Employment and Earnings of Railroad Employees, April, 1923, and March and April, 1924

THE

HE following tables show the number of employees and the earnings in various occupations among railroad employees in April, 1924, in comparison with employment and earnings in March, 1924, and April, 1923.

The figures are for Class I roads--that is, all roads having operating revenues of $1,000,000 a year and over.

COMPARISON OF EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS OF RAILROAD EMPLOYEES IN APRIL, 1924, WITH THOSE OF MARCH, 1924, AND APRIL, 1923

[From monthly reports of Interstate Commerce Commission. As data for only the more important occupations are shown separately, the group totals are not the sum of the items under the respective groups]

COMPARISON OF EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS OF RAILROAD EMPLOYEES IN APRIL, 1924, WITH THOSE OF MARCH, 1924, AND APRIL, 1923-Concluded

Extent of Operation of Bituminous Coal Mines, May 3 to 24, 1924

CON

ONTINUING a series of tables which have appeared in previous numbers of the MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, the accompanying table shows for a large number of coal mines in the bituminous fields the number of mines closed the entire week and the number working certain classified hours per week from May 3 to May 24, 1924. The number of mines reporting varied each week, and the figures are not given as being a complete presentation of all mines, but are believed fairly to represent the conditions as to regularity of work in the bituminous mines of the country. The mines included in this report ordinarily represent 55 to 60 per cent of the total output of bituminous coal. The figures are based on data furnished to the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the United States Geological Survey.

WORKING TIME IN THE BITUMINOUS COAL MINES IN THE UNITED STATES, BY WEEKS, MAY 3, 1924 TO MAY 24, 1924

[The mines included ordinarily represent from 55 to 69 per cent of the total output. Prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from data furnished by the United States Geological Survey]

A

Stabilization of Railroad Maintenance-of-Way Work

COMMUNICATION from the United Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and Railway Shop Laborers to railroad managements,' through the medium of the Railway Age, questions the economy and efficiency of drastic winter force reduction in the maintenance-of-way department, suggests methods of alleviating this admittedly unsatisfactory situation, and offers the cooperation of the brotherhood to any road or group of roads that thinks there is ground for improvement. The letter follows:

With the approach of winter the wage earner always faces a serious problem, with the high price of coal, better and heavier clothing, the loss of a garden, etc. The worker who realizes that the first snow means a force reduction and probable loss of employment has an especially serious problemn, particularly when he has not been able to save a few dollars from his summer earnings. On the other hand, with maintenance-of-way expenses in excess of half a billion dollars a year, the railroads face a problem that is by no means insignificant and one sufficient to justify their desire for a dollar's worth of work performed for every dollar paid out.

It has long been the claim of those responsible for the efficient and econonomical maintenance of railroad tracks, bridges, and structures that work can not be performed as well or as economically in the winter. To question the accuracy of this opinion will probably result in a storm of criticism, or perhaps those at first tempted to criticise will decide, on further thought, that questioning this long practice is the result of a disturbed brain and think of the questioner sympathetically. Nevertheless I do question the economy and efficiency of drastic winter force reduction in the maintenance-of-way department. In doing so I hasten to admit that frozen track can not be surfaced, retimbered, and lined as well as it can be done in spring and summer. In fact, I know from practical experience that it is not economical to attempt the performance of this class of work in severe weather. But track is not frozen all winter. In the north it may be most of the winter, but in the south it probably is not frozen at all. Yet the winter force reduction is general, as may be noted from the Interstate Commerce Commission's statistics on the number of employees in service in July as compared with January.

However, the track gang need not be engaged in line and surface work all the time, and this introduces the point I wish to make. Any foreman, super

1 Railway Age, March 15, 1924, pp. 732, 733: “Is winter maintenance of way force reduction necessary?” Letter of L. E. Keller, statistician, United Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and Railway Shop Laborers to the editor.

visor, or roadmaster will tell you that when spring opens up and he should be free to jump into his summer work, he is confronted with a lot of other work that should, or at least could, have been done just as well in the winter. The foreman is also confronted with the usual "spring epidemic" of "green men"men who have had little or no previous experience in maintenance-of-way work and who have little hope of staying regularly on the job. They have either heard of or experienced the irregularity of employment in this department and in many instances are not inclined to overdo themselves during their brief term of employment.

