The Connecticut labor press., 1920-12-18
CATHOLIC BISHOPS DENOUNCE PLAN OF
 THE "OPEN SHOP''
National Welfare Council De. clares Whole Nation Will Be
 Injured By It.
LESSON OF EUROPE
Result There Should Teach Elm ployers to Be Careful of
 Result.

The Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Council has issued a statement from its headquar- ters i'll Washington denouncing the drive being made by certain groups of employers to disrupt the American la Dor movement. It Is pointed out that most of the radical disturbances" i'll Europe have been brought about by just such actions on the part of employers, and that industrial conditions in this nation are now being endangered by the campaign of few groups of strong employers to subjugate the workers The statement Is as follows:
 The open shop drive of certain groups of American employers is be- coming so strong that 1t threatens not only the welfare of the wage-earners, but the whole structure of industrial peace and order. Employers sometimes favor the open shop because they do not want to be limited in the employ ment of men to union members. But the present drive IS not of that kind. The evidence shows that in its organ 1zed form 1t IS not merely against the closed shop but against unionism it. self and particularly against collective bargaining.
 Of what avail is it to workers to be permitted by their employers to be- come members of unions if the employ CTS will not deal with the unions? The workers might as we'll join golf clubs as labor unions if the present open shop campaign is successful.
 The open shop drive masks under such names as The American Plan and hides behind the pretense of Amer ican freedom. Yet its real purpose is to destroy all effective labor unions, and thus subject the working people to the complete domination of the en- ployers. Should it succeed ill the meas ure that its proponents hope 1t will thrust far into the ranks of the under path the body of American working people.
 The Bishops of the National Catholic War Council who issued the program of social reconstruction said: It is to be hoped that this right, the right of labor to organize and to deal with en- ployers through representatives, will never again be called into question by any considerable group of employers' The Archbshops and Bishops of the United States in their Pastoral Letter proclaimed again The right of the workers to form and maintain the kind of organization that Is necessary and that will be most etfcctual i'll securing their welfare.
 During the war the National War Labor Board recognized and protected genuine kind of open shop one which assured the non-union man free dom and the members of the union the right of collective bargaining That is not the kind of open shop for which the drive is being made.
 1.-The unions were necessary even dur ing the war when working people found their labor in great demand. They are still more impressive now, and they | must keep their strength and grow | Otherwise we shall see a repetition of l the old bad days when the workers | were utterly dependent upon their em- ployers.
 There is great danger that the whole nation will be harmed by this cam paign of a few groups of strong em- ployers. To aim now at putting into greater movements and disturbances in Europe ought to hold lesson for the employers of America. And the voice of the American people ought to be raised in the endeavor to drive this les son home"