Evening star., 1941-12-24

that there shall Iz
be no strikes and David Lawrence.
that disputes shall be settled peace
fully. Such a pious hope is easy to
put down on paper but much harder
to achieve in day-by-d affairs.
The truth about the conference is
that neither side won out and
nothing more was accomplished than
to turn the labor problem back to
where 1t was before the United Mine
Workers rejected appeal after appeal
by the President and two separate
decisions by the Defense Mediation
Board and permitted a widespread
coal strike instead.
The new agreement provides that
. war labor board shall be set up to
handle disputes. Twelve labor lead
ers promised not to strike but to
take disputes to the new board
This is not binding on the national
and international unions. The locals
etlll can 90 as tney please.
Employers Bound.
But employers are bound. They
were before the conference started.
Congress bound them hand and foot,
first with the Wagner law and sec
ond with the plant seizure statute,
which already has been interpreted
by the administration to mean that
a plant can be seized and manage
ment ousted whenever the employer
doesn't obey the decree OF a medi-
alton board set up by the Govern
ment.
The new war labor board probably
will have some new personnel but it
also will have some Of the members
of the old Defense Mediation Board.
The board made its first mistake by
refusing to set forth principles to
guide management and labor and
insisted instead on deciding in favor
OF closed shop in one case and
union maintenance agreement in
another and then against the closed
shop in another case, so the unions
and management couldn't very well
find a precedent to guide them in
any case.
Invite Labor Demands.
The employers asked for a state
ment of policy this time so that
where closed shops already existed
they would not be disturbed but
that no new situations could be
created permitting a dispute on the
closed shop issue. But the labor
leaders refused to enter into any
such arrangement.
Now, when the closed shop issue
comes up, it will have to be decided
by the War Labor Board. An invi-
tation in effect has been extended
to the rank and file of labor unions
throughout the country to demand
the closed shop or union shop or
diiioh iiidliieCildilSc VI dlly OIllCl
form Of monopoly, and the Govern
ment will not raise finger to pre-
vent such agitation or to stop such
friction inside the American indus
trial mechanism
II Is being said that the new
War Labor Board can freeze the
closed shop issue. But If it does
and labor doesn't like it, labor is
still free to call strikes. The local
unions are law unto themselves.
They can be urged by the execu-
tive councils of the national A.
r. L. or c. I. o. to refrain from
striking but they need not do so.
They cannot be penalized. Wildcat
strikes and unauthorized" strikes
are not uncommon. The last coal
strike included work stoppage in
many commercial mines which the
c. I. o. never took the trouble to
discourage, even though no strike
was officially called
May Quiet Legislation Cry.
The President has given the
country the impression that the
labor management agreement means
labor peace. He has congratulated
both sides. He begged them to
come to an agreement of some kind.
They took refuge in generalities
Now apparently the administration,
stressing the idea that an agree
ment for labor peace exists. will
try to discourage labor legislation
which would put labor unions on
the same footing as other citizens
who are asked to make sacrifices
The unions are expected to refrain
from striking because of the patri-
otic urge but all during the time
the President has been declaring
that America Is in peril, the cry
Of danger had relatively little effect
Strikes were called just the same
The responsibility for governing
the American people is equally that
Of the Congress and the President
If Congress is willing to take
chance on more work stoppage now
that war has come, will the Amer
lean people be willing to take such
a chance? The worst phase of the
mishandling of the labor problem
is that employers have been given
another setback and another dis.
couragement when they are ex.
pected to get maximum production
It Is still New Deal politics here
and plenty of special privilege fol
the favored groups that brought the
New Deal into power.