Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-10-25
LaborWaxinq
Fat on Crisis,
Johnson Says
Public Must Pay for II
in Aieh-Cests He Ayers
BY HUGH s. JOHNSON

Il defense industries is fantas-
tical beyond belief,
The general civilian population
Is about to 60 thfoug h the
wringer of high taxes, sc ant
supply and sky-rocketing costs
of living-and be squeezed dry.
Business except for a few
great corporations is about to be
forced against the wall by all
these forces, plus a reckless and
Implanted priorities system
which nobody denies is going to
deprive it of it's daily bread -
materials to fabricate, distribute
and SELF
But organized labor or,
rather the small group of radical
and sometimes communistic,
sometimes racketeering leader
ship which controls it is not only
required to give up nothing, but
is being permitted, il not en-
couraged, to use this crisis TO
enrich itself in a campaign OF
intimidation by holding dag
ger-point against the jug u a r
vein of national necessity-war
production.
MIR. SIDNEY HILLMAN has
Vl practically announced him.
self as car of our labor policy,
In that capacity. he has adj
mitted that he has permitted
and abetted one hi-jaeking OF
the defense effort by violating
the spirit if not the actual letter
of the law OF government con-
tracting-award to the lowest
bidder.
s, This he did, he says, because
the lowest bidder had labor
contract with a CIO union and
he was afraid that il that bidder
got this great contract, ALL
unions in other places would
strike the defense building pro-
gram, all this was notMithstand-
ing the fact that the AFI build
ing trades have contract not TO
strike defense.
Apparently Mr.. Hillman be-
1ieves such contracts are no
good. He has good reason for
such belief. In the navy after
such contracts there have been
more strikes or at least more
time lost in production than ever
before.
Naval production on the Pa
cific coast is being threatened by
a strike of a few welders-
throwing many times their own
number out of work and shut
ting down complete shipbuilding
and repair operations.
Their grievance is not against
their employers or their govern
ment. They just don't want to
be dominated by the AFL boiler
makers. But they are hi-jacking
the defense program just the
same and using the nations ne
cessity TO gain their ends.
- -
MUCH of steel production is
NA threatened by a strike Of
workers in the captive mines.
They want closed shop and the
check-off. which means forced
collection of union dues by the
company itself-a means not
only OF complete forced unieniza-
ton by a single union but of in
Suring its continuation.
The manufacture of steel re-
quires a particular type of coal
produced in these mines which
are owned by the steeimakers.
Complete control Of this bottle
neck would give them as much
power over steel production as
the government or the COM
panfes themselves There is not
involved here an inter-union
feud, but there is involved a
feud between John Lewis and
the President.
BY decision of the defense
mediation board. the Kearny
Shipbuilding Company was re-
quired to fire any union man
who doesn't pay his union dues
"a particularly effective device
TO perpetuate particular union
in that plant regardless OF the
wishes of the workers.
THE company declined. The
Il government took over" the
plant. The navy is operating it.
Soon we shall see the gov
eminent itself forcing this
perpetuation of a single union
exactly as il will be doing if the
Hillman decision is allowed to
stand in the Currier- case.
Price control. including a Just
sterilization of wages, is an
absolute necessity 10 prevent
imitation. But because wage
control is opposed by labor lead
ers the government is making
an ass of itself by attempting
TO Justify the exclusion of wage
control-a policy which threaten:
every household in this country
Ours is long-suffering people
but how long will II stand for
this sort of favoritism and in
justice at the expense of the
whole people and the safety OF
the nation? / don't know-but
certainly not forever.