Guide to the United States Emergency Board No. 106,
1953-1954

On May 22, 1953, railroad workers, represented by fifteen non-operating railway labor unions, submitted a series of demands to the Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad Company and other carriers represented by the Eastern, Western, and Southeastern Carriers Conference Committees, to be incorporated into a new collective agreement. They included a twenty-five percent increase in wages, two additional weeks of vacation, five additional paid holidays, premium pay for Sunday work, comprehensive health and welfare insurance, and free transportation for employees and their families. The carriers countered by demanding that the union agree to thirty-one work rule changes that they claimed would increase productivity. When an impasse was reached, a Presidential Emergency Board was appointed to mediate.

On May 22, 1953, the employees submitted a series of proposals to the Carriers concerning changes in rules and working conditions the rejection of which by the carriers gave rise to this dispute. The carriers countered with 31 proposed changes in rules and working conditions, 16 of which were subsequently withdrawn, said proposals being rejected by the organizations. The dispute was referred to the National Mediation Board on October 20, 1953. A formal proffer of arbitration was subsequently made to the parties which was accepted by the organizations and declined by the carriers.

The emergency board created under the President's Executive Order dated December 28, 1953, was composed of Charles E. Loring, Tucson, Arizona (Chairman), Adolph E. Wenke, Lincoln, Nebraska and Martin P. Catherwood, Ithaca, New York. Hearings commenced in Chicago, Illinois on January 19, 1954, and continued until April 3, 1954.

In substance, the organizations' proposals can be summarized as follows: (1) More extended vacations; (2) holidays with pay; (3) premium pay for Sunday work as such; (4) a comprehensive health and welfare program to be provided by the carriers; and (5) increased free transportation for employees and their families. In varying degrees, the carriers' proposals related to the impact of craft or class lines and of seniority on employment and on work assignments. The organizations took the position that the carriers' proposals were advanced primarily for bargaining purposes and were without merit, but that if there was any merit in such proposals, the only approach was through bargaining at the individual carrier level. The carriers insisted that the organizations' proposals for a health and welfare program and for improved free transportation were not bargainable under the Railway Labor Act and therefore should not be considered by the Board. Carriers stressed the importance of the so-called "pattern settlement," along with certain rules changes, as the only proper settlement of the dispute. Much evidence and argument was submitted on the 1 subject of pattern relationships in wage and fringe benefits among various groups of railroad employees, especially in view of the fact that the "pattern settlement" was offered to and accepted by substantial groups of the operating employees and some of the nonoperating employees not before this Board. The organizations, on the other hard, argued that the "pattern settlement" was inadequate and inappropriate and had no bearing on the present controversy. The "pattern settlement" referred to included: (1) Incorporation in the regular wage rates of some 13 cents per hour already being received in the form of cost of living adjustments; (2) a wage increase of 5 cents per hour; and (3) a modification of the vacation agreement.

The report to the President was issued on May 15, 1954, the original date for submission of the report having been extended from time to time by agreement between the parties and with the approval of the National Mediation Board and the President. The report that the Emergency Board filed was supportive of the carriers' position. It recommended the "pattern settlement" and asked both the workers and the railroads to share the cost of health insurance. It also called for the adoption of certain work rule changes that the railroads considered to be important.

The following recommendations were submitted by the Board to the President: (1) A third week of vacation after 15 years of service be made applicable for the year 1954; (2) whenever 1 of the 7 enumerated holidays falls on a workday of the workweek of a regularly assigned hourly rated employee, he shall receive the pro rata rate of his position for that day, monthly rated employees to have their monthly pay increased to include on an annual average the approximate number of holidays that would be expected to fall in the workdays of a workweek; (3) the proposal that work performed on Sunday as a scheduled workday be paid for at time and one-half should be withdrawn; (4) the parties should agree to a program, to be effective as soon as possible, providing hospital, medical, and surgical benefits, the cost to the Carriers and Employees to be on a fifty-fifty basis; (5) the proposal for increased free transportation should be withdrawn. In addition the Board recommended certain other miscellaneous rules changes.

Consists of transcripts of the proceedings (38 volumes), and 83 union and carrier exhibits documenting wage structure and various work rules and working conditions.