentioned on page 3-will you identify the other members?

Mr. O'BRIEN. Professor Robert Caulkins, I think from one of the California universities, was the other impartial nominee. The others were nominees of the parties.

Mr. SHROYER. Did that consider anything other than wage increases? Mr. O'BRIEN. It had considered only the basic wage increase demand.

Mr. SHROYER. So the rule changes taken up by the Leiserson Board were not taken up by the Erickson Board?

Mr. O'BRIEN. No; they only had one there.

Mr. SHROYER. When was that strike vote taken?

Mr. O'BRIEN. Late in December or late in January. The strike was originally for February 2. Upon the creation of the Emergency Board it was, of course, deferred and again fixed for May 11.

I have the arbitration award in the nonoperating case, if the members of the committee are interested. After the formal recitations, it merely makes the award of 152 cents an hour, and shows the only issue before that board was a proposed increase of 20 cents per hour. Mr. SHROYER. That is all.

Senator BALL. Then, did the Leiserson Board recommend any rule changes?

Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes; they recommended a number of them. Chief Johnston is going to tell more particularly about that and deal more particularly with that subject. They recommended the adoption of certain organizations' proposals for rule changes, the withdrawal of a greater portion of requests and also recommended the adoption of certain proposals of the carriers, but Chief Johnston is prepared to deal more specifically with that.

Senator BALL. All right, Mr. Johnston.

Mr. O'BRIEN. I think Mr. Robertson is prepared to present a statement to be followed by Mr. Johnston.

Senator BALL. All right, the next witness will be Mr. D. B. Robertson, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.

STATEMENT OF DAVID B. ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN

Mr. ROBERTSON. My name is David B. Robertson. I am president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, with headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio.

I entered railroad service in January 1895 as a roundhouse employee, and have served in various capacities, including that of locomotive hostler, fireman, and engineer. I held various local offices in