Evening star., 1942-02-06

pulsory union
stitutes volun- David Lawrence.
tary unionism. Not all the clauses
in the new contracts agreed to by
parties appearing before the War
Labor Board are the same but the
clause adopted in the textile work.
ers' agreement with the North
Carolina plant Of Marshall Field &
Co. may prove to be milestone in
management union relations. 1t
reads as follows:
"An employees who are now mem
bers of the union or who may in
the future become members will
be required as a condition of en-
ployment with the company to
maintain their membership in good
standing during the life Of this
contract: provided, chat this pro-
vision shall apply only to employees
who, after the consummation of this
agreement, individually and volun-
tarily certify in writing that they
authorize union dues deductions,
and will, as a condition of employ
ment, maintain their membership
In the union in good standing dur
ing the life of the contract. Upon
receipt of the above authorization,
the mill agrees to deduct from the
weekly earnings union dues in the
amount Of Is cents per week, to be
paid to the union"
Term Defined.
In another case, the words good
standing" are specifically defined as
covering the payment of the regular
Initiation fees and assessments are
specifically limited to not more than
one dollar. Thus is eliminated the
chance that good standing" will be
used by autocratic union officers to
punish a minority inside q union
for other causes than dues default.
The significance Of the voluntary
maintenance clause Is that it puts
In writing the relationship between
the member and the union and thus
a legal contract is established. This
has its risks, too, from the stand
point of the union. Fer State laws
can be invoked by citizens If they
are compelled to sign contracts un-
der duress. If any citizen wishes
to allege and can prove that he
was forced to join q union or to
sign a certification such as was
quoted above, he can sue for the
recovery Of the money paid in his
behalf or he may allege extortion,
which might make individual union
officers liable.
For q long time it has been
averred that the Wagner Act should
be amended to penalize coercion
from any source" but the union
leaders have always insisted that
State laws exist to take care of
coercion offenses. With the formal
izing of the relationship between the
worker and the union, all the pen
alties for forcing a man to sign
q document against his will come
into play. Any threats or acts Of
intimidation direct or indirect can
be penalized through suits for the
recovery Of dues paid, If not for
extortion Of segments Of the wor-
ker's pay envelope.
War Time Policy Seen.
The presence OF such a contract
with numerous individuals may put
the unions on guard against wrong
full solicitation and may at the
same time give bona flde unions the
Strengthening action which they
have sought through closed shops
or union shops. The maintenance
OF membership formula is designed,
Of course, to answer the argument
that when unions agree to refrain
from striking they must have some
compensating concession to help
them keep their members from
dropping of or from losing interest
in keeping dues payments up to
date.
While there is a tendency now on
the part of the union negotiators
to list the so-called union shop" as
one OF their demands, this Is
traded off for an increase In pay
or disposed of by some form OF
union maintenance.
Since Pearl Harbor, the union
leaders have not in any case insisted
on the union shop or the closed
shop as the final price of agree
ments. The impression prevails
here, therefore, that labor leaders
have come to the conclusion that
the war period can be utilized to
develop as many union-maintenance
arrangements as possible and that
after the war it will be COM
paratively simple matter to force
closed shops.
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