The Connecticut labor news., 1924-02-23
COURT DECISIONS
 VITALLY AFFECT
 ORGANIZED LABOR
Three Recent Findings Put Burden On Corporations Instead of
 the Employes.

A recent issue of Law and Labor con- tains synopses of three legal decisions which are of interest to labor people. In New Jersey, a court ruled i'll the case of the state attorney general vs. the Public Service Railway company that a public service corporation can not refuse to operate during a strike be- cause such operation would be at loss | The court said:
 "The duty resting on a quasi-public corporation or its privileges and fran chises must be surrendered.' A decree of the Kansas court of indus tsial relations was contested by the | Charles Wolff Packing company in the supreme court if the United States l which upheld the powers of the indus trial relations court except as to the fix ing of wages.
 The decision has now been transmitted to the Kansas supreme court, which has ordered the packing company to carry out the details of the decree, with the exceptions noted. Some of the details of the decree were as follows:
 onecttarleCsdpeArhssmtexe A basic working day of eight hours shall be observed in this industry; but a nine-hour day may be observed not to exceed two days in any week without penalty. departments operating 24 hours dap and seven days week, each emp1oye therein shall be entitled to one day off each week. This order shall continue in force until changed by the court of industria 1relations or changed by agreement of the parties with the ap- proval of the court of industrial rela- tions."
 In Michigan, a farmers cooperative association has been enjoined from boy cotting ucoa, a product composed of cocoanut oil and peanut oil churned in milk, which is sold on the market in competition with butter
 Suit was brought by the manufacturer, The Best Foods, Inc.," against the AL legan Milk Producers association, for pledging its member not to patronize any merchant who sold butter substitutes in certain towns The court enjoined the defendants Tn the midst of the most specific language possible, making very detailed definitions of his idea of boy cotting
 In each of these decisions the courts dealt joker into the hands of big busi- ness.
 In the first mentioned case, while the decision on its face appears adverse to public service corporations suffering from strike conditions, 1t also opens the way for the court to support strike breakers employed to keep the utility running.
 In the packing company case the joker IS Tn the last sentence of the courts decision quoted above which permits the Kansas court of industrial relations to impose any sort of working conditions 1t may see fit upon the packing company employees.
 The boycott decision was just another >o0S oA a JudSe IIldkIIlS Id" III aCCOTQ- ance with his own personal notion. If it was wrong for the milk producers to boycott dealers who handled a competi- tive product, then it is also wrong for manufacturers to boycott dealers who sell competing brands. Yet it is we'll known that many large manufacturers apply very effective boycott system to retailers who try to introduce a new product, and they are not enjoined by the courts. Apparently, boycott methods employed by big business are all right,