Railroad Shopcraft Dispute

I am convinced that passage of SJR 81 will not only destroy the collective bargaining procedure for all future railroad disputes, it might also establish a precedent for settling labor disputes in industries which are remotely related to the war effort, national interest or public inconvenience.

I respectfully urge you to oppose this bill which is currently before your Senate Labor Committee.

WALTER L. MITCHELL,

President, International Chemical Workers Union.

Senator RALPH W. YARBOROUGH,
Washington, D.O.:

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 1967.

On behalf of the more than 850,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with the AFL-CIO and all departments of that body we wish to express our vigorous opposition to the administration device designed to deprive trade unionists of their democratic rights as Americans in the current railroad dispute.

The plan for "mediation to finality" despite its high sounding title will not fool trade unionists nor the American people. This is compulsory arbitration as favored by the railroad industry.

Free collective bargaining in the railroad industry has reached its present state only because of the stubborn refusal of the employers to enter into meaningful negotiations with the representatives of its employees.

The railroad industry is now attempting to enlist the aid of Congress to force compulsory arbitration upon its employees.

Railroad workers like all other American workers are entitled to withhold their services from the employer when management refuses to assume their responsibility and enter into meaningful negotiations. They have consistently refused to face the reality that rail unions can strike after exhausting all procedures of the Railway Labor Act.

Rail management is fully aware that any compulsory type legislation works to the disadvantage of free trade unions, and they are using the Vietnam situation to force Congress to its side of the bargaining table.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers implores you as an elected representative of all the people to pursue the only fair and reasonable path to ending the impossible situation forced upon the railway employees by rejecting the administration "mediation to finality" plan which by this or any other name spells compulsory arbitration.

We are convinced that rail management once knowing that the United States Government is not its partner will face reality and come to terms with its work

ers.

Your rejection of the proposal by the administration will be sincerely appreciated by the membership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to keep collective bargaining free for all Americans.

GORDON M. FREEMAN,
International President,

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 1967.

Senator RALPH W. YARBOROUGH,
Washington, D.O.:

The AFL-CIO Maritime Trades Department-speaking on behalf of its 36 affiliated national and international unions and their more than five and one-half million members-vigorously opposes the administration scheme designed to suspend the democratic rights of trade unionists in the current railroad dispute. The administration is engaging in a dangerous game of words when it tries to convince the American people that its so-called plan for "mediation to finality" does not intrude on the freedom of collective bargaining. By any name, this is compulsory arbitration-rammed down the throats of unions which have been patient beyond belief in their dealings with a recalcitrant management.

For months, the railroad industry has frustrated free collective bargaining. It has stubbornly refused to enter into any meaningful negotiations with the legal union representatives of its employees. Rail management has made no bones about wanting nothing less than the ultimate weapon-compulsion. The

blockades that the industry has erected to free collective bargaining have been designed to force Congress to enact such an undemocratic law. The White House now seeks to reward management for its destruction of free bargaining by giving them what they have always sought.

At any point along the way, had Congress or the White House made it quite plain that railroad workers-like other American workers-were entitled to the right to withhold their services, the rail dispute would never have reached the present crisis stage. Faced with the reality that the rail unions could strike, after exhausting all of the procedures of the Railway Labor Act, the industry long ago would have come to the bargaining table and the two sides could have hammered out their differences.

Up to now, management has had no incentive to sit down and bargain—indeed, its incentive has been to stay away from the table in order to increase its pressure on the Congress and the Administration to come up with compulsionary legislation that works to the disadvantage of free trade unionists.

Even at this late hour, Congress can make the only sensible contribution to ending this impossible situation by rejecting compulsory arbitration, by whatever name, and by affirming the right of free railroad workers to strike. Faced with the inevitable, management would quickly come to terms with its workersand the cause of free collective bargaining would best be served.

We urge you, then, to repudiate this move by rail management to make the Government of the United States its not-so-silent partner at the bargaining table. The power and prestige of the Government should not be made a servant of the rail industry. The proposal by the President should not be accepted-for it would destroy the freedom of one group of workers, make the freedom of all workers less secure, and, in the end, it would endanger the freedoms of all Americans. MARITIME TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO.

PAUL HALL, President,

PETER M. MCGAVIN, Executive Secretary-Treasurer.

Appendix B

Compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor

THE RAILROAD SHOPCRAFT-CARRIER LABOR DISPUTE BACKGROUND AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

437

CONTENTS

A. Background:

1. History of the Railroad Shopcraft Dispute.

2. Other Recent Railroad Settlements....

B. Related documents:

1. Report of Emergency Board No. 169 (March 10, 1967). ---