Evening star., 1941-02-02
His Hobby: Labor Problems
Phil Murray Quiet Scotsman Moves Slowly His c. O. Post
W. Chids


It was with the formation of the G. I.
o. ard the beginning of the drive to
enroll the mass of the workers Ia indus
try that Mr.. Murray's talents really be-
came evident His assignment was Pitts
burgh and the non-union steel industry.
No one had ever really attempted mass
unionization in the capital of big steel
until Mr.. Murray started his drive
He went about 1t with the quiet thor
oughness that has characterized his
career, recruiting an excellent staff of
experienced men to whom he delegated
broad powers. Mr.. Murray's position in
Pittsburgh had something to do with
the way in which the public in general
accepted the big push of his Steel Work.
ers' Organizing Committee. Pittsburgh
was his town and he had worked to make
1t better town. For years he has served
on the school board. He married and
started family there
Successful Steel Drive.
The success of the steel drive in the
Pittsburgh area is now a part of labor
liAobOAys 1IC OLlbCu OOdUCo oUCcl
under the shrewd direction of Myron C.
Taylor and Edward r. Stettinius, jr.,
signed its first union contract with S. w.
o. C. Other companies followed suit.
Mr.. Murray showed his skill not only as
an organizer but as negotiator. Years
OF dealing with the coal operators had
equipped him to sit around table with
the masters of steel and bargain for
thousands enrolled for the first time In
a trade union.
The thorny problem of little steel
remained. Ernest Weir, Tom Girdler and
the heads of smaller companies compet-
ing with United States Steel held out
stubbornly against collective bargaining
with the S. w. o. C. Case after case
was carried to the National Labor Re-
lations Board and to the courts, with
the customary result-a victory for the
steel workers.
Mr.. Murray has been fighting it out
on the union line with dogged persistence.
A considerable section of the steel in
dustry remains on-union, conspicuously
the huge Bethlehem corporation, with
more than billion dollars in defense
orders. And the same grim persistence
marks Mr.. Murrays in his new job
Organizers are working night and day
at the Bethlehem plants, Mr.. Murray
says, and when the local unions have
sufficient strength demands will be made
on the company. 1t is Mr.. Murray's at
titItdo fhof Yai1eI loh hor
to surrender any hard-won gains, such
as-the right to strike, If democracy is
to be preserved at home as well as abroad.
He points out that in Great Britain, q
nation at war, almost as many man.
hours were lost through strikes during
the first 10 months of 1910 as in this
country. And if beleaguered Britain can
preserve labors democratic rights, he
adds, then surely we in America can
follow the example.
Deeply Distrusts A. F. of L. Leaders.
Mr.. Murray cherishes no futile opti-
mism. He is aware of the hazards
ahead. On the issue of peace between
the A. F. of L. and the c. I. O., for ex-
ample, he does not hesitate to say how
far in the future he believes this de-
sirable objective to be. A peace pact
now, in Mr.. Murray's belief, would mean
yielding on the vital question of indus
trial unionism which is the basic tenet
of the c. I. o. 1t would mean the sacri-
flee of labor's mass gains. Mr.. Murray
has deep distrust of the men who con-
troll the A. F. of L., men whom he knows
from the past.
Mr.. Murray remains skeptical of the
new defense setup which, through the
Office of Production Management, gives
to Sidney Hillman, c. I. o. executive, a
coordinate power with william S.
Knudsen over the far-f1ung rearmament
program. Control in the interest of pro-
tecting labors rights cannot come from
the top, Mr. Murray says. He has
brought forward a plan of his own for
industry councils on which there would
be representatives of labor and manage
ment with extensive powers.
The industry council plan is not new
one for Mr.. Murray. He developed it at
length in book, Organized Labor and
Production" which he wrote in collabo-
ration with Morris L. Cooke, industrial
engineer who now has an important de-
fense job. Mr.. Cooke and Mr. Murray,
finding considerable field of agreement,
although their approach was different,
developed the concept of the industrial
council as an extension of industrial
democracy. 1t is Mr. Murrays firm
conviction that labor has not a little to
contribute to the efficiency and we'll
being of industry.
Puts in 10 to IL Hours a Day.
AS Mr.. Murray we'll knows, he will be-
come increasingly the target for the
dead cats aimed at organized labor in
general and~t the c. I. o. in particular.
He is too seasoned veteran to be dis
turbed by ordinary attacks. Moreover,
he is too occupied with running a far
reaching organization to pay much at
tention to controversy.
In his modest Office on the third floor
of the newly remodeled United Mine
Workers Building here-it was formerly
the University Club-Mr. Murray puts
in 10 to IL hour day, considerably
longer than the customary union con-
tract prescribes. C. I. o. leaders from
all over the country come to him with
their problems and he is an understand
ing listener because they have so re-
certly been his problems.
Making the difficult day-to-day de-
ciSions, Mr.. Murray Is surrounded by