Evening star., 1941-11-22

w u r. { u
America is a David Lawrence.
veteran union. 1t has enjoyed for
many years the collective bargain
ing process and earlier this year
the union pledged its written word
in what is called the Appalachian
agreement declaring among other
things that there would be no
strikes.
Because of that assurance. the
penalty clause was removed from
the master agreement. In many
local agreements. however. in vari-
GUS districts, the operators knew
that without a penalty clause there
might be Stoppages wholly apart
from labor trouble or grievances so
they insisted on a dollar a day
penalty
But the idea that the commercial
operators of the United States were
signing a master agreement provid-
ing against strikes and yet that
this agreement could be sahotaeed
behind their backs by the device
Of Spontaneous" Walkout never
occurred to the operators or per-
hapS to the National Defense Me-
diation Board, which recommended
the contract TO the operators as one
way of preventing a Nation wide
coal strike last spring.
No Check by Lewis.
It is significant that John L.
Lewis. head of the miners union.
has not uttered any public protest
against the unauthorized strike or
Ualkouts by his men. Yet there
never was a palmer violation of a
pledged word than the WalkOut of
nearly 10000 miners in commercial
mines this last few days.
If it be averred that the miners
are beside themselves with indigna-
ton because their brethren in the
captive coal mines cannot get the
kind Of closed shop they demand,
then ii must mean that the u. M. w.
is not a responsible institution and
cannot discipline or control its own
men and that contracts made bv
the United Mine Workers Union
PRE- not worth the paper they are
written on.
Collective bargaining is now
eranted by law but it is not clear
Why the Government must go on
granting privileges when there is
no commensurate responsibility ex-
erciSed by the unions to which the
rights of collective bargaining have
been given.
1t is a sinister development when
men take the law into their own
hands and ignore the heads of their
union. If this is not what is hap
penlng and the officers of the union
have secretly encouraged their work
ers to sabotage the defense program.
then the Government has a case
against those who have impeded the
fiF OF interstate commerce This
Is not the right to strike which is
involved, but the right to interrupt
commerce by weapons other than
the strike weapon.
Raises New Aspect.
The laws against interrupting in
terState commerce have as an eX-
ception the right to strike. The
valkout is not form of strike when
1t Is not lawfully called. The dis
semination of secret instructions or
the acts of individuals who are en-
cOuraglng men TO stop the flow of
commerce while not actually calling
strike presents an aspect of the
labor situation that has never been
tried out in the courts. The near
est approach to it have been the
cases dealing with Sit-doWn strikes.
which have been declared illegal by
the Supreme Court.
The answer made by some of the
mine union officials is that the men
working in the commercial mines
have walked out because they fear
their own contract has been jeop-
srdized. The President took steps
yesterday to scotch this technicality.
The master agreement covering COM
merclal mines states, in effect, that
any benefits conferred by the con-
tract must be uniform, but this is
taken to mean that miners in cap
tive mines shall not be worked at
any wage rates less than those in
the commercial fields. But the own
ers of the captive mines already
have agreed to the same wage scale.
so the issue narrows to the point of
whether the cloSed-shop status which
Is enjoyed by the commercial miners
by contract is imperiled because
small number of mines owned by
the steel companies have not signed
the contract.
Operator Canvassed.
To offset any such impression. the
chairman of the National Defense
Mediation Board, at the direction of
Mr.. Roosevelt, canvaSsed all the
commercial coal operators. Doubt
less they all will disclaim any in
tention of demanding reopening
of their own contract because of
the attitude of the steel men in the
captive mines. The commercial op-
orators have no real interest in what
is happening in the captive mines.
They are innocent bystanders.
But if it be assumed that the
miners in the commercial mines
fear that their contract has been
jeopardized, then it would seem to
be logical basis for the customary
strike procedure. No strike, how
ever, has been called. All that has
happened is that the President has