H. Morrissey was chosen
Grand Master of the Trainmen. With a varied training in
railroading, in insurance, and in labor organization work,
Morrissey was in many ways the antithesis of his predecessors who
had, in a powerful and brusque way, prepared the ground for his
analytical and judicial leadership. He was unusually well
informed on all matters pertaining to railroad operations,
earnings, and conditions of employment, and on general economic
conditions. This knowledge, together with his forcefulness, tact,
parliamentary ability, and rare good judgment, soon made him the
spokesman of all the railway Brotherhoods in their joint
conferences and their leader before the public. He was not afraid
to take the unpopular side of a cause, cared nothing for mere
temporary advantages, and had the gift of inspiring confidence.
When Morrissey assumed the leadership of the Trainmen, their
order had lost 10,000 members in two years and was about $200,000
in debt. The panic had produced unemployment and distrust, and
the violent reprisals of the American Railway Union had reaped a
harvest of bitterness and disloyalty. During his fifteen years of
service until he retired in 1909, Morrissey saw his order
rejuvenated and virtually reconstructed, the work of the men
standardized in the greater part of the country, slight increases
of pay given to the freight and passenger men, and very
substantial increases granted to the yard men. But his greatest
service to his order was in thoroughly establishing it in the
public confidence.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144