Mr. LAROE. If I did not have confidence in the ICC, I would not be for this. I feel that you will find that the majority of your colleagues feel that they have confidence, and I think the shippers feel the same way Mr. HALL. Thank you very much, Mr. LaRoe. The next witness is Mr. Corbett. Will you give your name and whom you represent for the record? STATEMENT OF JOHN T. CORBETT, ASSISTANT GRAND CHIEF ENGINEER AND NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. CORBETT. My name is John T. Corbett. I hold the offices of assistant grand chief engineer and of national legislative representative in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The headquarters of the brotherhood is at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. A. Johnston is the chief executive officer with the title "grand chief engineer." The local office is at 10 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D. C. I appear in favor of the proposed provisions of bill S. 110, under the instructions of the national legislative board of the brotherhood and under direction of the recent convention of the brotherhood which met recently at Cleveland, Ohio and adopted the following resolution; the date of this is April 7, 1947: Whereas we the members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, believe in the sound and proven principle of the regulations by government of public transportation under supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commission; and Whereas we believe in the declaration of public policy expressed by Congress in the preamble of the Interstate Commerce Act; and Whereas that policy provides, among other things, for the promotion of safe, adequate, economical, and efficient transportation service under sound economic conditions, without unjust discrimination, undue preference or advantage or unfair or destructive competitive practices and for the encouragement of fair wages, and equitable working conditions in transportation, all to the end of developing, coordinating and preserving a national transportation system "adequate to meet the needs of the commerce of the United States, of the postal service, and of the national defense;" and Whereas we recognize the fact that such a national system under such desirable and proper conditions cannot be developed, coordinated, or preserved unless the carriers operating as a part of that system are permitted to confer and cooperate with each other and with their shippers under agreements which are found to be consistent with the aforesaid national transportation policy, appropriate for the performance of public service and not unduly restrictive of competition; and Whereas such necessary conference and cooperation, under which transportation in American has been developed, cannot be continued without legislation establishing the principles of the Reed-Bulwinkle bill: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, in convention assembled at Cleveland, Ohio, does hereby respectfully urge the prompt enactment of the Reed-Bulwinkle bill (S. 110-H. R. 221) and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the President of the United States and the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States. Done at Cleveland, Ohio, this 7th day of April, 1947. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is the oldest of the railroad labor organizations and is one of the oldest of any of the presert American labor organizations. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers over a period of more than 80 years has held collective bargaining agreements with some of the railroads in the United States and Canada and at the present time holds collective bargaining agreements with practically all of the class I railroads of the Nation. The provisions of the Railway Labor Act provide for the employees of different railroads to discuss the proposals of their employees as they may be presented, however, for something over 40 years it has been the practice for the employees and railroad employers to meet in joint action toward the final adjustment of such Nation-wide discussions of working conditions, rules, and/or wages, as may have been presented by the employees or their representatives. During the period of Federal control of the railroads, during World War I, the United States Government, while in control of the railroads of the Nation, actually brought the railroads into one great system and it is quite probable that this procedure was of greatest assistance to the successful termination of the war. During the period of Government control the wages of the railroad employees were adjusted under what is referred to as General Order No. 27, issued by the officer in charge of the railroads of the Nation. Those conditions are being mentioned because of the apparent necessity of showing the governmental need of as close cooperation amongst the railroads as possible and, again, the necessity of showing the close connections between the associated railroads' cooperative activities and the satisfactory adjustments of the wages and working conditions of the employees. In my previous statement before this committee on the preceding bill, H. R. 2536, in the Seventy-ninth Congress, I referred to the approval of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers to the National Transportation Policy contained in the Interstate Commerce Act; to the events which prompted the railroads and their employees to join in joint cooperative efforts to adjust wages and working conditions; to the cooperative efforts of the railroads and the representatives of the employees of the railroads of the United States to prepare and come before the Congress, jointly, for the approval of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937. I shall refrain from repeating any of those previous remarks as they are a part of the hearings pursuant to bill H. R. 2536, held during October 1945, but I believe it proper to raise the question as to the possible difference which may appear before the railroads and their employees joining in joint cooperative efforts to adjust complaints which may arise over wages and/or working conditions, under adjustments which shall require that all railroads shall provide substantially the same wage and working conditions for their many hundreds of thousands of employees, and somewhat similar cooperative efforts of those same railroads to confer amongst each other in adjustments of such divisions of joint or through rates as may be found necessary to secure the funds from which the improved wages and working conditions of their employees may be provided. During debate in the United States Senate on this legislation there appears a letter which was read into the record, which letter questions the support of the present bill's provisions as being supported by but one of the railroad labor organizations and, apparently, would lead some to the belief that this one organization was extending the support at the request of the railroads. The remarks merit the following explanation. