(b) Yardmasters shall receive a further increase in basic rates of the equivalent of 5 cents an hour.

A cost-of-living adjustment allowance will be effective commencing with January 1, 1951, based on the BLS consumers' price index. The base for calculating such cost-of-living adjustment shall be a cost-of-living index of 174. An adjustment shall be made commencing January 1, 1951, and each 3 months thereafter, based on the BLS consumers' price index as of November 15, 1950, and the BLS consumers' price index each third month thereafter. The adjustment shall be made on the basis of the equivalent of 1 cent per hour for each one point change in the BLS consumers' price index, which shall be considered as a part of the base rate during the life of this cost-of-living agreement. For example, if the BLS consumers' price index as of November 15, 1950, has increased 1 point over the base index, the equivalent of 1 cent per hour shall be added effective January 1, 1951, as a cost-of-living adjustment; if such index as of November 15, 1950, should show an increase of two points above the base index, the equivalent of 2 cents per hour shall be added effective January 1, 1951, as a cost-of-living adjustment; if the BLS consumers' price index as of February 15, 1951, should be the same as the base index, then effective April 1, 1951, the cost-of-living adjustment which may have been established under the foregoing examples, would be eliminated. Similar adjustments shall be made each 3 months thereafter.

Wage rates which become effective October 1, 1950, will not be reduced during the period of this agreement.

The parties agree that the wage adjustment and cost-of-living adjustment herein provided shall remain in effect for a period of 3 years or until September 30, 1953, and thereafter subject to change under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act as amended.

3. No proposals for changes in rates of pay, rules or working conditions will be initiated or progressed by the employees against any carrier or by any carrier against its employees, parties hereto, within a period of 3 years from October 1, 1950, except such proposals for changes in rules or working conditions which may have been initiated prior to June 1, 1950,

M. G. S.

R. M .S.

V. W. S.

J. W. O.

D. P. L.

C. D. M.

J. R. S.

4. The parties will execute full agreements covering all points at issue between them and in the event they fail to agree on the language of any of the provisions to be included in such agreements, the controversy shall be submitted to Dr. John R. Steelman whose decision in the matter shall be final and binding.

5. The agreements to be executed by the parties shall provide that such agreements are in full settlement of the notice served by the employees and the carriers on or about April 10, 1948, and shall, except as otherwise specifically provided

therein, remain in effect until October 1, 1953, and thereafter subject to change under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act as amended.

M. G. S.

R. M. S.

V. M. S.

J. W. O.

D. P. L.

C. D. M.

J. R. S.

Mr. LOOMIS. Item 4 of the Statement of principles signed at the White House read as follows:

4. The parties will execute full agreements covering all points at issue between them and in the event they fail to agree on the language of any of the provisions to be included in such agreements, the controversy shall be submitted to Dr John R. Steelman, whose decision in the matter shall be final and binding. I should now like to offer as carriers' exhibit the complete set of agreements between the eastern and western and southeastern carriers and their employees, represented by the Railroad Yardmasters of America. The CHAIRMAN. Carriers' exhibit 6 has been received in evidence and marked as indicated.

The new document that you offer now will be carriers' exhibit No. 7 and will also be placed in the record.

(The document referred to was marked "Carriers' exhibit No. 7," received in evidence and is on file with the committee.)

Senator MORSE. Exhibit 6, the first page of which starts with the language "Five-day workweek," was effective October 1, 1950. When was it consummated?

Mr. LOOMIS. I thought the date was on the statement.
Senator MORSE. It may be, but I don't find it.

Mr. LOOMIS. It doesn't appear to be, and I don't have a note of it. The statement of principles according to my notes was signed on September 30, 1950.

Senator MORSE. Were any of the parties to this dispute parties to the agreement set forth in carriers' exhibit 6?

