The Connecticut labor news., 1922-07-14
By International Labor News Service.

By International Labor News Service.
 Washington, D. C., July IA Unions cannot be made and unmade at government dictation, said Presi- dent Samuel Gompers of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, in a red hot comment on the action of the railroad labor board in "outlawing" the unions now on strike
 President Gompers said that the ruling was utterly bolshevik in char acter' and that it was ''too ridiculous and fatuous to be accepted as per manent American government policy.
 By this astounding ruling," he continued, ''the board undertakes to disband unions at will and to com mand at will that new organizations be formed This no government agency can do, because trade unions are voluntary organizations of the wor kers formed in response to their demand, to serve their needs and to respond to their democratically ex- pressed will and desire.
 The action of the board Is exactly replica of the action of the com munlsts in turning the unions into government controlled agencies for the carrying out of the orders of the state. Freedom of expression van ishes under the order of the board But l say now that the workers of America, either on the railroads or elsewhere, do not intend to sacrifice freedom of expressoin and of action. The board undertakes to say that unions which differ with the board lawed.' Whether this Is for the mo- ment an assumption of authority on the part of the board IS immateriaI. It IS the logical outcome of the very establishment of such boards It is an inevitable consequence of an in 1tlal action that was wrong in prin- ciP3e and that has proven impossible in action.
 "The Railroad Labor Board, as an institution functioning in the 2oth century IS second in incongruity only to the so-called 'open shop move ment.
 ''The railroad workers in this case alid their case before the board Vot- ing six to three the board decided l with the railroads.- Great s1ashes in | wages were ordered. Terms and con ditions that had obtained for as long as 20 years on some roads were abro- | gated by the stroke of an autocratic | pen. For thousands of men the eight hour day, accepted by the whole civil l ized world, was obliterated. The I board seemed literally to reyel in an orgy of destruction and slashing.
 The law gives the workers, or the l railroads, the right to decline to ac- cept the boards rulings. The work | CTS, of necessity, declined and by vote l of the membership withdrew their | services They declined to work for | the terms ordered by the board The | board now declares them 'outlawed' This IS autocracy with vengeance l government back of the movement to | kill the spirit and the fact of col lective bargaining, of joint negotia- l coming together of workers and er1- ployers. It is the calamitous out growth of a mistaken idea.
 "Unions cannot be unmade and re- made d government dictation. This | is neither the Russia of the black nor of the red autocrat. This l voluntary action, of conference and | and of lawful action Is rooted in our soil and grown into our institutions
 "The unions in the American Fed eration of Labor are permanent They are a part of American life They have definite principles, every one of which IS absolutely American. The unions have performed a degree of social service that should bring them the admiration of every American.