Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

FACTS ON FEATHERBEDDING In the next few weeks, increased public attention will be focused on the problems posed for the nation's railroads by union work rules which exact double to triple pay for single-time work and force the use of two to three men on a one-man job. The carriers' proposals of November 2, 1959, chart the way to end such waste by re-establishing the principle of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. The basic questions newsmen ask about this timely topic are covered here as follows: Q. What Is Featherbedding? A. Webster's "New Collegiate Dictionary" defines the practice as "requiring an employer to pay unneeded workmen, or to pay for unnecessary or duplicating jobs, or limiting the amount of work to be done in a day as a means of stretching work." It is pay exacted for work not done or not needed, for services not performed, for goods not produced. Q. What Makes the Problem Timely? A. A three-year moratorium against changing the work rules that lead to featherbedding on the railroads expired Oct. 31, 1959, opening the door to proposals for a long-overdue overhaul. Q. How Big a Problem Is Featherbedding for the Railroads? A. Detailed ground-level studies of operating practices show that more than $500,000,000 each year is being wasted on unnecessary train-crew positions, for needless duplication of work, and for wage payments unjustified by the amount of work performed. Q. What Concern Is All This to the General Public? A. Since railroad revenues come only from the public, the American people pay the bill for featherbed waste whether this comes in inflated prices, reduced employment or weakened transportation service. Q. How Did Featherbedding Arise on the Railroads? A. There are three main causes: (1) the biggest is obsolete work rules dating from 1919 and earlier, which have remained largely unchanged despite a near-revolution in railroad technology and operating methods; (2) outside referees in contract disputes have interpreted many rules out of all context with original intent, and (3) "excess crew" laws in 23 states legalize featherbedding by requiring unneeded brakemen and other positions on trains. Q. Where Is Featherbedding Concentrated? A. In certain train-operating positions, mostly in through-freight and passenger service. All operating employees number about 210,000 — one fourth of total railroad employment. Q. What Are the Specific Areas of Waste? A. There are three: (1) requirements for unnecessary train positions such as for firemen who tend no fires on pushbutton diesel locomotives, (2) rigid jurisdictional walls that bar road crews from working in yards, and vice versa, and prevent railroads from extending train runs in keeping with rising train speeds, and (3) the 40-year-old dual pay system for train and engine crews. Q. Is a Fireman Really Needed on Fireless Diesels? A. No. This same conclusion was recently reached by an authoritative Royal Commission in Canada which held that the fireman's functions "have either totally disappeared ... or are a mere duplication of what is discharged by another or others." As a result, firemen are now being withdrawn from diesel operations in freight and yard service throughout Canada. Q. Should Not an "Extra Pair of Eyes" Be Aboard Anyway? A. In freight and yard service, extra men are already on the job besides the fireman. In road freight service the fireman is the third man in the cab since the head-end brakeman also accompanies the engineer. In yard service, a ground crew works alongside the locomotive at all times. Equally important, railroads are NOT proposing to remove the fireman from passenger trains. Q. How Do Jurisdictional Work Rules Result in Featherbedding? A. Bans against interchanging road and yard train crews except at heavy penalty raise roadblocks to customer services, result in unnecessary engine and train crews, and lead to double or triple pay for single-time work. Q. Can You Give Examples? A. When yard employees work outside "switch limits," they usually get an extra day's pay for their work, while the road crew that should have done the work may demand and get an extra day's pay for NOT doing it. Also, the splitting of rail operations into divisions 100 or so miles long has led to multiple crew changes on short runs. Thus, on the 1,034-mile, lOVi-hour passenger run between Chicago and Denver, a railroad must use eight different engine crews, with each man averaging \XA basic days' pay for 2 hours' running time. Q. How Does the Mileage-Day Pay System Work? A. All road enginemen as well as road freight crews draw a basic day's pay for covering 100 miles or less. Passenger conductors and trainmen put in 150 miles. This "piecework" pay plan was standardized 40 years ago and is based on a speed of 12 1/2 MPH for freight trains and 20 MPH for passenger trains. Modernization has nearly doubled average train speeds since — but the pay rule remains unchanged, resulting in unearned "windfalls" and bleeding off the benefits of dieselization and streamlined service. Q. How Will the Elimination of Featherbedding Affect Rail Employment? A. During the past decade 500,000 jobs or an average of 1,000 jobs each week have disappeared on the competition-hit and featherbed-riddled railroads. By eliminating featherbedding and reducing internal costs, the lines can become more competitive, attract more business and stabilize or expand employment. Q. What Is the Railroads' Basic Objec tive in Proposing Rules Changes? A. Overhaul and modernization of the 1919 work-rules structure to conform with 1959 conditions. Stated in the most simple terms, the objective is a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. For further information on this subject, write, wire, or phone (NAtional 8-9020). ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS News Service, Transportation Building, Washington 6, D. C. BROADCASTING, November 2, 1959 85