The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-07-26

kDecisiOn In Pennsylvania Case UphOIds
N0riunen's Right to Choose Own Rep
resentatives = President Recognizes
Right of Labor to Organize
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
| Especial Despatch to The Reformer. }
Copyright 1922.
WASHINGTON, July 26.-Declara-
tions by L. f. Loree. president of the
| Delaware & Hudson. and other leaders
| Of the railroad executive group. that
company unions would be formed as
| the basis hereafter of relations between
| railroads and their employees was re-
garded in official quarters here as a most
unfortunate utterance at this time.
Such statements. it was pointed out
| by government officials. attacking the
| rights of labor which are not directly
involved in the pending dispute can
serve only to infiame other union men
| who are not now on strike. particularly
the brotherhoods of trainmen. and engf-
ncers. and viii not contribute to early
industrial peace.
Mr.. LOree's announcement, it was
assumed by officials as well as by spokes-
| Dor who criticized the step, was evil
IDENTIFY made before the full text of the
| decision of the United States circuit
court of appeals of the northern Illinois
district was received in New York and
| thoroughly studied. That decision deals
n death blow to the effort of the Penn
SylvanIa railroad to establish a company
union" and it was largely ON the proceed
ent of what the Pennsylvania railroad
had attempted that Mr.. Loree's declara-
ton on behalf of eastern executives was
built.
The Pennsylvania Issue
The truth is the federal courts have
upheld the right of wOrkmen to be repre-
scented by men of their own choosing and
part of their employers. An election
which the Pennsylvania attempted to
hold to choose representatives for the
workmen was declared void by the
United State labor board and the courts
now have upheld the right of the labor
board to decide who is the legitimate
representative of the employees
Unfortunately the labor board itself
las injected a complication in attempt
ng to protect strikebreakers in the pres
mt railroad crisis. The board declared
that if the men now at work formed
new unions they would be recognized.
This of course, does not mean that
would be deprived of the right to be
represented by the American federation
of labor or any other organization of
their own making rather than the COM
pany's. though to be sure, such an in
depreciation of the labor boards invita-
ton to form new unions was widely dis
tributed before being denied.
The Presidents View.
President Harding himself is on rec
nPI in 4 iafS Of hot fp
Loree has announced, namely, the for.
nation of unions by company direction.
The President in his December address
to congress stated the case as follows:
THE right of labor to organize is just
rs fundamental and necessary as the
right of capital to organize. The right
of labor to negotiate. to deal with and
solve its particular problems in an or
ganized way. through its chosen agents.
is Just as essential as is the right of
capital TO organize, TO maintain corpO-
rations, to limit the liabilities of stoc-
holders"
With this principle the officials most
concerned in the handling of the strike
situation are in entire agreement and
that's why anything which attempts to
take away fundamental right of labor
is frOwned upon as mistaken tactics In
deed, the contention of many union
leaders in private is that the supposed
issues of wages and working conditions
would present very little difficulty of
settlement if it were not for the fact
that bascally the present industrial
crisis is being prolonged in an effort to
break up the influence and power OF the
unions, n circumstance which has been
back in the minds of the railroad exec
utiyeS ever since the roads were turned
over to their owners by the government.
Same Issue in Coal Strike.
1t has been the bottom of the trouble
not only in the rail but the coal strikes.
| In fact in the coal situation the oper-
ators have insisted that they would beat
| the unions if the government would fur
nish protection to strikebreakers. This
protection by federal and state troopers
! is being furnished while q test is being
made of the sOundneSs of the operators
| contention. For if coal production
doesn't increase soon, the aid of union
men win have to be invoked through
! some device either of government con-
/ ference or mediation.
At the headquarters of the American
! federation of labor it was pointed out
that the history of Industrial warfare
| proved the tendency on the part of
/ strikebreakers to vanish after a strike is
settled Usually they go back to other
| fields of employment or find their new
work unsuitable. But one thing labor
| officials said was unquestioned, namely,
/ that when n strike is over the men who
| have been out do not desert the union,
but many non-unon join the ranks.
Irrespective of the outcome of the eff
/ fort to form company unions with strike
| breakers as a nucleus. the broad ques-
| ton of what the attitude of the hum
dreds of thousands of union men will
be when they do get back to work has
| to be solved before it can be determined
| whether the company unions will win
the membership of the returning strik-
ers or become a minority to be used by
the rnndS as n rivnl To the nthn1. urinn