Evening star., 1941-08-21

tract ratified by David Lawrence.
It and a labor union.
This contract, which provides
against strikes during two-year
period, was entered into at the in
stance of Secretary of the Navy
Knox, Chairman Emory S. Land
of the United States Maritime Com
mission and William S. Knudsen
and Sidney Hillman. director gen.
eral and associate director general
of the Office of Production Man
agement.
The contract was formally agreed
to by the various shipbuilding COM
panies of the Atlantic Coast and in
particular was approved by the Fed
eral Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.
A letter is on record formally ini-
tailed by the officers of the c. I. o.
union at Kearny, N. j., which ap-
proves the contract.
Gave Wage Raises.
Nowhere in the contract Is any
thing said about union mainte-
nance of membership clause nor OF
any future negotiations relating
thereto. Nowhere in the jubilant
announcements of the C. I. o. after
the contract was signed Is there any
mention of union shop or CLOSED
shop" or modified closed shop" or
anything else.
The companies in question gave
q S220,0O0,0O0 raise in wages as a
measure of good faith. They thought
they were signing an agreement to
stabilize the shipbuilding industry.
The agreement was hailed in a
radio speech by Morris L. Cooke,
chairman of the Shipbuilding Sta
bilization Committee of the Labor
Division of the o. P. M. on July 81,
and not a single syllable In that
speech hinted that there were any
issues subsequently to be settled
such as the question of maintenance
of union membership clause or modi-
fed closed shop.
Says Chairman in Error.
Chairman Davis Of the National
Defense Mediation Board says in a
public statement that the big sta
bilization agreement was not to be-
come effective in the plant of the
Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.
until the new agreement incor-
porating the Atlantic Coast zone
standards and the no-strike pro-
vision was signed"
But the record shows that Mr..
Davis is in error, having been grossly
misinformed. Nothing in the agree
ment initiated by the c. I. o. union
at Kearny, N. j., bears out the truth
of his statement and there is no
written evidence of his contention
anywhere in the correspondence
between the company and the union.
Such an important point would
hardly have been left in the air and
certainly no wage increases would
have been granted effective at once
# the company thought it was not
through negotiating on such vital
points as a closed shop.
Holds Contract Worthless.
What is most surprising is that
the National Defense Mediation
Board has spent more energy trying
to get the maintenance of union
membership clause adopted than it
has in trying to get the union to
live up to its formal contract or to
the stabilization agreement which
was sponsored by the Government
itself. If that agreement means that
at anytime any union can raise any
issues and go on strike then the
Atlantic zones standards contract
isn't worth the paper it was written
on and the increases in wages were
obtained under false pretenses-
namely stabilization of the in
dustrial situation for two years.
All industry throughout the
country is watching to see whether
the President intends to take action
now that condones the violation of
contract sponsored by his own Off
cials or whether he intends to per-
suade the c. I. o. union to abide by
its no-strike agreement and go back
to work.
Business Men Concerned.
Business men are also concerned
about the attitude of Secretary
Knox, who is reported to have gone
over completely to the New Deal
view that it doesn't matter whether
contracts are violated and that if
the mediation board issues a find
ing, no matter how Immoral, it is
the duty Of his department to use
its influence to back up the media
ton board.
American industry is being told
every day in some vital matter of
defense that it can rely on the Gov
ernment's good faith. But the Gov
ernment in this instance has broken
faith. To take over the Kearny
plant will not solve the problem.
The shipyard there has been one of
the most efficient in the country. 1t
has turned out naval warships in
record time. If its management is
to be demoralized by the broken
faith of the Navy Department, the
Office of Production Management
and the Maritime Commission, then
there is slight incentive for Ameri-
can industry anywhere to grid itself
to maximum effort to save that kind
of democracy. When Congress re-
sumes its sessions the whole situa-
tion might well be reviewed, for 1t
viii reveal one of the most fragrant
scandals in the history of govern
YooS,ta1 eoerr{oy, NJ r,rivate industry