Evening star., 1934-10-23

The unprecedented action taken by
the American Federation of Labor
convention in giving authority for the
establishment Of vertical unions in Sc
lected industries is characterized by
the press as reversal Of American
labor policy. 1t is observed that the
federation has been devoted through
out its history to the maintenance of
craft unions, but it Is conceded that
mass production has created conditions
that must be met with new methods.
Most Of the unions in America"
says the Rochester Times Union, "are
of the horizontal or craft type, but with
the centralizing Of industry and mass
production the up-and-down, all-in-
one union became more logical. The
mine workers grouped in such union
and the textile workers are in prac-
tically that form. The A. F. of L.
plans to bring the automotive, cement
and aluminium workers into the indus
try-type unions. Recent developments
in the governmental attitude toward
labor make such step the reasonable
course The Roosevelt administration
has recognized collective bargaining
and created agencies to adjust troubles
Of the workers in certain industries as
a whole, such as steel or textiles. There
are outstanding instances where craft
disputes may upset an entire industry
or project"
Advocates of industrial unions"
notes the Scranton Times, Say that
the action of the federation Is a recog-
milton of the new condition in indus
try which must be met by organized
labor. It is not intended to put all
workers in an industry on an equal
footing. ClaSsiflcationS, of course, will
continue in the making of wage scales.
Just as they do now with the United
Mine Workers. Under the new plan
jurisdiction and control will be CEN
tralized and the workers cause
strengthened"
Something of a crisis" in the opin-
ion of the Davenport (Iowa) Daily
Times, "confrontS the labor organiza-
ton as a consequence of the influx Of
members arising from the operation OF
the N. r. A. and Its labor provision.
Whether the present craft union pol
icy should be modified in the direction
of industrial unions has been warmly
debated in the inner councils OF the
federation" The Troy IN. " Rec
ord concludes: How much reorgani-
zation of the American Federation OF
Labor will be necessitated by the move
remains to be seen. This is a period
of rapid and radical change and we
must expect experimentation in labor
circles as well as in others-let Us hope
that the results coming out OF all these
experiments may make for real and
permanent progress"
Explaining that "the principle OF
the vertical organization calls for the
enlistment Of all workers In a given
industry in a single organization" the
New York Times comments: Oddly
enough, the shift from horizontal TO
vertical has found support among
different groups for contrary reasons.
Some of the more militant unionists
believe that It would increase labor's
power to force concessions from en-
ployers. Some who favor closer CO.
operation with employers believe that
1t would avoid the jurisdictional dis
putes which frequently disrupt indus
try and avert strikes of the sort which
call out craft unions in an industry
where good relations may prevail
merely because workers in the same
craft are involved elsewhere in a dis
pute."
"Older men," says the Danbury
ews-Times, will remember the Or
ganization of knights Of Labor, which
began after the Civil War. This was
a vertical organization. All the men,
hers Of an industry were included in
a union. and In negotiating, or strik-
Ing, the union spoke, or acted, for all.