The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-06-13
Facing the Facts
With PHILIP PEARL

lustrated as in the recent Supreme
Court decision on the hours Of work
applicable to trucking and bus en-.
ployes.
The majority ruling, in which five Of
the so-called liberal" members Of the
court joined, was hailed in labor cir
cles because it so construed the law as
to give thousands of trucking and bus
employees a maximum 42-hour week
under the Wage Hour Act. Hitherto
these employees were subject to CO.
hour maximum work week as set by
the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The Supreme Court held that only
employees upon whose work the safety
of operation depends are subject to the
jurisdiction Of the Interstate Com
merce Commission.
Thus, the law as interpreted by the
Supreme Court, now produces this ef-
feet:
/. Clerical workers, mechanics,
helpers, leaders and other employees Of
motor transportation companies, whose
work does not affect safety of opera
ton, cannot be employed more than az
hours a week.
2. Truck drivers and bus drivers,
upon whose alertness and generally
good physical condition the safety of
operation chiefly depends, can be en-
ployed as much as 60 hours week.
This may be good law, but it is just
plain ridiculous in fact.
The l. c. c. Must Act
Of course, we do not mean to criti-
cize the Supreme Courts decision. We
think it did a fine thing in going as
far as it did. In fact, we think it went
as far as it could. The responsibility
for the present absurd situation rests
upon the members of the Interstate
Commerce Commission.
Certainly, it is about time that the
members of this commission woke up
to present day facts. The 6O-hour
week is vicious anachronism, relic
Of the wage-slaving past. 1t should
be discarded as quickly as possible.
Daniel ]. Tobin, President of the
Teamsters Union, and William Green,
President of the American Federation
Of Labor, have appealed in vain to the
Interstate Commerce Commission to
junk it's outmoded hours regulations
and get in step with modern develop
ments. If the Supreme Court of the
United States, if the people of the
United States can recognize the JUS
tice of organized labor's demands for
the shorter work week, surely a bu-
reaucratic commission ought finally to
see the light Of common sense.
The decision of the Supreme Court
was fine thing for the clerical work.
ers, the mechanics, the helpers and the
leaders in the motor transportation
industry. Simple justice and the re-
quirements of safe transportation
should make the Interstate Commerce
Commission realize that the shortert
work week also must be extended to
the men who are responsible for the
lives and safety of passengers and
freight, the men who sit at the wheel
of motor vehicles, travelling the ma
tion's highways.
Scope of Antitrust Laws Defied
Another Supreme Court decision,
handed down the same day, calls for
comment. This was the Courts ruling
in the Apex Hosiery case.
Careful reading of the opinion in
this case leads to the inescapable con-
clusion that the Court now recognizes
that the Sherman Antitrust Act is
not an instrument for policing inter-
state commerce but rather an act cal
culated to remove q specific economic
evil resulting from trusts and busi-
ness combinations which control mar
kets by monopolistic practices.
The best part of this decision is the
fact that it greatly curtails the appli-
cability Of the Sherman Act to labor
unions and their activities. True, the
Court did reject the theory that the
Clayton Act entirely exempted labor
organizations from prosecution under
the Sherman Act. But the Court de-
clared that the applicability of the Act
to labor unions is severely limited.
The only possible circumstance, un-
der this decision, in which labor un-
ions may be prosecuted for violation
of the antitrust laws is when they are
used by combination in an industry
to effect fixing of prices or creating
a monopoly.
Thus, the vast bulk of the indict-
ments brought by Assistant Attorney
General Thurman Arnold against la
Dor unions affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor appear to
have been effectively squelched by the
Supreme Court.
The American Federation of Labor
does not defend collusion between un-
ions and industry to fix prices or kill
competition. If such practices exist,
they should be wiped out Immediately
by the unions involved. Otherwise
those responsible should be punished
to the full extent Of the law.