Evening star., 1941-09-18

be illegal here David Lawrence.
after unless authorized by the vote
OF majority of the workers in elec-
ton supervised by the Labor Depart
ment of the Dominion.
In the United States the right to
call strikes is held by small number
OF persons. Fraud has been perpe-
trated in several strike votes as, for
instance, in the recent strike at the
Allis-Chalmers plant in Milwaukee,
where millions of dollars of naval
contract work was interrupted by
such a misuse of the striking power.
Testimony as to the fraud was
publicly offered by the Secretary Of
the Navy and by the head of the
Once of Production Management.
But nothing happened afterwards.
Within the last "a hours the strike
weapon has been utilized to black
out Kansas City. This is called an
"outlaw" strike. Again and again
this type Of strike has occurred and
about all that happens is the ex-
preston of regret by union leaders
that they could not control what
happened.
No Valid Vote Taken.
There Is no penalty for pulling an
outlaw or wildcat strike. Not long
ago the Attorney General of the
United States declared that the
strike at the North American Avi-
alton plant in California resembled
an 'insurrection" rather than a
strike. But nothing happened to
those who brought it about. AS a
matter OF fact the National Defense
Mediation Board under Chairman
William H. Davis rewarded the union
group that brought on the strike by
giving them 100 per cent of their
demands after the plant was seized
by the Army.
In the case of the Kearny IN. j.
shipbuilding plant, no valid strike
vote was taken. Although some
where around $4,000 persons are
employed and the union claims
that nearly all of them are union
members, the vote to strike was
taken in . theater with a capacity
Of less than 1000 seats and there
Vas nobody at the door to prevent
The entrance Of non-members and
Idle spectators. The strike vote was
taken orally and not by ballot.
Legislation forbidding anybody to
authorize a strike unless there was
. majority vote in favor of 1t and
unless such a ballot Is taken in
secret under regulations provided
by the Department of Labor would
be relatively simple to enact. 1t
would be constitutional because the
Supreme Court ruled in the famous
Jones & Laughlin case that Con-
eress has the power to legislate
with reference to strikes or even
threaCS OF strikes.
Relies on Prestige.
The House Committee on Naval
Affairs under the craftsmanship of
Representative Vinson, Democrat,
Il to begin next month a compre-
hensive investigation of the manner
IN which strikes are called in
America at the end of which inquiry
Il would appear that legislation of
some kind to prevent the abuse of
the right to strike would be in
order.
Meanwhile, the President has been
relying on his own prestige and in
fuence to stop strikes. Unfor-
tunately, a large part of the C. I. o.
cares very little for what Mr.. Roose-
velt says on the subject and as
Tor the A. F. L., number of it's
unions have apparently decided also
to ignore the President. The latest
defiance comes from the United
Mine Workers of America of which
John L. Lewis is president.
In response to request from the
National Defense Mediation Board
to send the workers on the So
called Captive" coal mines owned
BY the steel plants back to work till
the dispute can be studied, the union
leader has refused not only to allow
the men to go back to work but
there are hints of an extension of
the strike area unless the companies
capitulate. One of the issues is the
closed shop and for pressing this
the C. I. o. can hardly be blamed
because Mr.. RooSevelt's cumbersome
Defense Mediation Board encour-
aged the present wave of strikes by
letting 1t be known that modified
closed shop was a legitimate reason
for a strike.
Lewis in Cabinet?
The President went along with the