Evening star., 1939-06-13
THE EVENING STAR, TUESDAY, JUNE 49,
Many Workers Lose
Negotiation Rights,
Msgr. Haas Says
Employers Opposition
Chiefly to Blame,
6. U. Official Stotes
BY the Associated Press,

BY the Associated Press.
CLEVELAND. June 13-Before
the second National Catholic So
cial Welfare Congress today was a
statement from Msgr. Francis J.
Haas of the Catholic University Of
America, Washington, D. c., that
less than a fifth of American work.
ers are permitted freely" to choose
representatives to negotiate with
employers.
Something like four-fifths of
American workers do not, for vari-
GUS reasons-but mainly because OF
employers opposition-enjoy the
right" he said last night. This
figure may be taken as a measure of
the absence of the democratic prin-
ciple in American industry.
If we are to apply-as we must
our yardstick of human liberty to
industrial as we'll as political life,
we should have to amend the pre-
amble of our Constitution from
We. the people, to We, one fifth
of the people"
Msgr. Haas added that freedom
for workers to select their own rep
reSentatives must go further than
merely permitting them to negotiate
wages and hours"
Called Cruel Illusion.
1T is essential to the public veal"
he said, that this right be broad
ened to give workers a voice in de-
termining prices and output. Wage
increases and hour reductions ac-
companied by more rapid increases
in living costs are cruel illusion.
Wages and prices must be brought
into proper balance, not only within
industries, but also between indus
tries"
Msgr. John A. Ryan, also of the
Catholic University, told the con-
gress-which is devoted to discus
sions OF social-economic doctrines
outlined in encyclicals of Popes Leo
XIII and Plus XI-that "the as
sumption that unemployment can
be abolished through a policy of
laissez-faire Qet alone) and gov
ernment inactivity is ignorant, cruel
and worse than futile"
Senator Joseph c. O,Mahoney of
Wyoming, chairman of the Tempo
rary National Economic Committee
told the congress-:
There is growing disposition
among the executives of big busi-
ness to recognize the responsibility
OF big business to the consumer and
to the general public as well as
labor.
Mutual Confidence.
1T is my personal belief that we
need only to build up mutual conf
dence between leaders of business
and leaders of government to Law
the basis on which we may erect an
enduring prosperity"
In a sectional meeting on rail-
roads, M. j. Gormley of Washing
ton, executive secretary of the AS
soc1ation Of American Railroads,
said today in a prepared address
that railroad labor is coming more
and more to the point of recogniz-
Ing that what is good for the rail-
roads is good for the employe."
For labor, Leo E. Keller of De-
trolt, statlstlcian for the Brother
hood of Maintenance e-of-Way En-
ployes, said "the public would get
better service and the employees
would enjoy greater economic Sc
curlty. many believe, if control and
operation of the railroads were
moved farther from the brokerage
houses and closer to the round
houses"
Conditions have greatly changed
IN the railroad industry" said Mr..
Gormley. 1T is no longer a monop-
oily. In addition to the employer
and the employe, the general Ship
per and the competitor, the last two
being extremely important from
the standpoint of the welfare of the
railroads and their employees must
now be recognized as a controlling
factor in the prosperity OF the rail-
roads and their EMPLOYEES"