Montana labor news., 1934-10-25
Labor Representation on Code
Authorities

President Roosevelts reported plan for indus
try to do its own policing under NRA codes and
discipline its own chislers emphasizes the para
mount Importance of having Labor representa-
tives on all code authorities.
All NRA codes contain two major sections:
One section sets forth the rights of the workers
in their industrial relations with employers. The
other section sets forth the rights and duties of
employers in their relation with each other.
Code authorities, now made up chiefly of en-
ployers, may administer, with a fair degree Of
justice, the provisions governing the various fair
and unfair practices in the manufacture and sale
of commodities. But it is not reasonable to ex-
pect them to administer justly the labor provi-
sions of the codes.
Section IA of the National Industrial Recov-
cry Act, Incorporated in every code, guarantees
the workers the right to organize in bona fide
trade unions and elect agencies for collective
bargaining without interference by employers
or their agents. To expect a code authority
made up of anti-union employers to enforce this
section is absurd.
Moreover, every code contains numerous pro-
visions relative to maximum hours, minimum
wages and various other work conditions, which
most employers oppose. To expect a code au-
thority made up exclusively of such employers
to administer these provisions with justice to
the workers is absurd.
The recent convention Of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor took a rational position on this
question. Pointing out that in less than Is out
of more than 500 codes so far adopted has La
Dor achieved representation, and that in only
five or six of these instances has there been dir
ect union representation on the code authorities.
The convention declared:
Recommendations have again been made
to the National Recovery Administrator that
labor representatives be placed on all Code
Authorities. These labor representatives must
be given on the Code Authorities equal in pow
er and in privilege to all other members of the
Code Authorities.
"This means that the labor representatives
must have full access to all information Of the
Code Authority in connection with the adj
ministration of the code; they must have the
power to attend all meetings of the Code Au-
thority. In no other way can they have ade-
quate information of the policies adopted by
the Code Authority, and in no other way can
they influence those policies.
Inc attempt mas Dceu HldQe 10 give the
labor representatives on Code Authorities only
advisory powers, and to make it impossible for
them to attend meetings of the Code Authority
except when they are specially invited to at
tend.
"This places them in a position where they
can hope to accomplish little, and will entirely
defeat the purposes which Labor has in mind
when it demands representation on the Code
Authorities"
The convention added that months of exper-
fence stresses the fact that Strongly organized
unions are the most effective agency available
for the enforcement of the codes"
The whole scheme of industrial recovery will
necessarily be worked out largely through the
codes. Labor cannot secure the benefits from
the National Recovery Act, which it Of right ex-
poets unless it is in a position to participate eff
fectively in the administration of the codes.
To confer upon code authorities the power to
police industry under the codes, without giving
Labor adequate representation on the enforce
ment bodies, is an anomaly which should not be
considered by responsible Government officials,
supposed to serve all Of the people.