Montana labor news., 1934-06-14
Pro-Labor Member
of barrow Board
Answers NRA Pros

WASHINGTON. up Aroused
by the attack OF the NRA Labor Ad-
visory Board on the so-called Oar
row report, William O. Thompson, the
one consistently pro-labor member OF
the National Recovery Review Board,
issued a reply June l, which develops
into a counter-attack. He criticizes
the labor leaders for making division
between the interests of labor and
small business, in their eagerness to
defend the MIRA, and points to the
interests OF the workers in fighting
monopoly control and higher prices.
1T is clear that the interests OF the
small businessmen lie very definitely
on the side OF the workers and farm
ers in ommon opposition to monopoly
capital" Thompson says.
The members Of the Labor Advisory
Board, including such prominent labor
leaders as William Green, Sidney
Hillman, John L. Lewis and George
l.. Berry, were among the first and
most vigorous defenders Of the NRA,
after the barrow board had accused
it of encouraging monopoly, raising
prices faster than wages and oppress-
ing the little businessman. The labor
leaders charged that organized labor
representatives had not been consulted
by the board, while sweatshop en-
ployers had received "a very warm
welcome"
Thompson, who is known to have
fought for labor interests throughout
the hearings and to have engaged in
several encounters with such mem
bers Of the board as w. w. Neal, tex
tile manufacturer, Of Marion, N. c.,
an anti-union employer, denies the
charge the labor representatives were
not consulted. Indications OF his diff
ferences with other board members,
though nowhere specified in the state
ment, are seen in his declaration that
In making this defense Of the pro-
cedure of the board | am not dealing
with the individual attitudes of the
members of the board toward labor's
claims"
Thompson says hat the members
Of the Labor Advisory Board were
invited to attend hearings of the Oar
row board where labor matters were
under consideration and did as a mat
ter Of fact attend such hearings and
were given full opportunity to ex-
anime witnesses and to participate in
the hearings.
when the Labor Advisory Board
criticizes the barrow board for not
calling it in for consultation on trade
practices and other such matters, it
levels an attack on the Darrow board
which should properly be aimed at the
whole NRA," Thompson adds. He
points out that the boards function
was definitely limited to a specified
set OF problems concerned chiefly with
trade practice provisions"
Thompson accuses the labor leaders
of not facing the basic social and
economic issues raised by the Oar
row report" He says that the at
tack Of the Labor Advisory Board in
fact serves as a smoke-screen to cover
the very evils OF the MIRA that the
barrow board has exposed"
Nothing could be more misleading"
Thompson states. than the charge that
the Darrow board disregarded the
workers well-being. In attacking
the monopolistic tendencies of the
NRA," he explains, the barrow
board is the real defender of the in
terests of all workers in this country
who are now suffering from the higher
prices resulting from the very monop-
olies encouraged by NRA. The ten
dency toward monopoly, that is clearly
shown in our report, strikes at all
workers not only through higher
prices but through the pay-envelope Of
the individual employee"
The Labor Advisory Board referred
to the interests of the small business
man and the consumer as being oppo-
site, and said "The Darrow board
should decide which Of these groups it
elects to serve. Certainly it cannot
ride horses going in opposite direc-
tons.
Thompson answers this by declar-
ing that the interests of the two groups
ARE the same insofar as they are both
affected by the monopolistic prices
established by large corporations en-
couraged by the MIRA. The Labor Ad-
visory Board implies also that the
small businessman would benefit by ris-
ing prices resulting from NRA, when
actually as a consumer of monopoly
priced goods he is being forced out OF
business and into the ranks of the
working class"
Thompson is known to have been re-
sponsible for the supplementary report
of the Darrow board, which only Oar
row joined him in signing. This sup
plement declared that the hope of the
American people, including the small
businessman, lies in the planned use
OF Americas resources following So
cialization." 1t said that TO give the
sanction of the government to sustain
profits is not a planned economy, but
a regimented organization for exploit
t%ation."
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