Evening star., 1941-03-24
Solution Offered
For Labor Problems
Reader Believes Democracy
Can Be Made to Work
In Time of Crisis
To the Editor of The Star:

In ime or SriSIS
To the Editor Of The Star:
At this juncture of national affairs 1t
behooveS all of us to think straight and
fast and to act quickly. If we are to
render effective aid to England, it must
be done without delay and in volume, for
it is the manifest purpose of Germany to
knock Britain out before our aid can
reach her.
There was time when we could de-
bate and haggle about our rights and
privileges, but that time now is past. We
are at that stage when the Latin maxim
"salus populi suprema lex is applicable.
THE safety of the people is the supreme
law" which means that we, the people,
must act and think in unison. We want
democracy to work here in America, first
for our own safety, and, second, that it
may serve as an example to the few re-
manning democracies of the world.
Granted that there are defects in our
Government; granted that the President
of the United States is human and fall
lible, the fact remains that we have no
other form of government to work with
or any other president to execute our
will and we have no opportunity to
make a change in either if We could.
Granted that there should be no profit
in war activities, that there should be
no advantage accruing to any class of
our citizens by reason thereof and that
sacrifices should be uniform and common,
the fact remains that such has never
previously been the case and it will not
be so in this instance We, nevertheless,
can approach the ideal to an extent
heretofore unknown.
Before attempting to set up a formula
for such an approach, I wish to suggest
that one of our chief difficulties, the one
most likely to cause us to miss our OBJ
jective-effective aid TO England-is OBJ
struction of production in defense plants
This obstruction is Of two kinds, one
arising out of stoppage of work by rea-
son Of factional labor disputes and the
other out of disputes between manage
ment and labor. Of the first kind am
frank to say that it is a matter that labor
itself should dispose of without delay
Common decency demands that labor
put its own house in order Labor has
great stake in this national emergency.
1t stands to lose as much as any class
of our people, for should England go
down and We be forced to produce in
competition with the slave labor of the
axis powers and to trade upon the barter
basis, sad indeed would be the plight of
American labor. Hence an enlightened
selflshness should induce the removal
OF obstruction in defense plants due to
factional labor disputes. At any rate,
such obstruction deserves no sympathetic
consideration from the American public
and I predict that it will not be tolerated
for long.
But there is an aspect of this matter
that deserves serious consideration and
prompt action on the part of our Gov
eminent. The President has set up a
defense mediation board to supplement-
the work of the conciliation service of
the Labor Department. This is step in
the right direction, but the procedure
prescribed inherently involves too much
delay. The concilation service must
first have failed before the service of
the mediation board becomes available.
Finally, both may fail and other meas
ures have to be employed All the while
there is stoppage Of work This is no
effective way to deal with situation
wherein time is of the essence It is
peacetime procedure, not wartime
method Of handling difficulties
The foregoing situation involves no
problem incapable of prompt solution, if
we really wish to solve it. Labor should
take care of its own disputes. There are
disputes that labor cannot handle alone.
These involve working conditions and
the question of wages But these diff
cultleS are settled in one of three wavs
IN peacetime-by negotiation. arbitra-
ton or surrender. To be sure. there
usually is stoppage of work, which we
must avoid in times of dire emergency,
such as war. But the point is that finally
all disputes between labor and manage
ment are settled by one of the three
methods aforesaid.
Now, the formula that I have in mind
involves no surrender by either party to
the dispute, while it retains the other
two, negotiation and or arbitration.
However, it is predicated upon a continu-
ance of work, but it involves no loss to
either party.
If working conditions are unhealthful
and unwholesome in a defense plant,
register complaint, but keep on work.
ing. An appropriate governmental
agency can handle that matter. The
laborer continues to receive his pay and
the purchasing power of the community
remains stable If wages should not be
stepped up in keeping with the rise in
the cost of living. register a complaint,
but keep on working. An appropriate
governmental agency can handle that,
too, and the award can and should be
made to relate back to the date of the
complaint. Both the matter of working
| conditions and wages can be taken care
of with dispatch by governmental agen-
cies. Labor cannot suffer any Substan-
tial loss by this procedure nor can man.
agement. Certainly the public or Ma
ton will be greatly benefited thereby
which should be the controlling concern
of all right-thinking people in this
frightful hour.
If the foregoing formula is either un-
fair or not feasible, let us have another.
We can, and we must, solve this bottle
neck or obstruction in defense plants.
We ShOuld not have In resort tn strong