The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-12-18
Economic j.. s. j..
~A2hA9hA
National and International Problems
inseparable from Local Welfare

IJO CufD strikes IN QeIenSe industries
lit seems a virtual certainty that it
will be a long time before the labor
Iproblem is solved. There is too much
at stake, too much to be gained, to
make quick and easy settlement pos
sible. The big labor leaders are driv-
ling for power now, and their opposi-
ton is digging in for long cam
lpaign. The obvious goal of labor is
the 100 per cent closed shop. Indus
TRY in general is absolutely opposed
to that, and so, according to recent
Presidential statements, is the Gov
ernment. So far as the public is con-
cerned, late Gallup poll indicated
that the closed shop is favored by one
Citizen out Of six.
| A great many people think that the
Iwisest present strategy would be to
delay matters until the emergency is
over. That, for instance, is the point
of view of Wendell Willkie, who said
that no effort to effect either the open
shop or the closed shop should be
taken now-that, instead, an attempt
Ishould be made to freeze matters as
they stand at present. One pending
Congressional bill has that as it's OBJ
jective. But there is room for doubt
THAT such policy Of relative inaction
is workable today. The temper of
Congress, Of the people, and of the
labor leaders may make real show
down inevitable before long.
In the meantime, there is a growing
feeling that the stand taken by labor
is rapidly becoming untenable. The
closed shop idea, carried to it's in
'evitable conclusion, means a labor
monopoly. A handful of labor leaders
could stop the production of the entire
nation on a moments notice. They
would, for example, be immensely
more powerful than the President
The head Of the Government, even in
these days of war, can be checked by
Congress and the Courts, and the Con-
stitution itself places definite limits
upon his freedom Of being responsible
to no one save their members. And
, in actual practice, the members of
major unions often have absolutely
nothing to say about policy and union
management.
Many friends Of labor, as a result,
are beginning to have qualms. In a
recent column, Dorothy Thompson,
who has always been pro-labor, said:
'The closed shop :. gives the union
Organization an immense club over the
workers, for they cannot express their
Opposition to union policy or officials
either by resigning from the union or
Withholding their dues. They cannot
strike against tSs<r union. And once
+ the closed shop is instituted, it is al
most impossible to revoke. . There
can be no groups in this country that
are above the law and above the COM
munity. The very fact Of the growing
power Of unions demands that they
accept social di-ciplines."
"Social disciplines," of course, is
simply one way Of saying Government
Regulation of the unions. That is very
likely to come in the long run. The
Government, in that case, would be
the dominant factor in all labor-indus-
trial relations. 1t would protect the
worker against exploitation by his
employer on the one hand, and it
would protect the employer against
union racketeering on the other. But
lit is obvious that many a moon must
pass before this goal can be reached
And the immediate question is what
Ican be done to keep production going
The President, perhaps, has the
right formula. There is no doubt that
he forced Mr.. Lewis to accept arbi-
itration and call off the captive coal
mime strike because it was clear that
public opinion was overwhelmingly be-
| hind him. At a press conference he
said that public opinion would prove
the deciding factor. Unless we throw
the Constitution overheard, abolish
the courts and adopt Hitler-like
forced labor system, we can't make a
man work if he doesn't want to, and
by the same token man should not
De prevented from working if he
wishes to. Troops can be ordered to
iDreaK StrlkcS-but troops can't run
the machines and get the products
out. Public opinion, on the other
ihand, can certainly make labor leaders
think twice before defying the Gov
ernmcnt, ignoring the findings of un-
prejudiced boards of mediation, and
calling strikes that imperil defense.
There is much criticism of the
failure Of the Government-Ex
land Congress alike-to take really
definite stand. The signs indicate that
the Executive and Congress are now
taking heed of that criticism. Con-
!greSS knows that defense strikes must
be stopped. And the people, with this
country facing all-out war on two
oceans, want planes and ships and
tanks and guns. The labor leaders
may have at last bitten off more than
| they can chew
X X X
! This country is winning success in
hts efforts to persuade Latin America
TO follow our foreign policy.
| Most of thn otip American rnpuh-