One for the Roads

For many years U.S. railroads have fought what seemed to be a losing battle against union-imposed featherbedding. Then last year a 15-man presidential Railroad Commission recommended the elimination of some 60.000 railroad jobs, including more than 40,000 firemen who survive the era of steam and, at union demand, ride diesel cabs with little more to do than wave at kids along the right of way.

The railroads announced that they would get rid of the featherbedders no matter what the unions thought, and the unions sought to block such action in the courts. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the railroads indeed have the legal right to change "work rules" and cut down on featherbedding.

A cutdown would probably follow the lines set by the President's commission, which the railroads have accepted and the unions summarily rejected. Under the commission's recommendation, some 13,000 firemen with less than ten years' service would be dismissed in the first year; 27,000 others could hold their jobs until retirement, but would not be replaced. Another 20,000 men. mostly switchmen, would be eliminated gradually. The Pennsylvania Railroad, biggest in the U.S., has already announced plans to drop 3,100 firemen.

To soften the impact, the railroads agreed to pay dismissed workers up to 60% of their regular wages for three years, and help pay to retrain them for other jobs. The cost of such aid would be high to the railroads, already suffering under competition from trucks, buses and planes. Even so, the job eliminations that the railroads want probably would result in savings of some $350 million annually after ten years. It is unlikely that the railroads can recoup the full $500 million a year that they claim featherbedding costs, largely because in some states the size of railroad crews is set by law, and the work-rule changes would have little or no effect.

Despite the Supreme Court decision, the unions are yet to be reckoned with, and they are sure to fight any cutback attempts. This week in Chicago the railroads and their operating unions will begin another effort to see if they can work out a compromise through collective bargaining. If that fails and the union threatens to strike, the President almost surely will appoint an emergency board under the Railway Labor Act, thereby staving off a walkout for at least 60 days more. The real showdown will therefore be postponed at least until summer.

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