Dunlop Serves on Presidential Panel Mediating Nationwide Railway Dispute

John T. Dunlop, David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy and an experienced labor-management negotiator, has been in Washington for over a week trying to solve the nationwide railroad dispute.

Dunlop is a member of a three-man Presidential meditation panel that includes George Taylor of the Wharton School of Finance, and former U.S. Appeals Court Judge Charles Fahy, the group's chairman.

The three were asked by the President last week to negotiate a settlement between six railroad shop unions and the railroad industry, in the hope of averting a crippling nationwide strike.

Cooling Off

The strike had been scheduled to begin last Thursday, but Congress, at the President's urging, passed an emergency measure Wednesday, calling for a 20-day cooling off period until May 3.

The key issue in the dispute is wages for skilled workers. The unions claim that the railroad industry lags far behind other industries in pay rises for skilled workers. They are asking for a seven per cent pay hike.

The management spokesmen responded that any increases more than five per cent would cause trouble with other railroad unions that have already settled for five per cent increases.

All methods for averting a strike under the Railway Labor Act have been exhausted, so the special Presidential commission has been called in to suggest compromise to both sides.

No Strikes?

The railroad dispute has led to discussions of the problem of just how far the government should intervene to halt strikes. Some people, including the industry spokesmen, advocate legislation forbidding such strikes altogether, eliminating the need for emergency measures.

The unions contend that the possibility of such legislation, and even the present Railway Labor Act, gives management the upper hand. "If the government instead lets the railroad management know, firmly and unmistakably, that the railroad workers' right to strike is not going to be abolished, then management would have made a fair offer and this dispute would be settled: now," a union spokesman said last week.

In the past, Dunlop has served on several special labor boards and panels. From 1960 to 1963 he served on the Presidential Railroad Commission, and recently was a member of the Presidential Commission to solve the Work Rule dispute.

He has been especially active in negotiating, jurisdictional disputes in the buildings and construction industry, chairing a national board in this area from 1948 to 1957.