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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1959)
o . ; " , " . Practice of 'Featherbedding' Said to Cost Nation's Railroads s500 Million Each Year Washington (LTD - The loco motive engineer climbed down from his cab in Wash ington after a four-hoar run from New York City. Six hours later he was at the throttle to start the return trip. When his train pulled into Pennsylvania Station, 14 hours after he left it, he had earned 4V days' pay under a system dating back to" World War I by which miles, . not hours, often fix the wages of train crews.' The Association of Ameri can Railroads cites the Washington-New York run as a typ ical example of alleged "fea therbedding" which it says costs the railroads 500 million dollars a year. AAR President Daniel P. Loomis raised the issue in a recent speech attacking this "obsolete" pay system, rigid jurisdictional walls erected by unions and the presence of firemen and brakemen on modern diesel trains. Officials To Blame Railways labor unions are counter-attacking with charg es that featherbedding among the railroad's own high-paid officials is equally to blame for the industry's current plight. They say that while the number of rail workers in the U.S. has dropped from 1,800,000 to 800,000, the num ber of management officials has remained at -16,000. They dismiss Loomis' criticism of present operating rules as "pure hokum." Dictionaries define feather bedding as "requiring an em ployer to pay unneeded work men, or to pay for unneces sary or duplicating jobs, or limiting the amount of work to be done in a day as a means of stretching work." Some business groups" are I calling for a tougher Federal AtlES MAR. 22 JCAPR. 20 3- 8-10-23 '28-50-83451 STAR GAZEKV By CLAY R. POLLAN- TAUIUS APR. 21 MAY 21 37-47-48 MAY 22 yJJUNE22 g6546-74 JUNE 23 fit" ,14-126-31 '48-780-81 n uo JULY 24 AUG. 23 55-58 70-75-794 m AUG. 74 SEPT. 22 ,12-16-40-451 45-5Z-W M Yoor Daily Activity Guide JK According to h Stars. To develop message for Friday, read words corresponding to numbers of your Zodiac birth sign. SEPT. 23 OCT. 23 bl-29-32-38fOl 141-46-61 1 Be 31 Carefully 61 Dark 2 Alert 32 in s 62 D,et 3 Today's 33 Pleosont 63 Or 4 Interesting 34 You'll 64 Come 5 Try 35 Devote 65 At 6 The 36 Get 66 This 7 News 37CAh 67 And 8 Event: 38 Walking 63 Valuables ' 9 Good 39 Time 69 Improve . 1 0 Will 40 Remain 70 Means 11 Don't 41 In 71 Than 12 If ' 42 Calm 72 Benefit ' 13 You 43 Consider 73 And 14 Wart 44 New 74 Time 15 You've 45 Your 75 Of 16 You 46 The 76 Making 17 More 47 Or 77 Cooperation 18 Should 48 Before 78 Today 19 And 49 News 79 Increasing 20 Should 50 Your 80 Big 21 Use 51 Prone " 81 Changes 22 Neighbor 52 Chances 82 You 23 Risk 53 RewoKls 83 Financial 24 Policy 54 To 84 Gain , 25 Work 55 Ways 85Advontoge 26 Think 56 Charm 86 Income 27 You'll. ,57 And 87 Recognition 28To 58 And 88 Suspect 29 Caution 59 Health 89 Personal 30 Hear 60 Ability 90 Appearance Good () Adverse )nIukJ B4-27-72 scoeno OCT. 24 Wi NOV. 22 5- 6- 9-221 SAGITTARIUS NOV. 23 DEC 22 04-36-51-: P3-77-78 CAnncoerr JAN. 20 13-18-30-301 149-6384-87 Vg AQUARIUS LAN. 21 FEB.' 19 Jp b5-39-54-5?rl 162-67-89-90 SJJ nscES FEB. 20 MAR. 21 I60-71-82-8&VS4 DOLLAR A POUND " Berlin, Conn.