Evening star., 1937-03-30
BARGAINING HELD
LABOR STRIFE KEY
McGrady Declares 80 Per
Cent of Warfare Could
Have Been Averted.

Ninety per cent of the industrial
warfare that has stirred this country
in the past four years would have
been averted had labor been given the
right to organize and to be recognized
for collective bargaining covering
wages, hours and working conditions,
Edward F. McGrady, Assistant Secre-
tary of Labor, said in an address last
night.
McGrady, the principal trouble
shooter" of the department, spoke on
the National Radio Forum, arranged
by The Star and broadcast over
national network of the National
Broadcasting Co.
McGrady reviewed the status of la
Dor from the days of serfdom in Eng
land and told of the struggles in the
United States as the campaign for
unionization went on.
Reforms came, but they came pain
fully slowly" he said pointing out
that. even recently, the Senate in
vestigation disclosed anti-union es-
pionage by some employers.
Presenting year-by-year figures,
McGrady showed that from this con-
dition nearly 7,700 strikes occurred in
1886, and in two months of this
year there were 800 more.
Strike Costs Heavy.
at is impossible for me to tell you
what price the communities in which
strikes took place had to pay" he said
land I have no reliable figures on the
financial losses to industry. However
I do know the amounts involved in
two recent strikes that came under
my personal supervision. One cost
100000 600 and the other 100000 000
Explaining that the conciliation
service for labor disputes in the De-
partment Of Labor is only permissive
proposition, McGrady detailed the ef-
forts the administration has made to
set up national labor policy"-frst
through the National Recovery Ad-
ministration and latterly by the Wag-
ner labor disputes act.
Wagner Act Challenged.
Pointing out that industry is chal-
lenging the Wagner act in the courts,
contending it is unfair and biased
In favor of labor" the speaker con-
tinued:
'As a result. during the past 20
months, SO applications for injunc-
tions were served against the act
all of them by industry. Fifty-nine
of these applications were denied.
None of those denied was reversed
by the Circuit Court of Appeals. but
In the meantime injunctions we're
granted in 20 cases. The average de-
lay up to the first of March, win or
lose, was little over seven months
per case.
Labor feels very strongly about
this and, having failed to secure these
rights by law, is determined to obtain
them by its economic strength. This
is one industrial sore spot and will
be the cause of much future trouble
unless remedy is found
Doesn't it seem tragic that in
this country, the richest Nation in
the world, having the smartest busi-
ness men in the world, and the most
productive workers in the world, that
industry and labor cannot of them
selves settle their differences in an
intelligent and honorable manner
without having to resort from time
to time to industrial warfare, whose
vibrations extend into every State in
. the Union?
| Time to Sheathe Swords.
IF peace and good will are to be
established and maintained among
those associated with the industrial
life of the Nation, it is high time
that they sheathe their swords and
think in terms of cooperation, under
standing and mutually.
This involves the complete recog-
milton of the rights of all who con-
stitute the human force of industry.
There can be no responsible elation-
ship where one industrial group
attempts to deny to another group
the exercise of legal or a moral
right. AS corporations become neces-
sary in the formulation of industrial
enterprises of trade, unions also be-
come necessary in order to satisfy
the desires of working men and women
to organize for mutual advancement |