happert. There is a section in the report devoted to it. It is the last section. QUESTION: Is there a similar section on consolida tion of companies? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: No, no section dealing with consolidation. That has not been consigned to us for a solu tion. There is a section or a portion dealing with what management should do with respect to its own self-improvement which you submit for the consideration of management. QUESTION: Judge, you used the figure 9000 new hires in a single year. CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: I think it was in 1959. QUESTION: And you used a figure of 10,100 in national labor pool that would be made up of men with less than ten years service. firemen? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: I don't follow you. You mean the JUDGE RIFKIND: The two things are not the same. QUESTION: In the national labor pool it has been suggested, has it not, that new hires would come from that pool and not from the ready labor market. CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: That would apply to the whole railroad industry, operating and non-operating, we hope, and everything that goes with it. It would be an entirely different situation. QUESTION: But nonetheless, you are suggesting that any railroad in any part of the country that needs a man should hire through this national labor pool of 10,100 rather than go to the ready labor market? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: That pool may be larger than 10,100. We also hope that a great many of these men, encouraged by the protection which is afforded them, namely, the 60 per cent of compensation assured and allowed to keep outside earnings would find themselves seeking outside earnings and establish themselves in another industry. QUESTION: In other words, this is a manner in which you can expedite the release of these men from the railroad industry? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: Yes, sir. That is exactly what it is designed to do. QUESTION: Beføre you stop, could you identify the other Commissioners? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: But Generally not with the abrupt ness or not with the lack of christening that has been prevalent in the last 25 years. QUESTION: before we quit here. Would you identify the other commissioners CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: I will be avery glad to. Those who are here, my extreme right, Mr. Jerrow, Mr. Knight, Mr. Loomis, Mr. Wolfe, representing various railroad organizations. Then here, Dr. Dunlop of Harvard, Mr. Robertson of Washington, Dr. Myers of MIT, and Mr. Smith of Michigan Law School. QUESTION: What happened to the red circle principle that no significant number of employees would take a cut in pay or work longer hours to maintain earnings? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: We have a discussion of that in this report and if you dig deep enough into it, which I recommend to you very heartily as good instructive reading, you will find there is an analysis of why the red circle method would not be operative in the railroad industry usefully and especially do I solicit your attention to the circumstance that jobs are selected on the seniority system in the railroad industry so that if a job turns out to be less advantageous than it used to be senior employees can then select the new job which is then more advantageous. QUESTION: Judge, in that rundown of the Commissioners present, do I understand that we have all the carrier commissioners and public members but that the labor members were engaged elsewhere, or is that wrong? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: I do not know what the gentlemen are doing outside this room. Nobody was invited to this meeting except myself. But anybody is free to come. QUESTION: Is that a correct description? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: No, there are not all the carrier representatives here. Some of them are here. QUESTION: But you have no labor? CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: I do not see any of the labor rep resentatives. I think they are engaged in a meeting. QUESTION: have we? How many of the carrier commissioners CHAIRMAN RIFKIND: Four. There are five altogether and there are four here. Any other questions? If there are no other questions, I thank you all sincerely and remember the release date on this material. FOR RELEASE: 11:00 A.M. Wednesday, February 28, 1962 Office of the White House Press Secretary THE WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON RECEIPT In December 1960, President Eisenhower established, at the joint request of the nation's railways and the five unions representing the some 250,000 workers who operate the trains, a Presidential Railroad Commission. This Commission was composed of representatives of the railway unions and carriers, designated by them, and public members appointed by the President. On March 5, 1961, I appointed Judge Simon H. Rifkind to be chairman of the Commission. By the mutual and voluntary agreement of the parties, the Commission was charged with the duty to study the dispute in the railroad industry over work rules and practices and to submit to the President and to the parties a report of its findings and recommendations for the amicable settlement of the dispute. Today, I have received the report of the Commission. It represents more than a year's work, during which, I am informed, over 15,500 pages of oral testimony was given before the Commission, and more than 300 exhibits filed with it. In addition, special studies were made for the Commission by its staff and by outside experts. The work of the Commission represents an exhaustive study of the relations between the railroads and their operating employees. As provided for in the memorandum of agreement entered into between the parties in October 1960, the report is remanded to them for their appropriate consideration. Under the terms of their agreement, this report is not an arbitration award. Rather it is a study by men who have conscientiously tried to ascertain the facts as they exist and to make recommendations based on these facts. It is now up to the parties themselves to consider these recommendations and, as they have agreed, to enter into immediate and expeditious collective bargaining over the issues which remain in dispute. I believe the report will be useful in this task. The good offices of the National Mediation Board and the Secretary of Labor are available to help the parties reach agreement. |