Evening star., 1942-02-22
Union Shop Demand
orc. |. 0. Denied by
War Labor Board
Decision Hints Thot
'kotionoI Policy on
Issue Will Be Set Up
~ the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
The union shop and a $1-a-day
wage increase were denied to
c. I. o. employees of the Phelps
Dodge Corp. yesterday In q
unanimous War Labor Board de-
cision which hinted that an "au-
thoritative national policy" on
the union shop issue may be in
the making by the Government.
The case involved demands Of the
c. I. O. Mine. Mil and Smelter
Workers Union, representing TOO
workers at the compa2ys Douglas
tAriz) plant. Most Of the 5000 or
1000 employees in other Phelps
Dodge copper mines and sznelters
are covered under A. r. L. wage
contracts, the board declared.
In denying the c. I. o. wage re-
quest for the Douglas plant, the
board asserted it did not wish to
upset pay scales affecting q majority
of Phelps Dodge employees and Gre
ate artificial competition" between
the two unions.
Hints at National Policy.
Such decision, the board said,
would be "a sorry reply to the pleas
OF our fighting men for equipment
with which to defend their lives"
On the union shop issue, the de-
cision said:
The question of additional union
security should be deferred to later
negotiations between the parties
which may be undertaken in the
event an authoritative national
policy is enunciated respecting the
matter"
Whether the board, Congress or
the President might establish such
o policy was not indicated, but 1t
was the boards first reference, in
any of it's decisions, to such a pos
sibility.
The union shop question is of
major Importance in the War Labor
Boards immediate future because
of pending demands by the C. I. o.
Steel Workers Organizing Commit
tee for a $1-a-day wage increase
and = union shop in Little Steel"
companies.
Decision Wins Praise.
Under the union shop arrange
ment an employer may hire any one
he pleases, but every employe must
join the union after a stipulated
period of time.
A statement issued in New York
by Louis S. Gates, president Of
Phelps Dodge, said, I'VE see the
decision determining not alone a
purely local issue but establishing a
basis for employer -employe rela-
tionships which can only serve to
further the production efforts of the
Nation" --.,
we regard the decision" Mr..
Gates statement said. las highly
constructive effort by the National
War Labor Board to achieve fair |
play for management and labor
alike"
Chairman william II. Davis of |
the labor board assured c. I. o.
President Philip Murray IN an open
letter, meanwhile, that he held an
open mind in the little steel"
case.
Two days ago Mr.. Murray wrote
Mr.. Davis protesting that certain
Government and industry officials"
had joined in a "premeditated pub
licity campaign" designed to "prej-
udice the public mind and, il pos
sible, the War Labor Board" against
c. I. O. demands.
Mr.. Murray specifically men
toned Price Administrator Leon
Henderson, who recently told the
labor board that general wage
increase for labor would have an
infiationary effect.
Mr.. Davis declared that Mr.. Hen
derson appeared before the labor
board before the little steel" case
was certified to 1t and that Mr.
Henderson did not "at all take the
attitude that his position must rule
the action of the board"