The voice of labor., 1940-08-15

md State. look to labor organi.
:ations for assistance and repre-
icntation when the interest Of
he worker is concerned. The Ia.
Dor organizations are the forums
through which the working man
makes his needs articulate. With
the sharp economic and social
changes occurring within the last
decades Of this century. the role
OF organized labor has become
more prominent and significant in
oIr community life. Your Excel.
lency has seen fit to ask that a
representative of labor participate
in making this present survey.
The views of the labor groups
are actively solicited By our gov
erning officials and the lcgislatur-
es OF the various states. when
there is pending legislation af-
fecting the welfare Of the work
ing men and the public welfare as
a whole. Numerous government
al bureaus and tribunals in the
various states. as well as in the
Federal Government have labor
representation.
Other States
In other states. by tradition and
by actual legislative provisions.
labor representation is required
IN the Board administering Work.
mems Compensation Statutes.
This tradition prevails in the
following states: Massachusetts.
California, Utah. Arizona, Della.
ware, Michigan. Nevada and Wis
consin. Fourteen OF the thirty
two states having industrial
boards or commissions. provide
for labor representation. These
states are Arkansas. Georgia. u
linois, Missouri. Nebraska. North
Dakota, Texas. Colorado. Florida.
Idaho. North Carolina. Ohio.
South Carolina. and Virginia. In
New York State. the law is ad.
miiiistercd b. an Industrial Com.
miss!onc. over whom there is an
Industrial Board which reviews
Appeals. The Industrial Com.
missioner IS assisted in medical
questions BY an Industrial Coun.
Gil OF Is. made up Of representa-
ti"es oil labor 5 employers. and
S physicians. Ii is the practice
in New York to have labor rep
resentation on the important III
dustrial Board.
Two other States. Minnesota.
and Oregon. make the follow
ing declaration in their Work.
mems Compensation Laws:
II is hereby declared to
be the purpose of this sc; that
persons be appointed as Com
miSsioners who shall fairly rcp.
resent the interests of all con.
ccrned in IFS administration"
no Labor Views
II is my firm conviction tha.
until the basis Of representations
on the State Industrial Accident
Commission is altered to include
representation by labor. serious
obstacles VIII arise again in the
proper administration OF the law
Before discussing efficiency. it is
necessary to get at the roots Of
the evils which have appeared ,o
plague the smooth operation Of
the Maryland Workmens Com.
pensation Statute. FIRST OF all
there must be a fair and repre-
sentative basis for the constitu.
ency OF the State Industrial Ac-
cident Commission. The Claim
ants who appear before the Com
mission are workers. most of
whom are employed in industry
The present Commission has the
following complcXion: Two q.
he members are business men
.hrer are lawyers. but the group
which is most directly affected
oy the work OF the Commission
namely, Labor, has no represent
alton whatsoever
Experience ccncluSiyely shows
that labor representation has a
salutory and wholesome effect up
on the operation and efficiency
of government bureaus and tr!
bunals. Verne A. thinner. Di-
rector of the Division Of Labor
Standards of the United States
Department of Labor, appeared
as a witness before the Survey
Committee. He stated that 1t was
the practice among a number of
states to provide seats for labor
on the commissions administer
ing Workmen's Compensation
Statutes.
He stated further that he
thought this was a wholesome
thing and indicated that such
representation made for checks
and balances. and thereby avoid
ed abuses. Mr.. thinner further
declared that in his long expert
ence. which extends over some rs
years with the Department of
Labor in New York. exclusive of
his experience with the Federal
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