Evening star., 1934-10-17
GENERAL MOTORS
TESTS LABOR ACT
Industry Moves to Give Men
Free Rein in
Elections.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

II the customs of political democ-
racy are to be extended to economic !
affairs-the relations Of labor and !
capital-then employers feel they |
have a right to address their WorKmen |
and set before them the merits OF col !
lective bargaining. just as all sides in |
political campaign lay their views
before the voters in advance OF an
election.
What the General Motors Corp !
has done in expressing its views
In a letter to its 100000 employees
probably will be followed by other
corporations, not only in the motor |
industry, but in other fields.
The misunderstanding - indeed,
the misrepresentation as to what
collective bargaining really is and .
what it implieS-have been so numer-
Gus as to cause more labor disputes
than would normally arise in period
of business depression.
General Motors Takes Step. !
The General Motors Corp. several
weeks ago drafted a plan and sent
1t to all foremen and division
managers. This correspondent re-
Gently referred to the plan as one OF
the evidences of enlightened action
on the part of business. Another step
has Just been taken-the distribution ;
of the plan by the corporation to Its
100000 workmen.
It means that the vague phrase
collective bargaining is not going
to be left to be interpreted by boards
and bureaus at will, but is going to be J
viewed by industry as something more |
than a mere question of union recog- !
milton. 1t is going to be taken by
employers to mean exactly what the
law says-namely, that worklnen may
be represented by spokesmen Of their
own choosing and that in the making
of their selections there should be no
intimidation or coercion from any
quarter That is what President
Roosevelt himself stipulated in the
settlement last Spring.
The General Motors Corp. takes
the position that it has a right of
free speech and that it may reason
with its men and express its views
in much the same fashion that views
are expressed in a political election.
No Restraint on Issues.
l he IONtIIlItllI llOWdOdyo lCClo ~
has the right to set forth the rules
by which elections shall be conducted
but there is no restraint upon laying
the issues before the workmen.
The significant thing in the letter
sent to the General Motors workmen
is a statement that membership in
a labor union does not in itself eS-
tablish the right of any such union
9th ii iznf
employees in collective bargaining ne
gotiations" and it goes on to say that
representatives for such purpose |
must have been specifically chosen !
by the employees they are to represent |
and the fact OF such choice must be
established"
This means that if the American
Federation of Labor has a group of
members in a plant, such representa-
tives as are chosen by the A. F. OF l..
members will not be considered alone, !
but the corporation will accept also
for bargaining purposes the men who
represent plant organization or any
other employees organization estab-
lished by the men themselves.
All Not Company Unions"
The A. F. of L. organizers usually
call all employe organizations not
affiliated with the A. F. of L. by the
term company unions" accusing
them of being dominated by the man
agement. This is true Gin some in
stances, but it is also true that there
are numerous plant unions of a bona
fide character which do not wish
to be affiliated with national or out
side unions.
The collective bargaining law does
not say that only A. F. of L. unions
shall be organized. 1t does not specify
what kind of union or organization
shall be considered the spokesman of
the employe. On the contrary, both
Gen. johnson and Donald Richberg,
general counsel of the N. R. A, have
publicly stated that the Government
does not recommend any particular
type of organization or union and
that this is a matter for the workers
themselves to determine.
In the motor industry the employees
have several organizations of their
own. The A. F. Of L. has been max
ing vigorous effort to get members
in the ranks of the motor workers
The automobile strike last Spring was
threatened because the A. r. OF l..
wanted recognition for its own repre-
sentatives as being the bargaining
agents of all workers The motor
company executives insisted that the
A. F. of L. represented only minority
Of the workers. The dispute was set
tied by setting up workers councils on
which the A. F. of L. and the en-
ploye unions we're given representa-
tlves in proportion to their numerical
strength.
Agreement Expires November 3.
Now comes the test OF how the
workers councils shall operate The |
agreement made last Spring expires |
November 3 unless renewed by Presi- |
dent Roosevelt Meanwhile the Gen |
eral Motors Corp. is going ahead with |
Its statement Of what it believes to /
be honest and just and effective bar
gaining, believing that the main pur- /
pose which is to get men and man /
sgement together to work out TO mu-
tual satisfaction wages and hours and |
other conditions of employment is
more important than form or |
method championed by one group in |
the workers ranks.
The men themselves will have to