811.504 Mexico/184
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Bonsal)64
This memorandum is to set forth the present status of efforts being made to secure additional urgently needed railroad workers from [Page 573] Mexico and permission from the Mexican Government to renew the contracts of Mexican railroad workers already in this country, and to stress the desirability of a prompt decision by the Department regarding the proposal made by Ambassador Messersmith65 and modified by the War Manpower Commission that present differences be submitted for study to a special commission of two representatives of each Government. It is believed that if agreement to such a commission is reached, the Mexican Government will immediately permit recruiting of additional workers and the renewal of contracts of workers now here.
The War Manpower Commission, seconded by the Office of Defense Transportation, has consistently held that it is impossible to meet the Mexican demand that wage adjustments be given certain workers on the Santa Fe Railroad who for a time worked beside employees of a contracting company who received much higher pay. The number of workers is comparatively small, perhaps 200, and the amount involved has been estimated as from $20,000 to $50,000. The agencies mentioned hold that no wage adjustment can be made for workers, Mexican or domestic, except through the procedure set up under the Railway Labor Act66 and have pointed to the President’s “hold the line” order67 as a further complication to an adjustment. This situation is explained in Governor McNutt’s letter of October 28 and Mr. Joseph B. Eastman’s letter of October 13,68 both of which stressed that it was hoped that the Mexican Government would realize this difficulty and would permit contracting and renewal of contracts to proceed. The letters also stated that while no special adjustment could be arranged, every effort was being made to secure a blanket increase of wages for all maintenance of way workers, domestic and Mexican, of at least eight cents per hour.
The Department’s instruction no. 4636 of October 29 to Ambassador Messersmith,69 based on these letters, crossed with a despatch from the Ambassador70 which stated that he had proposed to the Mexican Government the formation of a commission of two representatives from each Government to “determine names and amounts and that the Santa Fe would assume responsibility for this particular compensation to the particular workers”. The Ambassador stated that the [Page 574] Mexican Foreign Office had informed him in reply to his proposal “that if agreement was reached to the naming of such a committee and agreement that the compensation for such workers …71 would be paid … the Mexican Government would remove objections to the further recruitment of Mexican labor … and would also permit the renewal of the contracts of such track workers in the United States who wished to remain”.
The Embassy advised me of the above proposal by telephone on October 30, at which time I said that the Department’s instruction on this subject, the general nature of which had been previously invited to the attention of the Embassy, was en route. I expressed serious doubts that this Government could agree to a commission for the objectives proposed.
The War Manpower Commission and the Office of Defense Transportation, to whom copies of the Ambassador’s despatch were given on Monday November 1, immediately expressed grave doubts as to the possibility of accepting the proposal, and a letter dated November 4 has now been received from Governor McNutt72 which states that a commission for the special objective set forth by the Ambassador cannot be accepted.
Governor McNutt states that the commission is willing, however, to accept the appointment of a four man commission which “would be responsible for considering any differences between our two Governments as to the interpretation of the existing agreement, for studying the operation of the agreement with a view to making recommendations to our two Governments with respect to necessary changes in the agreement, and for recommending such administrative action as will minimize further individual complaints”. At the same time he requested that the Mexican Government be asked to give immediate consent to the renewal for 30 days of Mexican railroad worker contracts which begin to expire on November 13.
The Embassy has been informed by telephone of this counter-proposal by the War Manpower Commission, and is ready to submit it to the Mexican Government upon receipt of instructions from the Department. While the counter-proposal has less immediate promise from the Mexican viewpoint, it apparently does not exclude the possibility of an eventual settlement of the Mexican claim for wage adjustment. A later and delayed settlement under recommendations from the special commission might be less embarrassing for the War Manpower Commission because it would be distinctly on a Government [Page 575] to Government basis and it might come at a time of less tension in the railroad labor wage field. The War Manpower Commission would expect to have a representative on the committee, while the Department would be free, apparently, to name the other representative of this Government.
I recommend the establishment of the proposed commission, with duties as outlined by Governor McNutt, and, subject to your approval thereof, I shall authorize Ambassador Messersmith to make such an arrangement with the Mexican Government.
- Addressed to the Adviser on Political Relations (Duggan), the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle), and the Under Secretary of State (Stettinius), each of whom noted his approval.↩
- Proposal made in despatch No. 13876, October 29, not printed.↩
- Act of June 21, 1934; 48 Stat. 1185.↩
- Executive Order No. 9250, October 3, 1942, on stabilization of the national economy; see 7 Federal Register 7871.↩
- Neither printed.↩
- Not printed; it reported the views of Chairman McNutt, pointing to unequal wage rates among domestic laborers in the United States and to the prospect of wage increases (811.504 Mexico/167b).↩
- Despatch No. 13876, October 29, 1943, not printed.↩
- Omissions indicated in the original memorandum.↩
- Not found in Department files.↩