Evening star., 1936-08-04

s&1fJU COUytICt Is fHpeFtUHy III tHC
&sek mills OF the Pittsburgh area
0cer the drive by John L. LetOis
nHd his lieutendntS to organize the
Soseers into an industrial union
D told here in the third OF a series
Sf fue articles presenting an in
Innate, first hand, impartial study
\ dt what many observers regard as
/ Ste most significant industrial con-
1ict OF this generation.
%BY THEODORE A. HUNTLEY.
]ITTSBURGH, August (N,A.N.A).
%here is no question about the attl-
(He of the steel companies toward the
dan L. Lewis plan for a single union
f.steel workers.
with them it's war-war to the fin
And they are sure they will win If
xomes.
This view is unanimous IN Pitts
Ugh Steel executives refuse to be
lRted. They are sticking to what
e&ns to be an agreement to let the
Herican Iron and Steel Institute do
I'D talking, publicly. But they do not
,Sitate to talk off the record.
There is support for their view IN
ONE of the mills In the National
-tSbe Works in McKeesport, IA miles
Ir the river. and a subsidiary OF big
tSel." 1 was told by one of the workers
riso had been a company union rep
es SENTATIVE that not 20 per cent OF the
nm would go out if a strike were
ared. He was not particularly sympa-
hstic toward the company. He just
lDpened to be working regularly. as
vSte the rest of the men, and wanted
oSnake the most of it.
: A Difference of Opinion.
Another worker, Croatian, told me
nSthe presence of a group of fellow
vHkmen from the same plant: No
'oSy down in our mill is in favor OF the
l1Gon. They want no part of it."
Thereupon slight, keen-eyed
oath from the tin mill spoke up to
an: THE tin mill is 95 per cent or
and everything's o. K.!"
Fhere you are. In the tube mill the
mn aren't taking any chances on a
aS-off. on prolonged idleness. In the
irf mill they're in the Amalgamated
$ociation of Iron, Steel and Tin
NSrkers now, and ready for whatever
Ones. Will they strike? There's no
ak of a strike. What do they want?
1&her wages? A shrug Of the Shoul-
leHs is the answer.
Kou get the clear impression in Nc
as you do elsewhere, that
hi Lewis leadership. as such. means
IT'D e to the Slavs in the mills. You are
oh further that some of the union
|rkanizers, of the old-time walking
(eEgate type, are not such as to in
pEe confidence among the workmen
rtto induce them to join the union.
rCoIlege Men Might Be Better.
st would be better for the union
|aAse, one shrewd and sympathetic
|hserver remarked, if Lewis and the
|tRer leaders of labor we're to develop
Ind bring to their support new type
|f:l labor leader, getting them out of
fhs colleges-men who could reason
(Ah the workmen, and show them. as
|Sput it, in what direction labor'S in
etest lay, and not merely appeal to
hsir passions or to prejudice against
be mill management-when there
Eft so much as there once was, be-
hlse of changing conditions.
What is it the men want? What
l&-- beyond the move to unioniZe
hfn? Higher wages? Shorter hours?
Fhege is no one to say.
1hn Murray, quiet-voiced Scotch
k1hman in immediate command of
Fe spranization drive as vice president
|fsthe United Mine Workers and the
|ckRe field head of the Committee for
h6VstriaI Oranization, was asked If
|e really expected to organize the in
ttSsfy this Fall.
sCertainly. Absolutely. No question
bout it!" he replied.
u Anomalies Are Evident.
Another spokesman for the labor
fSup said:
sSteel operations are falling off now.
lry will fall off perceptibly in Au-
|9t. Then it will be in the bag"
He didn't explain how it would be
hSier to organize the men and COL
|& union dues from them when they
81 working on part time than when
bsy are working on full time, as at
resent.
That's one of the anomalies of this
|lfole drive-of the conflict between
hE industry and the union leaders.
Ebther is the persistence of the
IKE talk, with the Lewis group in
E4ing that it all comes from the
bhpanies and that they would like to
\ Zee a strike now, before November,
(E the purpose of breaking it. I got
Ehe of that kind of talk from steel
Ekcutives. The only strike talk in
|Rulation comes from the men them
sHec-anS fhev Ioo't utoyt RI cfriEa