The Wilmington morning star., 1941-02-04
' Fair Enouuh
By WESTBROnE ppc1.

al
are those ot the author ;Sa sa'
may not always barnoeil atlc
with its position.-The Edit"r 1.
NEW YORK. Feb. 8.-A s,r..
a, situation has evelope d in =.
troubled life Of tae Arneric.r n. me
paper Guild, c. I. n grons
Chicago, wher4 the communist t' "a
liuence caused bitter and d;sa '
trous strike against the Eas,s.
ganlzation which ran IS months W, W
wiped out or hastened the ex,inottD INV
Of hundreds Of jobs in the adi,o.,v,
mechanical and other depar+non.
the defunct morning paper knon
as the Herald-Examiner gaa4ar =
strike which was called by ~.
jority OF minority. the Guild f,nS,
itself repudiated as the barsairir.
agent for the editorial and ott.s
white-collar workers. and disn1o..,
by the new editorial union ot 49,
American Federation Of Labor At.,
the strike many of the strikers ',
turned to work on the surviri..
Hearst afternoon paper, hut IN.
Guild Reporter Of Jan. Is renor..
that unde- terms of a new aeraAms,.
between the owners and the A ?
of L. union the mana cement h.,
been firing the guildsmen. On =,
whom had been let out when this +,
sue Of the Reporter went to press
Apparent
The Reporter says discriminate,
against Guild members, because =,
their membership and their strt.
record, was perfectly apparent. which
probably is true. The manag cement
replied that under its contract with
the a. F. Of L. union, now the scre5
tied bargaining agent of the ma
jority, it was required to fire enough
Guild members TO place 90 per cent
CT the jobs in the ranks of the new
union.
Having canvassed the facts thus
far. the Guild Reporter then says
that Pasche. the secretary-treasurer
Of the Guilds national body. "ex
posed the hypocrisy of this sta.emer
by pointing out that the Guild had
many similar and even more strn.
gent Guild shop contracts, but a..
ways worked out such arrangements
by enrolling non-members r.ther
than by demanding that the manage.
ment discharge them"
So the Guild, beaten and renudi.
ated after a rash strike brought
about by the communists, now pro.
poses to violate its own discipline
by permitting its members to join
rival union.
Very oddly, it happens that at
the present moment in New York
five members of the staff Of the
Daily Mirror, another Searst paper,
are summoned to a Guild trial Of the
: Moscow type and are threatened
with the loss of their jobs for doing
that very thing.
Felt Betrayed
The five Mirror workers felt that
the interests of the members had
been betrayed by the Guild in nego-
tiating with the management and
resented also the obvious domination
of their local by communists, There
fore, they formed a local Of the A, F.
of L. union and resigned from the
Guild, only to discover that the Guild
like the communist party, has
concealed man-trap provision IN rs
constitution which holds that mem
ber may not resign but may be eS'
PEELED, with penalties.
The existence of this provision eH
pressed in deceptive, negative IAN
guage, was detected some time ago
to the surprise of many of the mem
bers who had not understood thai
in joining the Guild, they joined loE
life. However, the man-trap nterpTe
Itation was denied until recen'I!' i
when the case of the Mirror ELL
ployes forced the issue. The CUM
now says a member may qull 'l0
Guild but that, of course, in doMS
so he would also quit his job.
So III Chicago the Guild is Willing
that its members should commit 'n'
treason of dual unionism, sHou'-
withdraw their designation OF '"'
Guild as their bargaining agent anu
Join rival organization which 'H'
Guild has denounced as an anu
union movement, while in New foFA
the Guild is about to try five HEN. |
bers on formal charges for doing 'A'
same thing.
Moreover, in the Chicago case W.
Guild itself insists on the principe
of the closed shop, or Gullo slOr'
which amounts to the same 'hlns'
but now denounces as hypocrisy III.
enforcement Of the same sol'
agreement with the new A F. u l, -
union. to the distress OF the OuN'
and it's members. ,,.
The five Mirror defendants pIOg
ably will not appear for trial on1
doubtless, in that case, Will De W. W..
demned in their absence me ,sss
Moscow heretics. They all FISK ,,tton tyn,
of their jobs and other pelSe'+ togs q
by the communists, but theS .hoy !
the position that, as cltizei'' and
have a superior right to resl7" M,
that, having resigned they az NAV
subject to trial or penalties II hays
also be observed that the' in
valid precedent for their eout @hicsgo
the contention advanced IN ''-'''