Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-12-26
Closed Shop
Still PrickIy
Labor Issue
Leaders Agree on Peace
but Point Rankles
BY PAUL MALION

BY PAUL MALLON
WASHINGTON Dec. %
W The handshake which Mr..
Roosevelt negotiated between
business and labor unfortunately
stIIl has a concealed thistle be-
tween IT'S claSpcd palms The
prckly issue Of tho closed shop
is sill there.
The deal is called IAN agree
mcnt Insofar as there was a
mutual determination 70 avoid
labor strife and settle issues
through still another new RooSe-
Welt board il was. But what
happened IN the four days Of
vet unsettled arguing between
management and unioneerS has
been wisely CLOSED over and
ignored by FDR IN proclalmlng
a happy Christmas settlement.
Untold was the record of four
votes taken by the l. repre-
ScntativcS of business and II of
labor. each Of which ended l.
TO -. First the Joint CIO-AFL
plan failed by a tie. then the
plan of industry. thirdly the
Thomas compromise. and finally
the employers counter proposal.
All involved one sole point of
disagreement Industry wanted
10 freeze the closed shop issue
in status quo until after the war,
and labor leaders refused.
Mr. ROOSEVELT had dcSlg-
vi mated last Friday night as
the time limit for agreement
and said he wanted If unani-
nous. Three days after the
dcadlne, and with no agree
ment unanimous or otherwise
IN prospect. the peace confer
cncc pushed It's problem up on
FDR'S desk. Industry SAID II
would leave its case for freezing
the closed shop problem up to
him
Shocked were the industrial
representatives when the PreSi-
dent came back with letter
praising the conference for its
agreement. mentioning the three
points upon which there was no
discussion (no strikes, peaceful
settlements. a new bOard) and
ignoring the only point AZ issue
Without mentioning the closed
shop specifically, he wrote that
the government could not con-
Germ itself with other gencrall-
ties.
The employers felt tricked
Charles Hook staggered out of
the meeting. lonG-diStanced legal
counsel nEhiS- National MaHH-
faCturerS a SoCla ION. and
screamed. in substance: We've
been robbed" But all they could
do was to issue statements Sug,
costing they had not abandoned
their closed strike position
The main assurance left 10 the
country therefore. was thatAlr
ROoScveltS full faith that no
group viii take undue advantage
while We are faced by common
enemies j. justified
THE administration has not
Il been able to restrain an off
the-reCord ChuCkle al the cX-
pcnSe of the business represent
atlveS. They were not smart.
lis said They roped themselves
IN this way:
Labor wrote out the three
points FINALLY adopted as It's
original plan The employers
accepted these three and added
their fourth freezing the closed
shop Both plans were laid he
fore FDR on separate sheets of
paper AT a moment when he was
hurrying 10 meet Churchill in
five minutes.
Mr. Roosevelt noted that the
first three points were identical.
an4-e4+-ew a large oval pcncilcd
line around the fourth point de-
manded by business
The way the matter was
presented furnished an obvious
decision for a hurried. busy man
He simply scratched out the
fourth point upon which agree
mont was lacking. II the ISSUE
had been presented IN different
form there might have been a
different decision.
MOST sensational and least
vi mentioned development Of
The peace meeting was the way
Mother Bill Green and Uncle
John Lewis GOT around 10 speak
ng TO each other, and working
together
Al the first meeting they
bowed ,inly sat as far apart
a. possible Soon they felt the
necessity of speaking formally
across the Fable and in the end
they got around the same lunch