Evening star., 1940-01-21
Trust Busters Scan
Charges Of Radio
AGAINST Music Union
Made Work Is Issue
After Threatened
WoIkout Is Called of
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. Jan. 20.-Govern.
ment trust busters" were disclosed
today to be considering whether they
should try to "bust" the American
Federation Of Musicians, the union
to which William F.. Green, presi-
dent of the American Federation
Of Labor, belongs.
Before them were charges that
monopolstic practices were being
imposed by the union on the radio
industry.
The issue was made work" one
of the things Thurman Arnold, the
Justice Departments antitrust
chief, has listed as violation Of
the Sherman antitrust laws.
The contention of the radio in.
dustry, whence the charges came,
was that radio was being forced to
pay for made work" in the form
OF salaries for musicians who are
not actually needed on radio pro-
grams.
Threatened Walkout Called OFF.
The complaint was made to the
Justice Department in answer to q
threatened union walkout allegedly
intended to create an even greater
number of made work" jobs.
Whether for that, or for other
reasons, the walkout did not occur
when the crucial date-the date Of
expiration of radio contracts with
the Musicians Union-came three
days ago.
Justice Department agents in
New York pleaded ignorance Of the
whole proceeding. Men from the
Antitrust Division In Washington,
however, confirmed that the charges
against the union had been received
and were being studied. They said
no decision had yet been made on
prosecution of the case because the
staff of investigators available for
antitrust work was limited, and
was already busy on the New Deals
countrywide antitrust drive.
While the complaint lay on Mr..
Arnold's desk-where a group of
radio executives placed it at an in
formal conference weeks ago-union
musicians kept on playing on radio
programs. without contracts. It was
the first time in years that they had
done so.
Back Down Temporarily.
Temporarily at least, the union
had backed down. For on Thanks
giving Day, 1899, its leaders broke
on negotiations with radios rep
resentatives after the radio men re-
fused to agree to double the amount
they had spent for "ive" music:
that is, music played by living nu-
sicians as opposed to recorded
music. The threat then was that
If some new formula satisfactory
to the union was not worked out be.
fore the contracts expired. union
musicians would not play on radio
broadcasts.
That would have taken OF the
air such notables as Arturo Tosca-
mini, the New York Philharmonic
Symphony. the Metropolitan Opera,
and most Of the big name dance
bands. aa
But January IT, the day the con-
tracts expired. came and went and
nothing happened.
1t is not usual for the federation
to back down. It is one of the
strongest labor organizations in the
United States. 1t received added
strength when it adopted President
Green Of the A. F. L. as a member
after he had lost his membership
in the United Mine Workers as q
result of the c. I. O.-A. F. L. split.
Forced Extra Costs in 1887.
In 1887, it was powerful enough
to force all of radio, on pain of q
music-silencing strike, to spend
some two million dollars a year
more than it had been spending for
salaries of staff musicians.
Three separate contracts were
signed, one with the National
Broadcasting Co. and the Columbia
Broadcasting System as networks,
one with stations affiliated with the
networks but not owned or operated
by them, and one with independent
stations, unaffiliated with the net
works. To meet the added cost,
each station paid an assessment of
5.49 per cent of its gross income.
The basis of the unions demands
for such contracts was that recorded
music and network broadcasting
had drastically reduced the number
OF employed musicians, and this
was a fair means of restoring Jobs
that had existed at local stations