On May 12, just before the 137 Class I railroads of the U. S. had rolled up a $181,000,000 net deficit for the first half of 1938, they moved to slash their greatest single operating cost. Notification was sent to railway unions that the roads would cut wages 15% effective July 1. Under the Railway Labor Act of 1926, preliminary horse trading thereupon began. Unions and management sat down together in Chicago, soon came to loggerheads. This automatically passed their dispute to the three-man National Mediation Board.
Grim-faced in Chicago last week...
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