The union times., 1941-07-05
Results Show Vinson Bill Is. Unnecessary
A.F.L. Secretary Treasurer Cites Army and Navy
 Figures on Strikes

In a nationwide radio address, Secretary-Treasurer George Meany this week cited the official records D Df the War and Navy Departments as proof of the fine cooperation Df the American Federation of Labor in the national defense pro- gram and as evidence that repres- bive labor legislation, such as the VinsOn Bill, is wholly unnecessary.
 GIVES THE FACTS
 Speaking from the Columbia Broad tasting Systems studios, MT. Meany Baid:
 "The facts prove that, so far as the lAmerican Federation of Labor is con- 'cerned, the unions affiliated with our movement have turned in one of the finest pieces of cooperation ill all history.
 Let us take look at the War De- partment's and the Navy Departments building construction programs in which, as everybody knows, the workers involved have been A. F. of L. members. Secretary of War Stim- Bon recently issued very interesting report. This report dealt with the B, ,200000,000 cantonment construc- lion program of the War Department. Did the building trades of the A. F. |of L. impede the cantonment con- struction program? The report of Secretary Stimson supplies the answer. The answer is this: Out of Ia total of 40,607,000 man-days worked |on the cantonment program, only |14,875 n1an-days were lost as a re- |sult of labor difficulties.
 RECORD PROVES CLAIM
 ''This percentage of delay was so small that it amounted only .O3 of one per cent.
 ''Is this cooperation? Of course 1t is. I have no desire to make in- vidiOus comparisons, but in view of the vicious attacks which have been made upon organized labor it is only fair to point out that neither industry nor any other part of the community can point to a record of cooperation surpassing -or, for that matter, even ap- proaching-that of the building trades unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor which have just cited.
 NAVY'S FIGURES
 "On the Navy's air training station and other building construction the story is much the same. The records of the Building and Construction Trades Department reveal that there was only one stoppage. This was in Boston and it was ended within two days.
 Now, of course, there is much more to the defense program than just construction work. In the fac tories and the mills we are turning out a thousand and one different arti- cles in staggering numbers. In this regard the record shows that, taking all defense work from the start of the program through the end of last month, only one man-day of work has been lost by an American Fedora ton of Labor strike for every 2,40O man-days of work performed. Trans lated into percentage terms, that means that only one twenty-fourth of one per cent of defense work time was lost.
 NEED UNITY
 ''The need of the hour is for na- tional unity. Sound management, constructive liberal government and free, loyal labor-all must unite in this effort. We must work and, what is more important, we must work together.
 Tt is for this reason that legisla- ton designed to punish the workers of America because of the sins of a few obstructionists is so very unde- sirable. Were such legislation ever to go on the statute books of our coun- try, our national unity would be torn to tatters and Adolf Hitler, without having fired shot, would have won his greatest victory.
 U. s. AND LABOR
 ssNot in any narrow spirit but with the welfare of our country at heart, the American Federation of Labor urges with all emphasis that compulsory-servitude legisla- ton ought not to be and must not be enacted"