Evening star., 1933-09-01
SWEEPING CHANGES
IN Mr.. A. PLANNED
Johnson Maps Reorganiza-
ton, With Gates and Two
More Aides Leaving.
Continued From First Page.)

Continued From First Page.)
an all-day session. took q definite stand
on the opposite side of Mr.. Gates labor
views. The board issued q statement
tn which it said Misrepresentation COM
PEELED it to state why it believes the
N. r. A. would court disaster by ac-
cepting in codes any so-called 'efh-
cheney or individual merit clauses or
other disguised anti-labor provisions"
The statement was issued over the
signature Of Acting Chairman William
American Federation Of Labor. Con-
tinuing it said:
"The board opposed this clause In
one code. Now 1t finds it in 20 other
codes recently submitted. Codes are
being revised on the eve of hearings
to get this clause in. Whether pref
aced with an open-shop declaration or
with q disclaimer of intent to modify
the collective bargaining provisions of
the recovery act, the wording generally
runs that nothing in the code shall
prevent the selection, retention or
advancement of any employe on the
basis Of his individual merit (or eff
ciency without regard to his mem
"
Cor other) organization.
This clause will rise to plague the
N. r. A. in the working of any code
where its insertion is permitted
Efficiency and merit are fine words
and the boards opposition Is misrepre-
sented into implying that we would
protect the inefficient. This is the
revival of an ancient SANDER on or
ganized labor. Also it signals some
thing more important for the N. r. A.
'As practical men. with long expert
ence Of this very clause, we know the
misuses to which efficiency and merit
are put.
behind which employers opposed to
any organization by their employees have
favoring organization Of their own. The
terms as applied have left the sole de-
termination of what constitutes eff
cheney or merit to the employer with
out adequate appeal by the workmen
who are being Disseminated against.
AT the present time, everywhere in
basic industries workmen who take at
face value Section Ia Of the recovery
act are organizing themselves and ask
ing guidance and support from national
unions. If those men should be system
matically discharged-no matter how
efficient they had been for years-and
deprived of their livelihood because they
lost merit" by joining unions. situa-
tion Of wide unrest would result for
which any NJ r. A. code containing
such clauses would be blamed. We fore
see this clause, exempted from the code
and posted up in factories by recalci-
trant employers, as If countersigned by
the administrator and the President.
and pointed to as the justification for
hiring and firing, promoting and de-
noting as the employer pleases. Among
the industries now SO keen for this
clause are the very ones that in the
past have decimated their labor forces
to root out union men, all In the name
of individual merit.
Future victims will hardly forgive
NJ R. A. because such clauses are pref
aced by a legaIsm about not modify
ing section Ia.
Presidents Warning Recalled.
1.-THE President has warned that at
tempts to 'whittle away the effective
ness of collective bargaining will not be
tolerated. Congress Overwhelmingly re-
jected such whiting as is now being
lugged into the back door Of codes. In
the spirit of the Presidents declaration
and of Congress action the Labor
Advisory Board sets its face firmly
against the acceptance of any code with
this clause destined to defeat the at
tainment Of national recovery"
Other members Of this board attend
ing yesterdays conference were John I.
Lewis, Father Francis j. Haas, John
Frey, Rose Schneiderman, Joseph
Franklin and Sidney Hillman.
As one Of the causes Of dissension
with johnson, Gates made public q
memorandum submitted to johnson
some time ago dealing with the labor
question.
In it he foresaw the end Of both the
company union, with interference from
outside unions, and the conventional
types of trades union" both Of which
he said were essentially provocative"
and inconsistent with the spirit Of the
recovery act.
"The underlying purpose Of N. R. A."
Gates said, "iS to create q balanced
economy in the United States, which
must necessarily consist Of proper
balance in each trade or industry be-
tween the economic rights Of capital
properly invested, the social rights Of
labor productivity employed. and the
rights of the consuming public to pro-
lection against monopoly prices"
Vertical Union Advocated.
He proposed q vertical union" In
each industry, consisting Of organiza-
ton by crafts to establish and maintain
differentials Of wages among employees.
The personnel of the johnson organ
ization now numbers 1,607 officials and
clerks. johnson said the general shake
up in his organization would follow
closely upon the completion Of the
emergency Unemployment drive under
the insignia Of the Blue Eagle.
He said most Of the employees are
connected with the drive to bring all
employers under the Presidents tenn
porary agreement, and when this ends
new set-up will be sought with re-
duced personnel.
The administrator said this had not
been worked out entirely IN his own
mind yet, but he left 1t clear that
many of the present staff will 60 when
q permanent organization IS created.
The administrator himself does not
expect to remain at the head Of the
N. r. A. long after the emergency drive
is completed and codes are designed
generally for industry. His assistant
administrator for labor, Edward F. Nc
Grady, Is to become Assistant Secre-
tary Of Labor on November is.
A SERIES OF FRIENDLY
u. S. DeD0sit0rv