Evening star., 1942-05-15

insisted q that
there is a right &zHe& -
of withdrawal David Lawrence.
for a worker at the time when
union contract with the employer
expires. But no such provision can
be found in any of the important
labor union constitutions If
worker changes his trade and goes
into another line, he can get an
honorable withdrawal but II he fails
to pay dues or dislikes any of the
union policies he is in straitjacket
that can either force his dismissal
from his present job or prevent him
from getting another.
While this situation may come as
q surprise to most persons unfamil-
lar with the true meaning of the
maintenance-of-mem clause
being forced upon American en-
ployers by the War Labor Board
under the guise Of wartime neces-
sity. the labor leaders themselves
have no illusion about the so-called
right OF withdrawal from a union.
View Of Labor Official.
Thus, for instance. Harry Hagen,
vice president of the A. F. LIS Wood,
Wire and Metal Lathers, discusses
the issue In one of the labor union
periodicals. Answering a critic who
asked II worker could not refuse
to be party to racketeering union
policies and stop contributing dues
for undesirable purposes, Mr.. Hagen
writes:
I'VE might reply that If such con-
ditions would arise, under those cir
cumstances, member should get
together with other rank and file
members and proceed to oust those
union officers responsible for any
criminal practices by q vote Of the
membership, or as a last resort, ap-
peal to the proper civil authorities
Of the community to correct them.
Il wonder if the many people in
this State who didn't like the cor
rupt practices of our Legislature be-
cause Of that condition could refuse
to pay taxes and have nothing to do
with the State government :. And
Just who endowed this dissenting
imaginary union member with such
wisdom and perspicacity that he
alone would be the judge, prosecutor
and jury of his unions policies and
its legally elected officers that he
could change the rules Of the game
to suit his fancies?"
The conception prevails, it will be
observed, among labor leaders that
the union is sort of government
and not a private organization
based upon the free will of the mem
bers to join or withdraw as they
wish.
Minorities are not able to express
their protest by resignirg from
union. They must accept the rule
OF the majority even though it binds
them as individuals indefinitely to a
union, and that means in many
cases they can no longer get a Job
without the unions backing
Board Seen Taken in"
The War Labor Board has been
taken in by the union-maintenance
philosophy, and its public members
have been persuaded to believe that
the issue is one of merely joining or
withdrawing. The unions do not
accept such an Interpretation. Once
a worker joins union he can only
refuse to pay dues, and if the en-
ployer continues to pay it for him,
that's a subsidy. If the employer
doesn't pay it, then the worker goes
on the bad standing list and can be
barred from jobs in other plants
where closed shop contracts are in
effect.
Board Chairman William H. Davis
virtually conceded that there was
no way for a worker to get out of the
clutches Of a labor union once he
joined. In recent conference with
the press, reported geographically,
the following colloquy occurred:
Does this union constitution that
has been introduced in evidence
before the board Gin the Federal
shipbuilding case). does it have q
provision for resignation" he was
asked.
WELL replied Mr. Davis, Il can
give you a copy of the constitution.
1t has certain provisions about-if
can remember them-it provides
that If a mans dues, if he is delin-
quent for three months, he is auto
matically put on a delinquent list.
That's not exactly the phraseology
but the substance of the is
dropped from the active list. He
can restore himself to active men,
bership by paying fine OF SIS
well, is the only method by
which a man might voluntarily
leave the union to refuse to pay his
dues?" was the next question.
Well" responded Mr.. Davis, ut
Is the only one I can think Of now"
Here is the head of the War Labor
Board admitting to the American
people that only by refusing to pay
dues and running the risk OF being
blacklisted on all future jobs can
a man withdraw from a union he
has once Joined. And the Govern
ment today is debating to the
American workers and their en-
ployers that maintenance of men,
bership must be accepted by them
as a national policy. even though
Congress has never ventured to pass
such an order and even though