Evening star., 1940-10-26

Whereby the ad- Dayid Lawrence.
mlnlStration endeavors to drive a
wedge between labor leaders who do
not accept its dictatlon and the rank
and file of the unions. In sworn testi-
mony before the National Labor Re-
iauons Board recently, the chair
man of the board testified that he
and his colleagues didn't think Mr.
Green and the executives of the
American Federation of Labor were
In tune with the views of the labor
unions of the A. F. of L. throughout
the country, and actually endeavored
to line the latter up to send tele-
grams to Congress differing from
the position taken by Mr.. Green on
legislation then pending with re-
spect to changes in the labor laws.
Technique Is Interesting.
The administration has an inter-
estlng technique in the cases both
Of the A F. of L. and the c. I. O.
In the former instance. Dan TObin,
head of the A. F. of L. TeamsterS
Union, big international organi-
cation, was taken unto the preSl-
Dental bosom and made admins
trative assistant to the President
Of the United States. He resigned
a few weeks ago to take charge of
the labor division of the Democratic
national campaign headquarters, but
If Mr.. Roosevelt is reelected, MI
Tobin will be back in the admins
tratlon and may even be chosen
Secretary of Labor TO succeed Miss
Perkins.
Mr.. Tobin was scheduled to so
on the air after Mr.. Lewis and he
naturally is doing everything he can
to get the A. F. Of L. votes. The
c. I. o. influence in behalf of the
administration comes through Sid
nev Hlllman. now A defense COM
missioner, He and Phil Murray
vice chairman of the c. I. O.. who
are in favor Of Mr. Roosevelt's re-
election. are depended upon to offset
any of john Lewis attacks on the
administration when it comes to
keeping c. I. o. votes in line.
These aspects Of what might be
allied labor union tactics present a
7eW angle of national affairs The
administration, by reason of its
patronage and especially because Of
The immense powers given the Gov
srnment under the Wagner Labor
Relations Law. can exercise tre-
mendous power over the selection of
labor leaders and can really control
union politics as directly as if the
unions were part of the govern
mental bureaucracy itself.
Law Has Its Drawbacks.
MANY of the labor leaders have
been blind to the fact that through
the Wagner law they have put
themselves III a moose that can be
tightened at any time bv the admin
istration in power M. Lewis. on
the other hand. has had the GUS
,omary conception of labor politics,
namely. that he could swing the
votes of his unions as bloc to the
candidate who seemed to be better
able to serve the interests Of the
labor group.
The administration is on the alert
a labor leader unless it benefits the
President politically Mr.. Lewis, by
speaking over the radio on the issues
In which labor is interested, has
brought into the open the fight be-
tween the White House and those
labor leaders who have ventured to
differ with it on public policy.
Workers Class Conscious.
Perhaps the biggest influence
that Mr. Lewis wields today is out
side his own unions. For the c. I. o.
IS numerically small and so is the
A. F. of L. alongside the tremendous
number of unorganized workers
who, though not members of
union, are nevertheless class con-
SciouS. Up 10 now Mr.. Roosnvelt's
claim to the slogan that he is the F..
workingman's friend has gone un-
challenged and there has not been
a single labor leader Of national
prominence who has conducted anv
attack on the Roosevelt third term
or labor policies. though here and
there in the State labor groups
there has been some sporadic oppo-
sition
When Mr. Lewis attacks the third
term and lets lose a barrage against
an administration which in 1886 got
nearly 85 per cent of the labor vote
OF the country. some defections NAV |
be expected. 1t will not affect the !
unions very much. for their lines of .
cleavage as between the Democratic |
and Republican parties were drawn /
long before Mr.. Lewis spoke. But /.
1t will influence many thousands of |
independents in the lower income |
groups who will find themselves
more receptive now to the no third
term arguments of other radio /
speakers, On the whole, the Lewis
speech will benefit Mr.. Wilkes
candidacy. though it will not bring
to the Willkie standard the same
strength that Mr. Lewis was able to
muster for Mr.. Roosevelt in 1886 F.
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