The

Mr. LOOMIS. No; none of the parties to this dispute were parties to that agreement. The employees, that is, the crafts, are the same. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen represent yardmasters on some roads. The Railroad Yardmasters of America represents yardmasters on considerably more roads than the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. My recollection is that the trainmen have in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 percent of representation of the yardmasters. The Railroad Yardmasters of America has somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 percent and the remainder are scattered as to representation. The switchmen's union represents yard foremen and helpers, yard conductors and trainmen and switchtenders on certain railroads. There were covered by the western agreement, I believe, 10 roads that are shown in the agreement on the back, the Rock Island, Great Northern, and several others.

Senator MORSE. Mr. Loomis, is the agreement which is set forth in carriers' exhibit 6 the first agreement in which Dr. Steelman was named as a final arbitrator in case a dispute arose as to the meaning of the agreement?

Mr. LOOMIS. No. The switchmen's principles, which are set forth as item 13 of exhibit 3, is the first agreement this year in which Dr. Steelman was named. I previously testified that in 1948 Dr. Steelman

had the final decision as between the parties as to differences over the writing of contracts. In that year we signed a statement of principles at the White House on the 7th or 8th of July. The contract itself was not worked out until August 11. In that arrangement Dr. Steelman was to decide differences between the parties.

Senator MORSE. In this contract of September 30, 1950, to be effective October 1, as set forth in carriers' exhibit No. 6, the scope of Dr. Steelman's jurisdiction was a very limited scope, was it not, limited

to

the question of whether there was sufficient manpower available to permit the adoption of the 5-day workweek shall be submitted for final decision to Dr. John R. Steelman or such other person as he may designate.

Mr. LOOMIS. You are referring now to exhibit 6?
Senator MORSE. Exhibit 6.

Mr. LOOMIS. Item 4 is the general one.

The parties will execute full agreements covering all points at issue between them, and in the event they fail to agree on the language of any of the provisions to be included in such agreement, the controversy shall be submitted to Dr. John R. Steelman whose decision in the matter shall be final and binding.

Senator MORSE. Was it contemplated in that grant of power to Dr.. Steelman that his jurisdidiction was limited to determining difficulty that would arise in writing a final agreement, or was it contemplated that his jurisdiction should extend to settling the dispute arising after an agreement once it was written and signed?

Mr. LOOMIS. His jurisdiction was as to the writing of the agreement. The only function after the agreement was signed was the manpower question.

Senator MORSE. After the agreement was signed, then his jurisdiction was limited to determining the question of fact on the basis of evidence presented as to whether there was sufficient manpower to put a 5-day week into operation.

Mr. LOOMIS. That is correct. When you get to it, I shall point out that a similar situation existed under the December 21 agreement. But I want to take that up in some detail when I reach it.

Senator MORSE. Because of the time element, I think we had better let that go over, except I would like to tie this down before the close of the hearing today. The jurisdiction granted Dr. Steelman in carriers' exhibit 6, save and except for the determination of one determination of fact subsequent to the signing of the agreement, was a jurisdiction limited to his helping the parties settle their differences in writing agreement.

Mr. LOOMIS. That is correct, and there were certain items in both the switchmen's union and the yardmaster contract on which we did go to Dr. Steelman and iron out our differences.

Senator MORSE. In this respect you will recall in our 1941 case we agreed in mediation on the principle of vacations. It was agreed in order to put the vacation award into contract form that we would retire from Washington, D. C., to Chicago and go into session there with the mediator serving as the determiner of disputes that might arise over the actual language carrying out his understanding of the intent of the parties when they agreed to the principle of vacations. Mr. LOOMIS. That is correct. In fact, I believe the parties later

81733-51- -26

asked you to return as referee to give certain interpretations over which they differed.

Senator MORSE. And which I refused to do.

Mr. LOOмIS. My recollection is that in the spring of 1942, Senator, you did return and hear argument and issue some interpretations.

Senator MORSE. We will have to get that record because as I recall the parties on both sides several times wanted to get me to settle their differences that arose under the agreement, and I said once the agreement was consummated unless both parties sought to arbitrate the differences under it, I could not give an interpretation.

Mr. LOOMIS. What I said was that both parties asked you to return in the spring of 1942 and make some interpretations.

Senator MORSE. Yes. But we did not agree in that agreement, however, that I would be foisted upon the parties as an arbitrator under that agreement.

