Evening star., 1941-02-21

OUT o p u lIC
office.
AS for Sidney Hillmsn, who
derives salary from the Amalga-
mated Clothing Workers Union and
still sits in the Government as the
chief maker of labor policy, he
could not be expected to advocate
any restrictions on the operations Of
labor unions.
Congress has been reading in the
press about the sporadic interrupt
tions of work in defense industries
and many members have been
Worrying about what appears to be
a systematic effort to obStruct II not
delay America S aid to Britain. But
when members ask either Mr.. Hill
man or Mr.. Knudsen about it, they
promptly minimize the number OF
strikes and give the impression that
all is well.
Yet within the last few days the
statements issued by Messrs. Hill
man and Knudsen have been t1atly
disapproved by events. The Ais
Chalmers Co. in Wisconsin has
about S45.000,000 worth Of defense
products to make. The strike there
has been going on for some time
Messrs. Hillman and KnudSen went
out to try to end it. They an
nounced everything was fine. But 1t
turns out the strike wasn't settled
at all
Camouf1aging Problems.
Now it may be that Britain ooesn
need the aid of America right away
and that President Roosevelt ana
Wendell Willkie have been spoohng
the American people about the
urgency of getting help across the
ocean in 194l, but with the present
pressure to pass the lend ana lease
bill one has been led to believe that
weeks and days do count. Messrs.
Hillman and KnudSen presumably
do not seem TO think so. They are
perfectly willing to see stoppages IN
industry without even raising voice
to get Congress to do something
about 1t.
This camoufaging of the LABOR
problem in the midst OF a crltlcal
national defense situation IS one
of the disheartening experiences
through which democracy goes. II
happened the same way IN france.
The men in government there oloh
have the courage to fight pressure
qroups and thus the efforts OF france
for defense were frustrated.
The politicians dominate Wasn-
zts,o peacetinne thinking still
dominates Washington, class con-
sciousness still permeateS Washing-
ton. There is no other way to explain
the about face which Mr.. knuosen
has made since his speech last De
cember when he was complaining
ouhlicly about the blackout between
FRIDAY and Monday in America
factories. Today he is WILING 10
stand bv and see abuse after ABUSE
NJ the collective bargaining power
and do nothing about it. The reason
of course is that Mr.. Knudsen came
from industry and what ne Wouio
saw probably wouldn't be given very
much attention by the labor groups
here anyway. The President turther-
more cut the ground from unoel
Mr. Knudsen's feet by making nm
co-eoual with the head OF major
union.
Strikes Line Up Members.
II Mr.. Knudsen had remained on
,ne nav roll of General Motors Corp.
and had arranged to serve the Gov
ernment In Washington on oolIar
a wear basis there would have been
a hue and cry. Already there mas
been criticism of a minor orncla4,
who IS still on his own hfms pay
roll. happened to be scheduled 10
participate in the profits OF his hrm
which obtained a contract With the
Government. The hullabaloo has
caused him to relinquish his share
of the profits. But nobody seems 10
object to the fact that Mr.. Hlllman
derives his salary from a major
union which in turn is animated
with the whole labor movement, the
success of which depends on how
RAPIDLY union members can be OBJ
tanned and union dues Increased.
Strikes are one of the best ways
known to line up new members OF
Unions.
The fact that Mr., Hillman can
administer Government policies re-
lating to labor unions-and, OF
course, restrictions on the right to
strike are important for labor
uniong-is not causing any con-
siderable opposition here. The
President is evidently satisfied with
that sort of situation and so are
members of Congress Hence If there
are strikes and Mr.. Hillman passes
them off as inconsequential and Mr..
Knudsen follows suit, it is exactly
what labor politicians want to see
happen.
That Americas national defense
efforts seem to be delayed doesn't
seem tr, matter because the truth is
this isn't as important as the system
of union canvaSsing and pickering
practiced by the labor unions and
their organizers.
If In the next few weeks or