The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-08-25

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 war pr d uction area, Baltimore being just the guinea pig for the whole country in this respect.
 Take this matter of transferring workers. There is no law now which permits the government to force workers into the essential war in- dustries. Such transwfers as are made must therefore be arranged by cooperation maong employers and with full agreement of the Workmen. Immediately you try to set up a community program for any such moves, you run into op- position.
 First consider the emploer who has built up over period of years an organization of skilled employees. Say they're furniture makers. There aren't many limitations on wooden furniture and with the metal furni- ture business curtailed, the wood furniture business is booming. Na- turally that employer wants to keep his force together.
 But in this area there are ship yards, and there is big demand for ships carpenters. The ship yards pay high wages, and it is easier to make ship carpenter out or a man already skilled in work ing wood than 1t is to train a coal miner or farmer in the intricate business of ship carpentry. So there you have your first conflict.
 CONFLICTS APLENTY
 Now here is an employe who lives on good transportation, close to his jcb. He has certain seniority rights in the furniture factory. He is 8 member of an A. F. of l.. union. He likes the job he has now and he's making god money. His employer has a pension and six benefit asso- citation set up, and maybe loan fund which holds mortgage on his house.
 But he's a patriotic citizen, so he looks into this shipyard work. If he takes job there, he has to shift from an A. F. of L. to a c. I. O. union. He loses his senior 1ty. He has no assurance he will get his old job back after the war. He will lose his Insurance and pension benefits, and it will take him an hour day longer to get to and from his new job.
 The job of an area manpoWer commission offica ic fo rooo,o;Io o1l those conflicts mad get the men transferred into the more essential industries. In Baltimore, 1t was found that there were some 325 of these non-essential industries, employing up to 100 men apiece.
 One of the committees first acts was to ask all of these non-essen- tial industries to go over their per- sonnel records and see how many skilled and Semi-skilled workers | they had who could be transferred to war production. In some cases, where plants faced an eventual shutdown for lack of raw materials they were willing to see their em- ployes placed in good jobs for the duration. Where employers resist this appeal, boarding their skilled labor, arrangements must be made to ask if U. s. Employment Service job analysts can come into the plant, go over its operations and help the employer work out methods of upgrading his employees, putting unskilled workers on semi-skilled jobs. hiring new unskilled labor, and releasing the skilled workers for the war industries.
 UNIONS CONCERNED
 The next job is to sell the em- ployes on making the shift. Arr arrangements must be made with the employer to freeze seniority rights and insure return to peacetime em- ployment when the emerger . is over. Jealous of their membe. ship rolls, the unions have to be sold on the idea of allowing their mem- bers to work in other shops or other trades, being represented in the shop by the union having the bargaining rights, but not sacrificing membership in their original union so long as they pay their dues.
 But now suppose that the em- ploye is willing to transwer, though his old employer is unwilling te release him. An attempt will be made to set up a review board ir the U. S. Employment Service wricE shall have the authority to approve transfers which canot be agreed upon voluntarily by all parties con- cerned.
 If the employer is willing to re- lease and the employe is not willing to transfer, the only recourse the committee has is to give the mana name to his draft board with rec. ommendation that he should nt longer be given deferred status inasmuch as he is unwilling te work in essential war production.
 Now it may be that all these obstacles are insurmountable. 4 great deal of fixing is obviously required. But if 1t can't be flxet by voluntary agreements between employers and employees and union! and government agents, at leas it will have been proved that thu system won't work and that com pulsory work law. labor draft law is necessary.
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