Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1916-12-29
Anti-Injjunction
Proposals
Effort Will Be Made to Have
a Legislative Act.

The Michigan Federal ion Of Labor
has failed in its attempt to amend the
constitution of the state of Michigan
via the initiative and referendum route.
The Federation proposed to amend
the fundamental law of the common
wealth so that judges Of the circuit
court should no longer have the power
to issue injunctions in labor disputes.
The failure of the united union labor
forces of the state to obtain statewide
referendum on the anti-injunction pro-
position is of the deepest significance.
The movement has been urged and
vigorously prosecuted for many months
and its failure means much to the vot-
ers of the entire state.
The constitution provides that an
initiative petition for an amendment to
the constitution must bear the sigma
lures Of not less than ten per cent of
the qualified voters, and that 'the
total number of votes cast for governor
at the regular election last preceding
the filing of any petition proposing an
amendment to the constitution shall be
the basis upon which the number of
legal voters necessary to sign such
petition shall be computed"
The Michigan Federation of Labor
! sought to have the proposed amend
ment submitted to the voters at the
recent general election. Thus il would
have been necessary for the Federation
to procure at least A, 900 signatures, as
the total vote for governor in 1914 was
440, ,448. Moreover, it is necessary that
such petitions shall be in the hands of
the secretary of state four months
prior to the election at which the pro-
posed amendment is to be submitted.
1t was therefore mandatory that the
$4,000 signatures be procured by early
July. Every energy of the Federation
and its allied local federations was bent
in the direction of obtaining the $4,000
signatures within the time limit. The
campaign was spirited one, but the
Federation was many thousand names
short when the final day came.
Still hopeful, the union forces then
started the campaign anew to have the
proposed amendment submitted in the
spring election of 1917. But here en-
tered new element. In the mean
while we have had new election for
governor and the total vote for that
office in November last was more than
650,000 Thus it was necessary to have
not less than $1,000 signers and the
petitions would have to be in the sec'y
of states hands bv Dec. 7th last.
Again the Campaign failed. The
federation was able to muster few more
than 10000 signers.
The Michigan Manufacturers Assn
gave the proposal effective publicity in
the newspapers Of the State so that the
ordinary voter could appreciate the
purpose and effect of the measure.
But so far as any direct appeal to the
workman of the state is concerned, this
Association bided its time for the con-
test at the polls confident in the good
judgment of the people.
Now what does the Federation Of
Labor propose? It announces that it
will go before the legislature which
convenes in January and demand a
legislative act which will achieve the
same end as was proposed by the con
stitutional amendment that failed to re-
ceive sufficient votes to submit it to the
people at general election.
In other words, the allied union labor
, forces of Michigan will demand a
statute taking away from circuit judges
) the right to issue an injunction in labor
disputes. This demand will be made
too, in spite of the fact that the su-
preme court of the state Of Massachu-
sets only recently decla' ,nconstitu-
tional similar act by the Jgislature of
! that state.
The deep significance Of the failure
Of the Michigan Federation Of Labor to
obtain sufficient signatures for con-
, stitutional referendum lies in this fact:
The Federation and its allied bodies
haye total membership Of more than
10000. This Of course is small in pro-
portion to the total number OF workers
in Michigan, but it at least was a strong
nucleus for the petitions. 1t is very
, evident then, that not all the members
of the various unions themselves sign.
ed the petitions.
OF course it is mere speculation why
the union workers of the state did not
all rally to the initiative proposal, but
it is safe to presume that many Of them
had this in mind; II the circuit judges
had not the right to issue injunctions
. in labor disputes, the resultant situa.
ton would have harmed labor itself.
. The lawless element in labor circles,