Montana labor news., 1936-05-21
LABOR SKEPTICAL OF
FRANCES PERKINS

WASHINGTON. -(FP)- Secretary
OF Labor Frances Perkins now has a
chance to redeem herself in the eyes
of labor. Bat she probably won't.
Looking like a cat that had just
swallowed a canary she gleefully an
nounced to her press conference re-
Gently that she, single handed, had
settled the walk-out on the ship Cali
fornia, strike-bound in San Pedro,
Calf. She related how, while on
March 4, the cabinet was giving a din
ner to the President in n OF Wash
ington's swanky hotels, she slipped
into a phone booth for an hour and in
duced the striking sailors to go back
to work. She said the terms OF the
settlement were that the men would
be given every opportunity to present
their case in hearings in New York,
the home port Of the ship.
81 promised to use my good offices, "
she said reflectively. "Yes," those are
the very words | used, my good Of
fees OF course, She added hastily in
a covering manoeuvre," if they're con-
victed OF some crime, like sabotage or
something, the matter is out OF our
hands
Now Secretary of Commerce Roper
has become nightly concerned with
safety at sea and he has asked Attor-
ney-General Homer S. Cummings to
start prosecution Of the strikers as
muntineers. Whatever merit the strik-
ers' demands had, Roper said, they had
menaced safety OF passengers at sea
by striking while the ship was in port,
Mutiny, it is to be supposed, falls into
the category "of a crime like sabotage
or something which Miss Perkins
originally slipped out as grounds for
getting out from under if the affair
grew too hot,
Roper, great respecter Of safety at
sea that he is, has conveniently for
gotten the dismissal on February 20
OF Commander H.. Mccoy Jones and
Ere 1erick L. Adams, second and third
ranking officers of the Bureau of
Navigation and Steamboat Inspection.
The two men were fired for insubor-
dination which consisted of refusing to
answer questions regarding publication
Of a report showing the Bureau woe
fully backward in its inspection serv-
ice. Safety at sea there was quite a
different matter and the Secretary OF
Commerce was very upset to think that
the public had been let in "prema-
turely,' as he puts it, on something re-
garding the inspection service.
In that case, Of course, a strike was
not at issue. Men, women and chill
dren travelling on boats whose boilers
are liable to burst, whose plates are
rusted and ~corroded, whose engines
threaten to quit at any moment, whose
propeller or rudder may rust away, are
in no danger compared to travelling on
a boat whose men demand the wage
their fellow workers get, according to
the philosophy OF the Secretary OF
Commerce.
Safety at sea is an annoying slogan
when suppression of a report from the
division officially concerned with the
matter is at stake. But safety at sea
is a very useful device upon which to
hook striking seamen on charges of
mutiny which carry heavy prison pen
alties.
Some might say that the action OF
Roper and Perkins reveals the %inconsis-
t%encies OF the New Deal, That is not
SO. 1t reveals the horrible consistency
Of the labor policy of the New Deal
Almost without exception the Depart
ment Of Labor believes that the way to
settle any strike is to tell the workers,
60 back to work. Wen take care OF
you"
Miss Perkins, Ed McGrady, assis-
tant secretary OF Labor, and their crew
are either unwilling to recognize or
ignorant OF the factors attendant upon
a strike. They fail to realize the des-
peration in which men strike. They
fail to realize the torturous hours OF
indecision in which the worker weighs
the meager comfort OF his wife and
children against the possible chance OF
complete restitution.
To Miss Perkins and her ilk a strike
is a union coyly flirting with a boss for
more wages, or shorter hours, or bet
ter working conditions. 1t occurs
when the men have a headache or their
backs hurt and they decide they need
a holiday. Trouble occurs when out
siders and communist agitators' come
in. To them a strike is not an ex-
preston Of the conflict between the
producer Of wealth and the owner OF
wealth.
GO back to work and Wen take care
Of you The answer is "Yeah?"