The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-04-17
Mole S Eromn
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WASHIN 6 7 ON
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Senator Q476RA Bee
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The National Administration is
swinging more and more toward the
cooling off period" and mediation
principles of the Minnesota Labor
Relations Act as a solution to the
problem of production stoppages due
to labor disputes in defense industries.
President Roosevelt said the other
day in a press conference that it
appeared to him We were heading for
cooling off PERIOD" but even be-
fore that, in his executive order Great
ing the National Defense Mediation
Board, he adopted the principle Of
the Minnesota law The concluding
paragraph of that order reads as
follows:
"It is hereby declared to be the
duty of employers and employees en-
gagged in production or transportation
of materials essential to national de-
Tense to exert every possible effort to
settle all their disputes without any
interruption in production or trans
portation. In the interest of national
defense the parties should give to
the Cancellation Service of the De-
partment of Labor and to the Office of
Production Management (a) notice in
writing of any desired change in
existing agreements, wages, or working
conditions; (b) full information as to
all developments in labor disputes;
and Co such sufficient advance no
tice of any threatened Interruptions to
continuous production as will permit
exploration of all avenues of possible
settlement of such controversies so as
to avoid strikes, stoppages or lockouts :"
The President says it is the duty of
both employer and employees to give
the government notice and a chance
to mediate before work stoppage by
strike or otherwise. So far he is leav-
ing performance of that duty on a
voluntary basis. but unless there is
100 per cent cooperation, it is obvious
that sooner or later, and probably
sooner, there will have to be legislation
I to require such cooperation.
From my own small experience in
labor disputes, know that the Nation
al Defense Mediation Board is up
against a very tough problem when
most Of the major disputes before it
are already in the strike stage with
the plants closed down. 1t is several
times harder to negotiate settlement
of differences after plant closes
and tempers flare than before it closes,
as any conciliator will admit. It seems
to me the Board is hardly being given
fair break under the circumstances
and that its job would be much simpler
were there legislation giving it chance
at mediation before plants were closed
by disputes.
I received many letters urging that
Congress "crack down" on labor unions
some even wanting them outlawed
entirely. because of the current strikes
in defense industries. believe writers
of those letters overlook the fact
that the great majority of unions are
making every effort, and are being on
the whole very successful, in avoiding
strikes.
1t does appear that a small minor
ity of union leaders, particularly in
the CLIO, want to take advantage of
the defense emergency to stage big
organization drive, or to exact conces-
sions perhaps not merited from en-
ployers. or to increase their member
ship and power by jurisdiction strikes
But they are small minority of
organized labor, and it would be un-
fair and undemocratic to attempt to
penalize all unions for the faults of
these few
I think it is equally true that
small minority of employers are seek
ing to use the defense emergency to
break unions. They realize strikes are
unpopular and figure that by refris-
ing reasonable union requests and
forcing strikes, they can thereby hurt
and possibly break the unions.
The best answer, it seems to me, IS
to require a waiting period, with i'm
partial government investigation and
publicity of issues and recommended
settlements in extreme cases. In that
case, the pressure Of public opinion as
well as the fairness of rank and file
union members, would compel both
the labor leaders seeking to capitalize
on the emergency and the few en-
ployers who are attempting to d.
the same thing to be reasonable.