Evening star., 1941-02-28

q K anu lIlc
coming strike at David Lawrence.
the Ford plants in Michigan, al
though petitions for an election have
been filed, the Labor Board has not
ordered elections and thus ma
chinery of bargaining cannot func-
tion.
Virtually the same thing happened
IN the strike of little steel" a few
years ago in Ohio. Though claiming
the right to represent a majority
of the employees, the unions in ques-
ton did not insist on an election.
Thus the theory of democratic op-
Grafton which has always been as
sociated with the Wagner law dis
appears.
1t may be asked why the unions
that claim a majority do not insist
on the holding of an election which
would demonstrate their strength.
For if a majority chooses a certain
union as bargaining agent, the en-
ployer has no alternative-he must
recognize the union as the spokes-
man of all his employees, minority
as we'll as majority.
Enlistment Strategy.
The answer is that the labor
unions which call strikes without
petitioning for an election do not
really have majority. Many work
ers are non-committal or Indifferent
to the pleas of union organizers.
The usual strategy in such circum-
stances is to call a strike. This
Compels workers to line up on one
side or the other If they don't
join the union, life is made miser-
able for them or their families. In
desperation, workers will agree to
join rather than to become victims
of the strong arm squads that are
so often used by unions in and
around the large industrial plants.
The strike call, therefore, is one
method of lining up members in
Crder to get the desired majority.
After the strike, if an election is
held, there are usually concessions
from the employers who endeavor
10 aid the cause of peace. Such
concessions are then heralded as
the work of the union leaders and
this sort of propaganda further as
slstS the unionization movement, SO
that finally a majority is obtained
Once a majority vote has been
se~ued, and a particular union is
chosen as bargaining aSent, the
issue is frozen for some time to
come Even though the members
may lose faith in the union and
desire a return to their former
5 atuS they cannot attain it. Many
unions do not permit withdrawal
Of members and any one who in
siStS on getting out of certain unions
of his own volition runs the risk
of being blacklisted for future en-
ployment.
Court Won to Theory.
The Wagner law has been her.
aided as a great bill of right for
American labor. In theory it is, for
the law guarantees workers against
interference by employers and per-
mitS concerted action by the work
erS For many years this has been
held by analysts of Americas labor
difficulties to have been a weakness
which caused prolonged strife. The
Supreme Court was persuaded to
uphold by a 5-to-4 vote the Wagner
Act because evidence was presented
tending to show that failure to
recognize labor unions was a prolific
cause Of strikes. The court thought
that in compelling employers to
recognize bona fide representatives
of the majority of the workers in
a given plant or industry, the cause
of labor peace was being advanced
considerably. There can be no
doubt that labor unions have in
creased in memberships, that dues
payments have multiplied, and that
large sums of money have been COL
lected for union dues. But there
Is also no doubt that the collective
bargaining privilege has either been
abused or ignored and that serious
strikes nevertheless have resulted.
UnqueStionably some employers
still try to circumvent the law by
dismissing certain employees or by
discriminating against union leaders
among their employees, but these
violations are gradually being
reached by the steadily increasing
effectiveness of the enforcement
machinery of the law itself.
Quick Election Recommended.
Nothing, however, is being done to
compel collective bargaining ma
chinery to function and to keep the
strike weapon from being exercised
unnecessarily. In most of the big
strike situations of recent months,
and those pending today, it is the
claim of a union to represent a ma
iority of workers which is at stake.
If the National Labor Relations
of the law it would insist that labor
unions submit to elections the mo-
ment they make a public claim of
majority. If they insist on striking
when they obviously have no ma
jority, the law might be amended
to conStrue such a strike as illegal
and the unions would then forfeit
protection of the Wagner Act.
The fact that strikes are going on
in defense industries merely accen-
tuateS and calls attention to the
abuse of the Wagner law which has
prevailed these last few years. Un-
fortunately, the sponsors of the law
and those unions which have used
the strike weapon rather than elec-
ton machinery have fought any
amendment of the law. That is why
a critical situation like the present
America is suffering from sort of
creeping paralysis which, If un-
checked, will spread throughout the
defense program and bring the very
delays Herr Hitler is counting on
when he says he is sure Americas
aid cannot reach Britain in time.
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