The Daily Alaska empire., 1937-01-25
New Year Strikes
lNew York Times)

(New York Tmes)
 The new year has begun with outbreak ot strikes and threats of strikes which naturally cause concern and cloud the immediate future To some extent of course the present trend is natural phe- nomenon of recovery marked upturn in business activity. bringing with it rising profits and higher prices is usually accompanied by increase of in dustria controversy labor seeks either to retaln the high purchasing power of paid during de- pression to share to larger extent n the earnings of business during a period of greater prosperity But there is this special and significant fact about the strikes with which 1887 has begun ln compara- lively few of them the question of higher wages the dominant issue that issue is the closed shop or some other phase of the demand for union recognition
 This is perfectly clear in the case of the strikes which now beset the automobile industry. The pr- mary issue here is wages at all but the insistence of the United Automobile Workers upon negotiating with the management of the General Motors Corpora ton as a whole The management has expressed it's willingness to conduct negotiations with empoye representatives but has sought limit such negotia tons to an individual plant basis Its explanation of
 it's position in this matter is that grievances should logically and must necessarily be handled locally in the case of an employer whose plants scattered in thirty-five communities in fourteen States, oper- ate under a wide variety of local conditions and III circumstances which vary sharply with the different manufactures which they produce This IS a reason able argument But it's reasonableness does not make it acceptable the advocates of industrial unoniza- ton The "st-down" strikes which have been begun ill a number of General Motors plants are directed at an effort to establish industrial unionsm and the closed shop in mass production industries.
 It remains to be seen how much active support this effort will receive from the rank and file of labor in the automobile industry. Several considera- tons make it highly doubtful whether the union leaders are speaking for the great mass of workers in the automobile industry. One is the fact that when the workers in this industry boiled by the Auto mobile Labor Board official Federal agency ap- pointed by the President, it found that 69 per cent 900 voting workers cast unaffilated ballots 13 per cent favored various employees associations leaving only comparatively small fraction in favor unions affiliated with any wing of the organized labor movement. This poll to be sure, was taken some time ago. but it seems doubtful whether sentl- ment has changed completely in the months which have passed since the board reported its findings
 This is particularly the when it is remembered that these months have witnessed general increase of employment and of payrolls. And here a second consideration casts further doubt the success Of the union leaders They asking workers to strike for abstract principle of labor organization In an industry in which the Governments own records show per capita weekly earnings more than 20 per cent above average for all manufacturing indus | tries in the country whole.