Evening star., 1941-05-31
The Strike Goes On

The outlaw strike of 1,700 West
Coast machinists, which has tied up
work on S5OO,OOO,OOO worth of ships
urgently needed by the Navy, is as
suning the aspect of an open chal-
Ienge to the capacity of the Govern
ment to carry forward its defense
program.
In his address to the Nation Tues
day night. the President said that
the production and transportation
Of the machinery of defense must
not be interrupted by industrial
quarrels of any kind Disputes that
arise, he declared, must be referred
to Cancellation and mediation agen-
cies without any stoppage of work,
and he added This Government is
determined to use all of its power
to prevent interference with
the production of materials essential
to our Nations security"
Following that address, the EXecu-
tive Council of the American FEEDER
alton of Labor, which has disavoWed
the action of its member -machiniStS,
appealed directly to the strikers to
return to their jobs. Declaring that
uninterrupted production by the
West Coast shipyards was vital to
the Nations defense, the councils
statement added that "the good
name, the honor and the 'no-strike'
policy of the A. F. Of L. demand that
the coast-wide master agreement
between the shipbuilders and the
metal trade unions, barring strikes
and lockoutS, be religiously observed
and respected"
But all of this has fallen on bar
rem ground.
E. F. Dillon, A. F. of L. business
agent for the machinists' union, has
made the preposterous assertion
that he and an associate, Harry
Hook, were accorded brutal treat
ment" when they appeared recently
before the special Senate committee
investigating defense strikes, and has
advised the strikers to hold your
picket lines tight" The back-to-
work appeals will not even be con-
sidered until Wednesday, when a
meeting of the strikers is scheduled.
In the camp of the c. l. o. machin-
lists participating in the strike, the
situation is even worse. So far as is
known, the national leadership of
the c. I. o. has made no effort to
induce It's members to return to work.
Where the A. F. of L. at least has
publicly recognized the injury that
Is being done to the national de-
fense program and has tried to stop
the strike, the C. I. o. has main
tained silence. And in aggravation
of this attitude comes word from a
California spokesman for the c. I.
o. machinists that the strikers met
Thursday night and voted to main
tain their picket lines until they
get the contract they want.
At time like the present, when
responsible public officials from the
President on down are doing their
utmost to arouse the country to
the external danger which threatens
it, any defense strike is cause for
deep concern. But in their cumula-
tive effect strikes are a positive men,
ace to the security of the Nation.
The Army, for example, has esti-
mated that more than 100000
man-days of work were lost to
strikes during the first five months
of this year in plants handling War
Department orders alone. This does
not take into account the loss from
strikes in other phases of the de-
fense effort, which would certainly
bring the lost time total much higher;
but some idea of the damage which
Is being done may be had from the
fact that the time lost to strikes on
War Department orders alone, if
properly applied, could have resulted
in the production of 44,50O Garand
semi automatic rifles or 285 light
tanks. The sacrifice of that much
potential production for defense in
a time of great danger to the Ma
tion is little short of criminal folly.
1t is time for clear thinking on
this vital question. If the United
States should be involved in war,
and we must face the fact that war
may come, our national existence
will be at stake, and our survival
certainly will depend on the extent
of our own preparedness, for there
will be no one to whom we can
turn for help. And yet, despite the
utter gravity of this outlook, we con-
tinue to tolerate strikes which rob
us of the means of self-defense.
We know that on some grim to-
morrow the youth of America may
be called into battle. And we know,
too, that every defense strike which
Is called today deprives them-in
event of war-of modern equipment
y-l IL L.