Let us first consider whether or not there is enough winter work to justify retaining more men in the service, and, if so, whether it can be performed in a way to justify doing the work at that time of the year. This presents a question somewhat similar to Mark Twain's view of the weather. Much has been said about it, but very little has been done about it.

Ties can be distributed as well, if not better, in the winter and will then be where needed when spring work is begun. Track can be gauged and should be put to gauge before starting spring work. Fences can be repaired, broken or defective angle bars and rails replaced, bolts tightened, spikes driven down, private and public road crossings repaired, defective frogs and switches repaired or replaced, right of way cleaned and scrap and rubbish removed, cuts sloped and ditches cleaned when ground is not severely frozen, soft places in track and fills "riprapped," tracks shimmed, ties adzed on curves and turn-outs where rail is turning in, etc. In addition to this kind of work there is always track to be smoothed, sometimes snow and ice to be cleaned away from switches and platforms, and usually a good bit of other work that can be done even though it does not necessarily demand immediate attention. If the foreman is not furnished men for the foregoing work in winter, he is compelled to do most of it in the spring and summer, when he should be busily engaged in rebuilding his tracks and using to best advantage the new ties, rail, and ballast allotted his section.

But there are other important sides to the force reduction question that will, I think, offset the argument that work is not economically performed in cold weather "when the men stand first on one foot, then on the other, beating their hands together to keep warm." If an employee possesses the qualifications necessary to make him a desirable employee and one who appears to have the characteristics of a future foreman, he will, by these same qualifications, think twice before accepting employment with the prospects of being thrown out of work when the snow flies and when a job is most needed. Regularity of employment is important to him just as is the question of wages. Unless a good class of men enter the service the management will see its problem of future foremen becoming more and more serious. How are men of this qualification to be attracted to a job that is only seasonal? Each spring finds good track men settled in other jobs and unwilling to take up track work for the summer because they know only too well "the ax will fall" when the first snow falls. And each spring finds an accumulation of work left undone during the winter that must be taken care of along with the summer work.

If a sufficient number of first-class men were willing to take summer jobs, the practice of winter force reduction would not be so bad, but such is not the case, as everybody closely connected with the work knows. The railroad's "employee investment" would pay far greater dividends if better men could be attracted with reasonable assurance of steady employment.

In fact, the benefits of continuous year-round employment would be twofold to the management, because it would not only attract better men but would also enable the better class of employees to acquire more skill and experience, and consequently would result in more efficient and economical performance of work. Thus, with better men in the gangs, with winter work taken care of as it develops, and with the foreman permitted to do his summer work without having a dozen other things to do that should be already done, such as distributing ties and rails and stopping his regular work for this or that, it would be found that more and better work could be accomplished in the spring and summer with fewer men, and the increased cost of more winter employees would probably be more than offset; perhaps not offset entirely by the actual number of men for the entire year, but by output per man per year and by the rule of a dollar's worth of work for a dollar's pay in wages. I believe that fewer continuous men of a better class would do more and better work than a greater yearly total of irregular inexperienced men.

Another material benefit of a more regular force lies in increased safety. Experienced men are not as apt to injure themselves or others; motor cars could be operated more safely and with less danger of loss of life and property through collisions; obstructions of track could be removed more quickly and guarded more safely by a strict compliance with flagging rules, something that is impossible with less than two men at the very least; and a general reduction of traffic delay, personal injury, and property damage would result. Savings in this respect would be difficult to estimate, but it is not unreasonable to say that savings would result.

The United Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and Railway Shop Laborers is interested in the welfare of the railroads because the railroads are a vitally necessary industry, and particularly because the brotherhood represents the large army of maintenance-of-way employees in the United States and Canada. If our department of the industry can be made more efficient and economical we can hope for better industrial conditions for those whom we represent. If we can be of any assistance in establishing a greater degree of efficiency and economy we can expect to share in the savings through improved wages. It is therefore suggested that the question of winter force reduction be given consideration, and the maintenance-of-way employees' organization extends its service to any road or group of roads that thinks there are grounds for improvement in this connection.

Recent Employment Statistics

Public Employment Offices

Connecticut

HE commissioner of the Department of Labor and Factory In

Tspection of Connecticut has furnished the following figures

regarding the five free public employment offices of that State for May, 1924:

The activities of the Illinois free employment offices in April, 1924, as compared with the corresponding month in 1923, are indicated in the table following: "

a Illinois. Department of Labor. The Labor Bulletin, May, 1924, p. 168.