The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-12-05
Collective Bargaining Is Up
held By War Department
Head In Speech
DEMOCRACY GUARDS
Rights of Workers To Unite
Safe Only Under Our
Form Of Life
BY N. B. of O. P. Delegates to the
A. F. of L. Convention

A. +. of l.. Convention
New Orleans, La.-Strong support
of the complete recognition Of collec-
tive bargaining as the most efficient
method Of safeguarding the rights of
working men and women was express
ed by Secretary of War Stimson in
an address to the annual convention
of the American Federation of Labor.
"The practices and procedures of
collective bargaining are most surely
protected by the machinery of dem
ocratic organization of workers and
their privilege freely to unite, un-
threatened by any outside interfer-
ence," Secretary Stimson said. "When
/ say this l am only voicing the recog-
nized experience of our nation as
crystallized in the decisions of our
Supreme Court. That august tribunal,
in speaking Of such unions has said:
"They were organized out of the
necessities of the situation. A single
employe was helpless in dealing with
an employer :. Union was essential
to give laborers opportunity to deal
on equality with their employer
$50 spoke Chief Justice Taft in
one of the leading cases on the sub
ject in this country.
"Now l say that in times of emer-
gency even more than in ordinary
times the responsible trade union is
an indispensable instrument of natl
onal well-being because through it the
free cooperation of labor is enlisted
and assured i'm the national task which
.4otafronts US.
"The cooperation Of labor in the
spirit of free and democratic part
nership is far more effective in Sc
curing necessary and rapid produc-
tion than labor which is coerced by
governmental authority. Machines do
not operate themselves. The quality
and quantity of their output ultimate
ly depend upon men and the quality
and quantity of the work of men ulti-
mately depend upon the spirit which
animates those men. 1t is basic ar
ticle of our democratic faith that free
men will produce more and better
goods than men who are not free; men
who are coerced or recalcitrant.
"This conviction is more than an
article of faith. 1t has been tested
in the fiercest fires of experience 1t
has proven itself in the ordeal across
the Atlantic where men are giving
their all to resist the terrific assaults
of the Nazi aggressor. Under the
leadership of Ernest Bevin and Her
bert Morrison, English workers today
are producing as men have never pro-
duced before and by their labor are
turning their island home into an un-
conquerable citadel of freedom. With
the enemy's bombs literally dropping
about them as they work, they are
turning out more and more Of the in
struments of defense.
"This has not been the result of
coercion or sacrifice of labor's status
and dignity. On the contrary this
unconquerable effort has been made
under the leadership of labor itself
which today is the backbone of the
British fight for freedom. The meas
ure Of labor's service to the British
nation has been enhanced in proper
tion as it's physical and spiritual re-
sources have been called upon and
have been freely enlisted in the COM
mon cause.
"We have hope that we may not
reach this supreme test; that we in
America may not be called upon to
suffer as these workers Of England
have suffered. But the danger for
months has been approaching and to-
day it may even be imminent. Today
our production, hopeful as it has been
thus far, is as yet very far from ade-
quate. Sacrifices will undoubtedly be
called for from labor, as they will be
called for from the other citizens of
the Republic, but such sacrifices l be-
Continued on Page Two)
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