The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-07
AT. |. Heads Join
n. R. A. to Smash.
Auto Strike Wave
(COntinusd from Page u
chinery now to NOV down the col

I AOInldl ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS bLldI II DIOkt
the general strike Of Public Utilitie;
workers in Milwaukee, Wis. About
the same time, the N. r. A. Com
pliance Board formally announced
1t will hold an election in the Budd
Plant at Philadelphia-an election
in which hundreds OF bIacklisted
strikers cannot vote, and with nc
guarantee that collective bargaining
representatives chosen by the cleo
ton viii be recognized by Budd.
W. s. Knudson and Donaldson
Brown, General Motors executives,
conferred all day long with Wagner
and William Green and other Labor
Board members. They promised an
announcement late today, openly
declaring soInthing must" be done
to kill the auto strike. Wagner in.
troduced the subject in his press
conference, saying that James r.
Dewey. Labor Board "conciliator"
sent to break the strike, reports the
situation very serious" Wagner
explained that the companies held
company union election last Au-
gust and now categorically refuse
union recognition and all other de-
mands.
Il am very eager to stop the
strike before it begins" Wagner re-
vealed the cold brutality under
meath his liberal demagogy, be
cause after a strike starts, each day
that it goes on hatreds become more
intense and it is more difficult to
get settlement. If we can prevent
strikes, particularly now, there will
be 8 great economic saving both to
the industry and to the workers"
He didn't say, of course, that a
strike at this strategic time means
no greater loss of wages than at
other times-though it means ire
mendous loss to employers on spring
orders.
Can Stop ANY Strike"
A capitalist correspondent told
Wagner of general reports of the
coming spring strike wave and asked
solicitously, do you think you have
enough machinery to deal with it?"
eyes, think we have enough ma
chinery to stop any strikes" Wagner
said. II think we can cope with
the situation"
What about the merit clause
(f1re-at-wilD in the auto code?"
Wagner was asked.
THE merit clause is innocuous,"
Wagner replied. "You cannot change
the law IN. I. r. A. by any clause"
Which, apparently, is supposed to
explain why the employers kept it
in the code over bitter worker pro-
tests.
Wagner to parade his liberalism
then told an anecdote about how a
reporter commended that the new
Wagner bill, allegedly to thwart
company unions. was somewhat
drastic" to which Wagner gave as
surance that he merely wanted
workers to select their own rep
resentatiYes." He added "enlight-
ened employers want their workers
to choose their cwn representatives.
It's only a minority who want to
control the representatives Of their
workers"
"You mean by enlightened EN-
ployers' those like Gerard Swope?"
Wagner was asked. And he ac-
tually said, about the notorious
Swope's General Electric Company
unions, Il understand his unions
are now disconnected from the
company" but the correspondents
gagged and snickered so that he
became completely flustered and
tried to cover up-"but I really
don't know and this is one Of the
things l know 7 don't know. You
know, there are some things I think
1 know and don't know, but this is
one of the things I know I don't
know, so I'd better not discuss it"
He doesn't know although Swope
is from his own state and sits with
him in the NR.A.
Wagner said he had nothing yet"
from the Justice Department on
the Weirton case, and that there's
nothing new in the Ford case.
He roundly denounced the Harri-
man Hosiery Mil in Tennessee and
exclaimed with pride that it has
been cited to show cause why
the Compliance Board should not
guess hat?-take away its Blue
Eaglel
Last night the Labor Board an
nounced that its strike breaker had
Success in having the utilities
strike in Milwaukee postponed, and
that this strike would have tied
up the city's electric, gas and tran
sit systems" Both sides have been
summoned to a hearing here on
March IS, Wagner announced.
The Compliance Board announced
that the Budd Election will deter
mine the free choice" OF the en-
ployes among the following alter
natives: self-organization through
the plan OF employe representative
as proposed by the nineteen elected
employees representatives: self-oy-
ganiEetion through tine United Au-
tomobile Workers Federal Union;
self-organization through any other
agency; and no SELF organization.
In other words organization in
company union would be sell
organization" to the Compliance
Board.
Twelve to fifteen hundred Strik-
ers in the Budd plant have not
been re-employed, and apparently
will not vote in the poll. Further,
the announcement carries no guar
antee whatsoever that those elected
will be recognized in collective bar
gaining. Therefore, the Board can
say with bitter accuracy, 1T is the
Compliance DIRECTORS understand
ing that the Budd Company has