Evening star., 1935-04-24
TWO PLANTS ASK
N.R.A. |NJUNCT|0NS
Suits Here for Blue Eagle
Rights Make Total of
Eight Pending.

Two more Neutrality-suspicious. In
Baltimore. Md, and the other IN
Newark, N To-day petitioned the
District Supreme Court for injunc-
tions to prevent N. r. A. and other
Government officials from denying
them the use of the Blue Eagle.
A total of eight such suits are now
pending in the local courts.
Charging President Roosevelt and
NJ A. officials with originating and
sponsoring an illegal boycott" the
Standard Overall Co. of Baltimore
asked the court to give them the right
TO use the NJ r. A. labels on their
products and to prevent the de-
PENDANTS from conducting the boycott.
Justice F. D. Let's signed a tenn
porary restraining order granting
these requests.
The company. through Attorney
Richard E. Wexford, says it was en-
gagged in the manufacture and sale
Of prison made garments until State
law forbidding the importation OF such
products made a change necessary. 1t
was then decided to open manufac-
turing plant in Martinsville, Va.
where, it is alleged, 5000 women and
girls were unemployed and destitute.
Trade School Plan.
Since these women had no expert
encs in clothing manufacture, the
company says it could not pay them
the minimum wage rate in force at
that time and arranged for the con-
duct of trade school by town
authorities until they should become
sufficiently skilled to do the work. The
company says it was led 10 believe no
objection would be raised to paying
these learners less than the minimum
wage rate. but that subsequently, with
out an adequate opportunity for a
hearing. their right to use the Blue
Eagle was revoked for this reason.
N. R. A. officials, il is charged. then
notified the companys customers that
they, too. would be guilty of violating
the law if they purchased goods OF the
company not bearing the insignia.
Declaring they are threatened with
economic death" as result OF tne
refusal to issue the labels and the
allegedly illegal boycott, the company
seeks the preliminary injunction to
protect it during the litigation and
permanent injunction upon hnal
hearing.
Another temporary restraining order
was issued in a suit brought by the
United Color & Pigment Co., Inc. OF
Newark, which SAYS it believes the
N r. A. is about TO remove its Blue
Eagle because it has not relnstateo
IS of its 366 employees who struck for
higher wages.
Employees Form Union.
The company. through Attorney
Richard H. Wilmer. says its employees
formed their own union and that tneI
dealt with it in various negotiations
granting wage increases and reduc'
ton in working hours.
| On October 8. 1884, it is alleged,
general 10 per cent pay increase VA
demanded by the employees to mee'
! increased living costs. The company
saws it could not afford to grant tnE
demand, but offered to install a COM
pany store where employees could pur'
chase necessities at reduced costs.
It is claimed this proposal wa
! rever explained adequately to the en-
p!oyes by their representatives. ane
that the latter traudulently induced
them to strike. The strike lasted sl'
| DAYS, when, it is alleged, all but IS Of
! the workers we're re-employed.
The company says it did not rein
state these because competent mer
had been employed to do their worl
during the strike and because business
had fallen off. After hearing. how
ever. they we're accused of refusing tt
re-employ them because OF their ac'
tivitjes in connection with the en-
ployes' organization. The Natlona
Labor Relations Board ordered tha'
they be re-employed, threatening II
recommend revocation of the Blue
Eagle upon failure to do so.