The Washington times., 1938-08-11
GirdIer Demands
Inquiry Into CI0
Steel Head RdpS
Senate Groups
Hearing
Continued from Page II

ing q brown, double-breaSted suit,
white soft shirt and a red and
black necktie entered the hear.
ing room accompanied by Dan B.
Gillis, vice esident of the
youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. +;
Thomas S. Patton, general coun-
sci of Republic Steel, and Charles
M. White, a Republic vice presi-
dent.
While organizers for the CIO
turned out in force for the hear.
ing, the steel companies also were
represented by many officials in
the throng.
Senators Bridges (R.) of New
Hampshire and Holt CD of West
Virginia were spectators at the
committee table.
Chairman La Toilette was the
only committee member present.
He alone has been conducting the
little steel' hearings.
$175,OOO A YEAR
At the outset of Girdler's ap-
pearance before the committee,
Lafollette questioned him on the
formation of the Republic Steel
orporation, a combination of in
dependent steel companies.
Lafollette, in digging into the
financial affairs of Republic, ex-
hibited a map revealing interlocX-
ing positions of officers and d.
rectorS of Republic Steel, Youngs-
town Sheet and Tube Company
Cliffs Corporation, Cleveland Cliffs
Iron Company, and partners Of
PicklandS, Mather and Company.
Girdler said his salary as board
chairman was $175,O00 a year
prior to recent reduction of 10
per cent which brought his pay
down to $157 900 a year.
TELLS OF POLICIES
II am responsible to the stock
holders of Republic more than
anyone else" Girdler said.
Asked whether the labor policies
OF Republic are the same as those
he exercised while superintendent
OF the Jones and Laughlin Steel
Company, Girdler replied:
There are some things you
could do in 1919 that you can't
do today.
In 1919 We had close rela-
tionS with our men, but if you
say anything to them now it is
an unfair labor practice under
the Wagner act"
Girdler'S statement summarized
his company'S position in the
strike and it's attitude toward labor
in general. He said:
What this country needs TO-
day, if industry and its workers
are to prosper, is a form of col
lectiVe bargaining and a ma
tional policy for industrial rela-
tionS which will bring industrial
peace"
WANTS AMENDMENTS
He submitted this five-point pro.
gram for amendments to the Wag-
ner labor relations act:
mo tribunal can be i'm
L" partial if it acts as combined
investigator, prosecutor, judge and
jury. This tyrannical procedure,
, now standard practice for the
Labor Board under the Wagner
Act, has no place in a democracy.
THE act should be amended
to provide a tribunal properly in
keeping with American prac-
ticeS.
3 mo law can be fair which
A' grants one group a privilege
which it denies to another group.
The act should be amended so that
employer as we'll as the employa
may bring complaint before the
!, tribunal.
2 THE act as presently inter.
u" preted and administered by
the labor board restricts the right
OF free speech. The board depriveS
the employer of the right to ex.
press his opinions to his own en-
: ployes.
: "The act should be amended 50
that there can be no question that
1T conforms to our Bill of Rights OF
the Constitution and preserves the
! guarantee of free speech, which is
: one of our most important civil
liberties.
A THE act as now written pro
+ II tects the employees against
. coercion by the employer. This
q does not go far enough. In the in
! terestS of civil liberties and civil
cation, the act should be amended
also to protect the worker against
coercion from any source, includ
ing labor union organizers anC
Sympathizers and the ruthless tao
+. tics INDUCED in by them. The act
should define unfair practices or
! the part of labor organizations a!
i well as employers.