-(DPD-Mrs. De lores R. Harrison, whose ap pearance in court on a traffic charge was delayed by the ar rival of her baby, was asked by the judge how much the child weighed. Seven pounds, said Mrs. Harrison proudly. "I fine you seven dollars," said the judge. law . against featherbedding. The U.S. Chamber of Com merce, which estimated re cently that "m ake-work" wastes billions of dollars each year, said such a ban would ease inflationary pressures. The Taft-Hartley . Act con tains a provision aimed at this practice, but business spokes-i men contend that it 'has not been effective. Waste No. Violation . - - , The law bans payments for "services which are. not per formed or to be performed." The Supreme Court ruled in 1953, however, that "waste ful" practices did not violate the law if services were per formed. The railroads want a Presi dential commission to investi gate their charges. They hope to match the results in 'Can ada, where a Royal Commis sion ruled recently that fire men were not needed on freight or yard diesel engines and recommended ' gradual elimination of their jobs. "' - Loomis said .the carriers cojild save more than 200 mil lion dollars a year by elimin ating the firemen who "tend no fires" on diesels. Another 90 million dollars could be saved annually by removal of brakemen "who tend, .no brakes," he added. Rail labor leaders immedi ately charged that the carri ers were willing to sacrifice safety to save payroll costs. Unions insist that the fireman now acts as "co-pilot" on the trains while mrakeemn are .valuable troubleshooters who help prevent wrecks. The method of calculating pay for engineers, firemen, conductors, and 'hrakemen be gan in 1919 and has been fro zen into labor contracts ever since. - ' ' A passenger train engineer, for example, receives his bas ic day's pay for covering 100 miles or putting in five hours, whichever comes first. So the engineer on the 225-mile Washington-New York run re ceives 2VS times his basic pay for the trip, or iVz times his basic pay for a round-trip. Train Speeds Doubled Some engine crews on high ly prized "red apple" runs make their basic pay rang- ver to Chicago, Loomis said : - . Ji : r ; 3 oranges f ..!) thctt : , . ;. ' v ; ' . . , .: - r - - .... ' 40 . YES, LADY. IT'S THE ECONOMY - e V . ' BREAKFAST ORANGE JUICE DRINK! Vitamin C Enriched -Today's Answer To Sky-High Citrus Juice Prices! Each 8-ounce glass of Real Gold provides the daily adult mini mum requirement of Vitamin C. : . the good-health vitamin your body ieeds every day. And Real Gold is so economical. You get a big family quart from each 6-ounce can. Tastes so good, too. Each can contains the juice of 6 to 8 luscious, tree-ripened California oranges. A consist- -ently delicious flavor glass after glass! Never thin and watery never acid-sharp. Always flavor-perfect Get some today! ' Get ien .y yoor grocer's shelf in the fruit jeice section VAUV SENSATIONAL OFFER! $2.50 to $3 Value SCISSORS mly $1 and 2 Real SoW can tops. YOUR CHOICE: $3 Pinkinc Shears, $3 Kitchen Shears, nose dippers, one parr.. .si and 2 can torn 1 nr . ? vul a m tops-all 3. J3 and 6-can tops. SLSt nkwforjant$3! REMOVE can tops (2, 4 or 6)... with Real Gold or a number stamped on them. Print name and address, with shears you want, on a piece of paper, enclose with cash, check or money order m envelope, mail to: REAL GOLD Scissors, Box 451, Fremont, Ohio. Allow three weeks for delivery. , -w v v v try Keel Gold 6-oz. concentrated Grape -- I mnnnrl aiuf Tnalcal Punch ing from $17 to S24 - in as little as two or three hours. This is possible because aver age train speeds have doubled in the past 40 years. But H. E. Gilbert, president of. the Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, says r a i n crews often work moire than eight hours a day without get ting overtime. They do not draw holiday pay, extra pay for night work or out-of-town expenses, he added. That engineer going from New York to Washington col lects no wages during his six hour layover, Gilbert noted. Railroad company spokes men also are challenging the