Evening star., 1942-02-26

MONDAY, YET Tie
unions asked as their price Of COM
pliance not just the ordinary over
time, but double time" and this,
the employers said, was too expen-
sive under the terms of their fixed
fees and selling prices.
Some Of the big plants on the
West Coast operated on Monday as
usual, and in a few of them the
workers donated their overtime pay
to Navy relief. But the union lead
ers in the smaller plants working on
defense tasks refused to allow the
men to work unless double time were
paid.
This isn't the first time requests
from the Government have been
ignored by labor unions. President
Roosevelt three times last October
begged the C. I. o. to call of the
coal strike, but to no avail until he
granted the Lewis demand for an ar
bitrator of his liking. If an en-
ployer ventured to ignore Govern
ment request in a labor matter,
either his plant would be comman-
deered or he would be pilloried in
unmistakable language.
Failed to Be Specific.
The President is apparently timid
about treading on the toes of the
union leaders. In his radio speech
of Monday night he hesitated to
call a spade a spade and tell the
unions what he may have meant by
the plea to give up demands for
special advantages" This phrase
could be construed to mean the So
called union shop or closed shop and
the various forms Of compulsory
unionism. But never in his address
did Mr.. Roosevelt specifically refer
to union demands on these points.
While strikes are not numerous,
the list of disputes pouring in on the
Government agencies for concilia-
ton is at a new high record. More
tases have been brought to the new
War Labor Board in the last five
weeks than in the first six months OF
thu old Defense Mediation Board.
The cases reveal quite lot Of de-
MAIDS for union shops, closed shops
and for compulsory unionism
through maintenance of member
ship contracts. Ever since the
Roosevelt administration encouraged
the compulsory union idea when it
commandeered the Federal Ship
building & Drydock Co.'S plant at
Kearny, N. j., the unions have
been quick to push ahead for these
special advantages"
More Disputes Seen.
Until the~ War Labor Board
definitely rules out these demands
for special advantages" and puts
into decisive form what the Presi-
dent may have urged by implca-
ton in his Monday night radio
speech, the number Of disputes
based on these different types of
compulsory unionism will tend to
increase instead of diminish. Quite
often such demands, of course, are
used as trading points In neeotiat-
ing for higher wages. While the
administration is getting ready to
put even higher taxes on business
and individuals, it Is not moving
toward repression of extra de-
mands for higher wages. For the
Government to keep a ceiling on
prices while doing nothing to keep
. ceiling on costs Is going to lead
10 failure for many businesses,
particularly the small ones.
As for efficiency in production,
the same night that Mr.. Roosevelt
was broadcasting, an announcement
came from John Green, national
president Of the Shipbuilding Work
ers' Union OF the c. I. o., that
efficiency was 80 to so per cent
snort OF what 1t should be IN the
shipyards- because, Mr.. Green
said, labor wasn't managing the
job. Unquestionably there are
slowdowns due to union-manage-
ment friction, but on this phase of
the battle of production the Presi-
dent apparently hesitates to act
and Congress remains passive. 1t
is still lawful TO strike, to slow
down production and even to re-
fuse to work on holidays unless paid
double time. Incidentally, no dou-
BILE time is paid American soldiers,
sailors or airmen for fighting on
Sundays or holidays.
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