, 1922-06-14
Works BotI Wdys

attack upon court i-Junctions was one
' of the emphasized points in the recent proc
lamation' issued by Samuel Gompers calling up
on organized labor 20 oppose the Republican party.
lie objects to the use of the injuction as a means
Of settling labor disputes. 1t would be rather diff
ficult for Mr.. Gompers to show wherein Repub-
licans are any moro partial to the use of the in
junction than members of his own Democratic par
~. However, a discussion of this particular fea-
ture would be aside from the point.
OF more value is the example Just furnished
by the appellate division of the Supreme Court
of New York in which it upheld an %injunc-
ton granted a garment workers union of that
state against a manufacturers association. The
action OF this high court of the state of New
York sustaining a labor union in getting an in
junction against an employer clearly shows the in
junction is doubleedged and can be used by labor,
organized or unorganized, quite as effectually as it
can be used by employers.
The history of this injunction dates back to Oc-
tober, 1921. At that time the Cloak, Suit and Skirt
Manufacturers association of New York city locl--
ed out the employees belonging to the International
Ladies Garment Workers Union, although the
union had a contract with the manufacturers as
ISOLATION which did not expire until June 1, 1922.
The manufacturers attempted to make arbitrary
changes in working condition and also to put into
effect wage reductions, both of which were in viola
ton of the contract. When the union members pro
tested the manufacturers declared a lockout The
garment workers organization asked for an in
junction forbidding the lockout and praying that
the manufacturers be compelled to permit mem
beers of the unions to remain on their jobs until the
expiration of the contract and that during the life
of the contract the employers be compelled TO OBJ
serve the terms of TIC contract both as to working
conditions and wages.
Justice Wagner of the New York State Supreme
Court, granted this petition and in issuing the in
junction announced that the breaking of a contract
made by a manufacturers association with a trade
union was a conspiracy and he ordered the manu-
facturers' association to resume business that had
been suspended by the lockout. This ended the
lockout, although the manufacturers appealed Wag-
ners action to the state appellate court. This court
has Just upheld Justice Wagner in the granting of
an injunction and also his reasons for granting
the injunction. The decision of the New York ap-
pellate court was reached by a four to one vote.
Justice Alfred Page in handing down the decision
took occasion to remark that, HThe law does not
have one rule for the employer and another for the
employe. In a court of justice they stand on exact
equality, each case to be decided upon the same
principles OF law impartially applied to the facts
in the case"
Among conservative trade unionsists, who are I'M
influenced by the Democratic propaganda of Mr..
Gompers and his crowd, it is believed this decision
foresshadows a new era in the use of court iniun-
ctions in industrial disputes. Labor organizations
heretofore have refused to use the injunction as a
weapon of defense, content under the leadership
ing the use of injunctions at all and to denouncing
the courts which issue injunctions. The sweeping
victory for the New York labor organization in its
legal fight to enforce a trade union contract by the
use of a court injunction is a severe blow to the
Gompers propaganda, which was summed up in his
recent expression, Sod save labor from the
courts" Conservative trade mionists believe that
the beginning of the end of that school of labor
leaders which advocate court defiance and use of
violence to obtain their ends. In any event. the de-
cision of the New York state appellate court is a
body blow to Mr.. Gompers' recently heralded cam
paign against the courts and the Republican party.