Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-04-28
ANY TALK ABOUT
BARGAINING WITH
LABOR UNIONS IS
BURLESON
Postmaster General Says
There Can Be No Discussion
Between Executive Officer
and Employees Organization,
RIGHT TO STRIKE
DENIED WIRE FORCE


,sY NoskINS JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED "tPEI
Wa ellington. April 21.--PostmaSter
General Burleson in a s statement to-
night defended his administration of
the postoffice department and his pol
icy in opera ating government con-
trolled telephone and telegraph Sys-
TENS against charges made yesterday
by Samuel Gompers, president of the
Amer can Federation of Labor, that
the postmaster general was carrying
out IAN archaic, autocratic polcy IN
the conduct Of the Postal Telegraph
company and the telephone service
and was completely out of sympathy
with the trend of American thought,
Mr.. Purleson in his statement con
tinued his criticism of what he term
ed certain selfish publishers
AS the postmaster general sees it, -
said Mr.. Burleson. lit is little short Of
| silly to talk about collective bargain
ing with an executive officer by civil
service employees under his adminis-
tration The salary and wages to be
| maid such employees, the hours of Ia
| bor and working conditions are fixed
| by the leg slative branch. and II rs
! for the executive head of a depart
! ment to strictly follow the law in re-
! spect thereto in the matter Of fixing
! compensation the postmaster general
/ has recommended as the record shows
! that the government be a model en-
ployer, that compensation for those
who serve it be fixed upon generous
! basis. in fact compensation OF labor
ers and clerks should be fixed ct from
i fifteen 70 thhtg ter cent more ihith
i is pfd foTs~sifIfffaf' sefN re "a private
Z al.
| branch can be relied upon to act gen
erously is shown by the postal estah-
| 1ishment in which within two years
! increases have been granted aggregat-
! ing more than forty millions of dol
/ lars annually.
Attitude Long Known,
"The attitude of the postmaster
! general toward organ zation of GOV
ernment employees and their affil a.
/ ton with outside IGanlzations hav-
/ ing the strike as a means of redress
/ ing grievances has long been known.
! The postmaster general maintains
! that the strike on the part of en-
! plovcs of the government or those
WORKING for the government Is not
permissible. in fact is unth nkahle
! and that the utmost danger to the
! government is involved in any sug-
, son from this position and that as
/ far as he is concerned there will he
| none.
| TN the matter of telephone and
| telegraph employees. they are at pres
: ent working for the government anl
| the postmaster general insists that a
strike on their part is not permiss bic
| and he will never concede that it is -
Mr.. Purleson said he had strictly
] observed the rules and policies laid
down by the war labor board for
telegraph employees before the wires
were taken over by the governments,
and added:
THE question is as the postmaster
general sees it, whether the orderly
processes of government shall be ig-
nored, whether n labor organization
can DEFY it's authority and put into
! effect their will regardless of the
right of others and the public inter-
est
"Frankness requires the foregoing
statement by the postmaster general
but he again declares that if he can
prevent it this labor question shall not
be used by certain selfish publishers
to obscure the real issue, The post
master general insists that the issue
now iS-shall these certain selfish
publishers who have heen blood-suck-
ing the postal establishment for years
to the extent of seventV-tWo million
dollars annually he fully restored t"
this privilege. The postmaster gen
eral says no.