Evening star., 1942-03-13


labor union David Lawrence.
leaders afraid Of? What do they
wish to conceal? Analyzing the
arguments made against passage of
the bill sponsored by Chairman
Vinson, of the House Naval Affairs
Committee, one finds an expressed
fear that the financial strength
OF the unions will become exposed
to view.
THE only result OF a bill of this
type" said a statement to the
House Judiciary Committee in be-
half Of Philip Murray, president Of
the c. I. o." would be to make
available to the employer all the
information which he might need
for his purposes, to give him the
advantage that accrues to any ne
gotiator from knowing precisely the
financial situation of the other party
to the negotiations so that he may
know precisely the point at which
the other party to the negotiations
is prepared to come to an agreement
This has been the objective of legis-
lation Of this type in the past. 1t is
its objective today"
Deeper Purpose.
But has the G. I. o. never made
any use Of the vast amount of data
on corporation profits and the
financial details required to be made
public by the Securities and Ex-
change Commission? Have the la
bor unions never sought to benefit in
any wage negotiations by the knowl-
edge of what the financial position
of the employer party happened
to be?
The truth is there Is deeper and
far more important purpose in the
legislation. 1t is to protect the
workers from being exploited. They
do not know today how much money
taken from them in dues and initi-
alton fees go for union requirements
and how much goes for politics and
assessments to fight battles in other
unions for the furtherance of indi-
vidual ambitions and national labor
union politics.
The House Naval Affairs Commit
tee in a recent attempt to get the
financial data on labor unions was
refused the facts by large number
of unions. Why was a congressional
committee defied2 There are rumors
that the committee will be COM
PEELED soon to use its subpoena
power to get answers to its ques-
tionnaires but the mystery as to
why the data are being concealed
from Congress has not been cleared
up.
The preliminary report shows that
the assets of 1T national and inter-
national unions amount to $685.
600 and that IS per cent increase
occurred in the first 18 months of
the defense period. Aggregate re-
ceipts were given as 100000 and
disbursements at s68, 8,860,0O0.
Thousands Not Included.
But the foregoing sums cover only
1T national unions. More than
$500 local labor unions which ham
die their own finances were not
covered by the report. 1t Is esti-
mated that the unions have about
100000 members. They claim
more than that number. Dues range
from 81 q month in some unions to
S. . month in others. If the aver
age payment of dues is $25 a year,
the labor unions Of America are
collecting upward Of s250, 900, 900 a
year. Some estimates 90 as high
as billion dollars q year. And the
unions are not paying a cent of
taxes.
Should any organizations collect
ing such vast sums be immune from
all responsibility for public dis
closure of their financial affairs?
Corporations enjoy no such immun-
ity when they handle the money
of their stockholders. 1t is often
contended that the unions make
financial statements themselves.
Many do make excellent statements
annually but the vast majority of
the unions do not, as is evidenced
by the failure of the House Naval
Affairs Committee to get the truth
even when formal questionnaires
were sent out to all the labor unions.
Are the labor politicians afraid
of publicity-afraid that the workers
might begin to ask questions? AL
ready by means Of the closed shop
or union shop device and other
schemes for compulsory unionism,
such as maintenance of member
ship" the helpless worker cannot
challenge the will OF the autocratic
group or clique which manage the
unions affairs. If he starts q revolt
he risks losing his job, for unless he
remains a member In good stand
Ing" the employer must fire him at
the behest of the union chiefs.
The proposed legislation might
well be called step to emancipate
the American workingman from the
clutches Of the labor politicians, and
no better evidence of the need for
this simple bill could be given than
the very vigorous efforts made by
the top men in the A. F. L. and
G. I. o. to stif1e the proposed legis-
lation, which doesn't seek to regu-
late unions but merely asks that
publicity be given to the vast sums
Of money they collect. Incidentally,
the bill would also require business
and trade associations to comply
with the same rules and stipulations