Evening star., 1941-11-12
Taking q Walk


president of the Congress OF Indus
trial Organizations, and Thomas
Kennedy, treasurer of the
United Mine Workers, to resign from
the National Defense Mediation
Board in protest against that
agency'S refusal to recommend a
closed shop in the captive coal mines
means, in effect, that the C. l. %
has turned its back on the machin-
cry set up by the Government to
settle labor disputes by mediation.
The logical inference, both from the
fact of the designations and the Ian
guage of the letter to the President,
is that henceforth the C. I. O. will
rely exclusively on the strike weapon
to enforce it's demands.
AS Justification for this deplorably
narrow attitude, Mr. Murray and Mr..
Kennedy wrote the President that
the decision of the board in the coal
case has made it impossible for
labor to retain any confidence in its
future action" That is not a correct
statement and no fair minded per-
son can contend that it is.
The one issue in this case was that
of the closed shop. There was no
question of wages or working con-
ditions in dispute. Beyond any
doubt, the closed shop demand was
purely and simply an effort to capt.
talize on the national emergency to
promote an organizational objective.
and the board very wisely refused
to lend itself to such scheme.
The board is not an anti-labor
agency. On the contrary, it often
has been accused of leaning too far
toward the labor side in past deci-
sions, but the leaders Of the C. I. O.,
it seems. would not be satisfied with
anything less than outright capitula-
ton to their demands. They were
willing to play the game as long as
they could make all the rules, but
when one decision goes against them
they put on their hats and walk out.
Americans with their traditional
instinct for fair play, will be quick
to recognize the poor sportsmanship
reflected by this attitude But, un-
fortunately, a great deal more than
good or bad sportsmanship is at
stake in this matter.
The President, in his message to
steel executives yesterday, said he
knew that they would work with
labor in their vital war industry, and
added that he is equally as positive
that labor will work with the execu-
tives."
In this latter statement Mr.. Roose-
welt seems to have been unduly op-
timistic, for Mr.. Murray and Mr..
Kennedy, heads of the unions which
control the steel workers, have made
it plain that they do not want to
work either with the executives or
the Government unless they can do
so on their own terms.
What the long-range result Of
their designations will be is not yet
clear Certainly, it will be difficult II
not impossible for the Mediation
Board to function if the c. I. o. re-
fuses to be party to it's delibera-
tions and refuses to be Influenced
by its findings Yet that seems to be
the course that Mr.. Murray and Mr..
Kennedy propose to take. And If
John L. Lewis should take the final
step Of calling another strike of his
miners-a move which seems i'm
plicit in the letter to the President
the folly of these labor leaders will
have come to full flower
This is a time when every member
of the C. l. o. should give serious
thought to the future. Their leaders
seemingly have committed them
selves to a dangerous course-dan-
gerous to labor and dangerous to
the country. If the defiance of the
Mediation Board by Mr.. Murray and
Mr.. Kennedy is to be followed by
widespread strikes in these indus
tries, the defense program certainly
will be crippled. But the effect on
organized labor will be disastrous.
In the long run, labor has everything
to lose and nothing to gain by chal-
longing the authority of the Govern
ment, and this is particularly true
at time when the security of the
Nation is endangered. If any leader
should specifically advocate such a
course, the rank and file would do
well to consider carefully the quality
of this leadership.
khorLov