traditional jurisdictional bar riers separating "road" and "yard" work. If a yard engin eer crosses into, road crew ter ritory, or vice versa, he quali fies for an extra day's pay. Forced To Change Crews The rules also say that em ployees within each division have the right to run all trains in their bailiwick. This forces railroads to change crews eight times on a pas senger train going from Den- The Railway Labor Execu tives Association, voice of the 23 rail unions, charged that the featherbedding fuss is just the opening gun in the 1959 wage negotiations. Loomis, blaming the old rules for wiping out, thous ands of rail jobs, said union cooperation in changing them would enable railroads to streamline service and create new employment. "Another kincl of alleged featherbedding has been in volved in a labor dispute con cernmg 11 newspaper publish ers in New York. They' have been fighting a battle that could lead to nation-wide changes in International Typo graphical Union contracts with more than 1,000 daily papers.: . Entitled To Set Type - Under ITU pacts, union members are entitled to set type for local advertisements even when they are received by the paper in plate or mat form that is all ready to pub lish. ' This practice, started right after the Civil War to curb the exchange of ads between newspaper owners in the same town. ITU officials contend it is still necessary in order to protect the jobs of union mem bers. V But the publishers denounce it as pure waste. The ads in question are thrown away af ter they are set in type,"" as sembled, proofread and cor rected by printers who often earn more than three dollars an hour, Charles E. Clark, a. consult ant to the American Newspa per Publishers Association, es timated that such "bogus" ads cost the industry several mil lion dollars a year. Airline Accused While most campaigns against . featherbedding are aimed at unions, the Flight Enginers' International Asso ciation, itself a union, recent ly accused American Airlines of featherbedding by adding a fourth man to the flying crews of jet transports. The Engineers and the Air Line Pilots Association had waged a bitter verbal battle over whether the f'third man' in jet cockpits should be qual ified as an engineer or a pi lot. ' ' Rather, than risk a strike by either group, American compromised by retaining the engineer and adding another pilot-trained crewman The Engineers complained that there wasn't room in some cockpits for the fourth man to sit down, much less any work for him to do. New technology makes strange featherbed-fellows. . 1 A aUlb TI1IUN", MedW, Or. IV A Tbursway, June 18, J95 Garden Sawdust McGinfy Fuel Go. Ph. SP 3-6297 perfect breakfast little pig sausages and OREGON FARM - Guaranteed fresh! CHARCOAL BRIQUETS FULL 25 LBS. $11 $9 "NEW SIZ" CHARCOAL LIGHTER RELIEHBER!! SUNDAY IS FATHER'S DAY TREAT HIM TO A BAR-B-QUE STEAK, ROAST, OR CHICKEN mi Quart ALBER'S 12-OZ. 51 wmm - n JT 3 4. rt?AA 0) H C ,. T CK j Rites, y PEANUT BUTTER LARGE 18-OZ. JAR CREAMY OR CHUNK WW 22-oz. can 49 APPLE- lfflE LARGE No. 2i2 CAN 7 t cans $ oo CHICKEN lMWM on tul gi wm FRESH FANCY Fryers "MORRELL'S PRIDE" CANNED PICNIC HAMS $1139 U EACH . (V2 lbs.) Freezer SpecnaD I ! "SWIFTS PREMIUM" IHiind Quarter STEER :Ss BEEF FOR EATING (Cut and' Wrapped) BONELESS STEER BEEF ROASTS For Oven Roasts or Bar-B-Que ! BONELESS PORK LOIN ROAST 9m I PURE PORK SAUSAGE Delicious Flavor Our Own 49 lb. FRESH GROUND STEER BEEF 49 ..$1.39 1 Pound . 3 Pounds ...... ED MILNE'S QUALITY 10 Ptoads 5S49 22?;WEST MAIN R(P) "WJWST" JUICE d sir FANCY LARGE LETTUCE VINE RIPENED JUMBO .fiAQTALOOPE.. SOLID EASY TO PARK ON THE WEST SIDE O WE ARE O CLOSED SUNDAYS v-4