Mr. LOOMIS. That is correct.

Senator MORSE. But only when the parties themselves subsequent to the agreement asked me to be an arbitrator.

Mr. LOOMIS. Yes.

Senator MORSE. I will get my correspondence, too, because I remember on both sides of the fence there were people who thought after I wrote that agreement, after I helped the parties write that agreement, that I should then tell the parties what to do under it. I have a considerable file in which I simply refused to interpret the agreement. I was through with it when the parties signed it, and only unless both parties joined in asking me subsequently to interpret the agreement would I be any party to any further interpretation of the agreement.

Mr. LOOMIS. You will recall that both parties did submit certain questions to you.

Senator MORSE. I recall that; yes. I recall the joint request of the parties. We really had what amounted in fact to a form of arbitration, but it was clearly understood that we did not write into that contract that both parties would have to accept me as arbitrator in case they got into disputes because I wouldn't do that.

Mr. LOOMIS. None of these do that, either.

Senator MORSE. It was one thing for them to join in asking me to arbitrate. We will go into that in great detail in the next session when you get to the December 21 meeting, but the point I want to make now is that carriers' exhibit 6 did not grant to Dr. Steelman any broad jurisdiction of arbitration save and except for the limitation as to one question of fact, but only granted to him jurisdiction as you granted to me in 1941 to help write the agreement in the first instance. Mr. LOOMIS. That is true of both the switchmen's union and the railroad yardmasters agreement.

Senator MORSE. When we get to the December 21 agreement, we get into one that seeks to grant jurisdiction to the arbitrator to determine disputes that arise under the agreement subsequent to its signing. Mr. LOOMIS. No; you do not, Senator. You have a misconception of that.

Senator MORSE. That is exactly what I want to get clear in the record.

Mr. LOOMIS. There is no difference between them on that score. Senator MORSE. Once this agreement was signed and the brotherhoods said this sentence means black, and the carriers said it means white, then Dr. Steelman under the agreement would be authorized to come in and determine if it was black, white, or gray.

Mr. LOOMIS. No.

Senator MORSE. It does not mean that?

Mr. LOOMIS. No, sir.

Senator MORSE. I shall await with great interest your testimony as to what it does mean.

That is all, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. At this point we will be required to suspend, but before recessing we wish to put some matters in the record.

Mr. MURDOCK. Frequent reference has been made in the hearing to the Emergency Board reports. The Emergency Board report covering part of this dispute, No. 81, the McDonough report, is in evidence as ORC exhibit 1.

The CHAIRMAN. That is already in evidence.

Mr. MURDOCK. That is already in evidence.

I would like to offer in evidence committee exhibit 7, the report of the Emergency Board No. 66, sometimes called the Leiserson report, which referred to the Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Co. and its employees, dated December 17, 1948.

The CHAIRMAN. This document will be received in evidence and marked as suggested and made a part of the record.

(The document referred to was marked "Committee exhibit No. 7" and filed with the committee.)

Mr. MURDOCK. I also would like to offer in evidence as committee exhibit 8, Report No. 83, which is also sometimes called the McDonough report, which involved the switchmen's union and the western carriers.

The CHAIRMAN. This likewise will be received in evidence and marked as committee exhibit No. 8.

(The document referred to was marked "Committee exhibit No. 8" and filed with the committee.)

Mr. MURDOCK. I would like to offer in evidence the Emergency Board Report No. 92, dated September 9, 1950, the chairman being Thomas F. Gallagher, which involved disputes between the Atlantic & East Carolina Railroad Co. and certain other carriers and brotherhoods.

The CHAIRMAN. This document likewise will be marked and made a part of the record.

(The document referred to was marked "Committee exhibit No. 9" and filed with the committee.)

Mr. MURDOCK. I offer as committee exhibit No. 10, Emergency Board Report No. 73, dated May 6, 1949, of which David L. Cole was the chairman, and which involved the employees of the Railway Express Agency.

The CHAIRMAN. This also will be received in evidence and marked committee exhibit No. 10.

(The document referred to was marked "Committee exhibit No. 10" and filed with the record.)