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is the oldest of the railroad labor organizations. The control of legislative matters under the organization are placed through convention action in the National Legislative Board of the Brotherhood, consisting of the chief executive officer, who has the title of Grand Chief Engineer, and who for some 20 years has been A. Johnston, the second member is the second of the chief executive officers, with the title of First Assistant Grand Chief Engineer, who for some time has been J. P. Shields, and the third is the National Legislative Representative of the Brotherhood and since 1933, I have held that office. Under the action taken by the conventions of the organization and under the procedures created by the chief executive officers for some 40 years, the national legislative representative secures copies of all bills which may be considered by him as affecting the interests of railroad workers and other labor groups and sends them to the members of the national legislative board with his analysis and such data, information, suggestions, and recommendations as he may consider proper. Later, through conferences, meetings of the national legislative board, or through correspondence, the national legislative representative receives instructions as to the procedure which the majority of the national legislative board consider it proper to have him follow. That procedure was followed in the handling of the bill, H. R. 2536, in the previous Congress. The provisions of the bill were discussed in the national legislative board of the brotherhood, and there was an unanimous agreement amongst those of the board that the bill should be supported and, as a result of that action, I appeared before this committee in favor of the provisions of the bill. I appeared before the Senate committee in support of the bill during the last Congress and, again, when bill S. 110 and bill H. R. 221 were introduced in the present Congress, those bills were furnished the members of the national legislative board, they were given the consideration of the board; and I appear here under the instructions of the two highest executive officers in support of the provisions of the bill, after I had furnished those members the bills with the recommendation that the bills be given support. In conclusion, it appears proper to refer to the statement made by one witness on the previous bill. He compared the proposed provisions of the bill with the somewhat similar action taken by the Congress in the handling of legislation. There appears the possible discussion of the legislation before it is introduced and the somewhat similar discussions of proposed rates before being offered. There are the provisions for hearings on legislative bills and upon proposed rates. There are the opportunities of those favoring and/or opposing the bills, and/or the proposed rates. There are the considerations given the bills by congressional committees and the somewhat similar considerations given the proposed transportation rates by a branch of the Congress, the Interstate Commerce Committee, and the final disposition of the bills' provisions and of the transportation rates' provisions must depend upon the decision of the Congress and the decision of an agency of the Congress, the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, through convention action and through the consideration of the national legislative board of the organization favor the provisions of bil! S. 110 and bill H. R. 221, and respectfully request the committee and the House of Representatives to give the legislation favorable consideration. Mr. HALL. Thank you very much for your statement, Mr. Corbett. Are there any questions? Mr. O'HARA. I would like to say that I am just glad to have Mr. Corbett here. Mr. HALL. The next witness is Mr. Hays. Will you proceed. STATEMENT OF A. C. HAYS, REPRESENTING DIVISION 493 OF THE ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS, PHOENIX, ARIZ. Mr. HAYS. My name is A. C. Hays, and I live at Phoenix, Ariz. I am a conductor employed in passenger service with the Santa Fe Railway, and I have been in the service of that railroad for more than 36 years. I am also secretary of Division 493 of the Order of Railway Conductors. I am making this statement in my own behalf and in behalf of my local division of the conductors organization. My local division is composed of conductors in freight and passenger service and some switchmen, employees of the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific, all employed within the State of Arizona. I do not pretend to be an expert in the laws regulating railroads now in regard to the antitrust laws. But I have had more than 36 years of practical railroad experience both in freight and passenger service. I favor the Bulwinkle bill as do the men of my organization. This view is very generally held throughout my State. I call your attention to the fact that the record of hearings before this committee in 1945 shows that the bill bears the endorsement of the following Arizona organizations: Salt River Valley Water Users Association. Yuma County Chamber of Commerce. Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce. These groups represent a pretty good cross-section of the farming and business interests of my State. I understand the general objectives of this bill but do not pretend to discuss it in detail. I know, as a practical matter, that railroad service could not possibly be rendered in the way the shippers of my State require it without the highest degree of teamwork and cooperation between all the many railroads and parts of railroads that participate in the through movement. We produce a great volume of perishable fruits and vegetables in Arizona and a very high percentage of it must be moved by railroad in order to get it to the eastern commercial markets in proper condition. The big movements in these products may be roughly described as the lettuce deal in the fall, the vegetable movements all through the winter, a lettuce deal in the spring and a cantaloup deal in the summer. In fact, we're well into the cantaloup movement now. The schedules which move this produce are "hot" in the words of the railroad man. Trains of perishables are moved up the valley from Phoenix to our main line connection at Ash Fork and on many occasions I have seen trains of more than 70 cars transferred at the junction point in an elapsed time of not more than 3 to 5 minutes. This kind of clock-like precision is typical of the kind of service which must be rendered in the movement of these perishables. Producers in the Phoenix area may ship to their eastern markets over either the Santa Fe or the Southern Pacific, in combination with literally dozens of other railroads. It is important to the shippers that these alternate routes be open to their use and that the rates and service over both routes be approximately the same. Anyone who says there is no competition for this business has never been around when the shipping season is on. Unless the railroads which participate in this movement, and all of them, can work out their problems together, the shippers who depend upon them would be in a bad situation. Through rates, the exact time for connections, rules for packaging and crating, average weights and many other details must be worked out and must be reasonably uniform. These producers must have dependable service, year in and year out, as a protection to the tremendous investment they have in their properties. As a practical railroad man, I know that you must have teamwork in the railroad business if you expect to have service. I believe that you'll find that the rank and file of railroad men know that to be a fact. Of course, you will find some differences between management and employees from time to time, but I am sure that you will find that the rank and file of railroad employees know and feel that what is good for the railroad is good for the men. Mr. HALL. Thank you very much, Mr. Hays. We appreciate your fine statement. Mr. HAYS. Thank you. Mr. HALL. The next witness is Mr. Schwartz. Will you identify yourself, Mr. Schwartz? STATEMENT OF LOUIS A. SCHWARTZ, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE NEW ORLEANS TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION BUREAU, NEW ORLEANS, LA. Mr. SCHWARTZ. My name is Louis A. Schwartz. I am general manager of the New Orleans Traffic and Transportation Bureau, representing the commercial and shipping interests of the city and port of New Orleans in all matters pertaining to transportation. Included among the shipping interests represented by the New Orleans Traffic and Transportation Bureau are: New Orleans Association of Commerce New Orleans Rice Millers, and Grain Merchants New Orleans Warehousemen Green Coffee Association of New Orleans |