Evening star., 1936-11-18
Strike and Lockout.

At the outset of q busy year in the
automobile industry, with wage scales
and employment rising, the strike and
lockout at the Bendix Products Corpora
ton plant in South Bend is symptomatic
and may become important. The lines
are apparently drawn there for battle
in organized labor's efforts to organize
the automobile industry. But, curiously
enough, the outcome of the battle is less
dependent on the success of maneuvers
by employers or employees than it is on
what the United States Supreme Court
may finally have to say about the labor
relations act.
The trouble which finally came to
head in the Bendix plant in the form
of "sit down" strike, Immediately fol-
lowed by lockout of employees except
those remaining without authorization
on the company property, is of long
standing. 1t resulted directly from the
impetus given attempts to unionize open
shop operations through enactment of
the Wagner labor act.
In November of 1885 a local union at
the Bendix plant, since affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor's
United Automobile Workers of America,
petitioned the Labor Relations Board to
force the Bendix corporation to deal with
it in collective bargaining. The board
ordered hearing and its trial examiner
found that while the company was
amenable to provisions Of the act, being
engaged in interstate commerce, an elec-
tion would be necessary to determine the
relative strength of the two unions in
the plant--the Bendix Employees Asso-
citation, a company union. and the Fed
eral Labor Union, the A. F. Of L. affiliate.
Some employees, the examiner found, evi-
IDENTIFY belonged to both unions. Only a
secret election could determine which
union represented the majority and,
under the labor relations law, was en-
titled to speak for all the employees
The corporation sought and obtained
an injunction against the secret election
ordered by the board, and Federal Judge
Barnes, in granting the injunction,
handed down one Of the most sweeping
indictments of the act contained in any
of the various lower court decisions. He
held the act to be invalid and the board
powerless to order the election. The
board appealed from his decision last
April, but arguments on the appeal win
not be heard until December 10, lapse
OF eight months.
In the meantime, the organization
work by the A. F. OF L. and the Bendix
Corporations efforts in resistance have
apparently gone steadily forward, ending
in yesterdays demonstration. Because
OF the Importance of the Bendix Corpo-
ration in the automobile and aviation
industry, the plants tie-up, if prolonged
for any length of time, may prove seri-
Gus. And the trouble at South Bend
may spread to other fronts, as the issue
there is substantially the same issue
that confronts the automobile industry
at large. The issue does not arise over
rate of pay or hours and conditions of
labor, but is concerned with recognition
of one Of two labor unions. Only fair
elections can determine the wishes of a
majority Of the employees in their choice
Of union membership. But such; elec-
tions will be resisted to the last ditch
by many employers, whose hopes for
maintaining open shop conditions are
pinned on the Supreme Court.