The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-10

| to dlSproVe.
 Admitting one bad strike in s
 key defense industry might throw the whole labor movement for a
 loss from which recovery would be
 difficult, labor leaders still point
 to a number of factors which in-
 dicate the increased strnegth of
 the unions:
 i. Labor has not lost one strike
 since the defense effort began,
 There have been settlements in
 which the unions did not get all
 they were asking for, and formu-
 la settlements which were com-
 promise between labor and man.
 agement.
 3. Wage increases to labor are
 now estimated at about $480 mill
 lion annually, practically all ob-
 tained through union bargaining.
 3. Both the cause and the ef- feet of these increases has been a a big gain in union memberships. c. I. O. is claiming five million
 members, and so is A. F. of L. Both are increases of more than million members since 1889.
 4. While this total of 10 million organized workers represents only a third or & fourth of the non- agricultural workers in the coun- try, Bureau of Labor Statistics re- ports that two-thirds of the work CTS in rubber, aluminium, mari- time, steel and electrical equip ment industries, half the workers in shipbuilding and metal mining industries, and a third of the workers in aircraft industries are covered by union agreements.
 s. Companies which have had long standing policies for an open shop, such as Bethlehem and Ford, have been brought to union rego- tiation. The new aircraft industry, largely unorganized year ago, has been a fertile field for union expansion. Organization drives are on everywhere.
 6. Concessions which had never been granted before, such as vaca- tons with pay, have been incor- porated in some of the new agree- ments. And the new contract which John L. Lewis negotiated for the United Mine Workers Un- ion, with a dollar-a -day inc "eases, and elimination of the southern differential, is being hailed as the most remarkable collective bar agreement ever achieved.
 NO c. M.
 STRIKE
 Two major hurdles must be clear ed by labor in the immediate fu- ture If 1t is to maintain its present pace. First is the new agreement with General Motors. Second is the Vinson bill now before the House of Representatives.
 Agreement on the General Mo- tors situation is almost certain. A strike in this industry Is generally conceded to be one of the things that won't be allowed to happen, though the notice of intention to strike" period had expired when the case went before the National Defense Mediation Board Negoti- ations before this board were con- ducted with the utmost secrecy, which kept public discussion at Q minimum in the critical period. And if a strike were the outcome, the United Auto Workers Union, o. I. O., was on record that the strike would be confined to non- defense plants, work continuing on all defense orders, uninterrupted.
 The Vinson bill, providing for a compulsory cooling of period freezing the open shop situation as of day of passage and curbing the right to strike for the dura- ton of the emergency, would url- questionably stop the labor nove- ment in it's tracks, if the law could be enforced. There Is strong senti- ment in favor of It's passage by Congress, but is runs so counter to administration policy that the bill apparently will be sidetracked before passage or receive Q presi. dential veto.
 HOW ABOUT PEACE?
 One issue that has not been men sioned since the A. F. of L. and O. I. O. conventions last November is the matter of peace between the two groups. It's more remote now than ever, although o. I. O.-A. r. of L. jurisdictional strike.
 Both groups are Independently strong today and they don't have to unite. And from labor's point of view, there Is no more reason why there should not be two labor groups than there is for not hav- ing two employer groups, National Association of Manufacturers and the U. s. Chamber of Commerce.
 So labor rides high. By step- ping out of 0. I. O. leadership on the Roosevelt issue, John Lewis has made Phil Murray as a labor leader. If labor continues its gain, watch for Murray's prediction: "When labor becomes powerful enough, government will accord 1t the right to participate"