Imperial Valley press., 1942-02-24
BUSINESS PAYS TRIBUTE

BUSINESS PAYS TRIBUTE
Labor leaders are not the OILY
ones who boast their new power
Washington representatives of some
of the big industries pay tribute to
the labor lobby, saying privately
tlat it is too smart, that it has
not made a single mistake III tactics
since the defense effort began. Dis
ruption of the old OPM and the first
mediation board are pointed to as
evidence of the lobby'S power
If that's true in any degree, there
may be some point in trying to
enumerate some of the objectiVe5 of
the labor movement in this war ef-
fort. There is no official tablet of
stone to list these aims, for there
IS as yet no real AFL-CIO unity
But day after day the labor head
quarters in Washington put out their
statements of approval on these
measures of Congress or admlnlStra-
tive orderS-Or their disapprOVal
and from these statements and
from the resolutions of executive
board meetings 4 fairly clear picture
can be drawn.
At the head Of the list. labor
leaders put union security This
is inreality a broad term for the
closed shop or the union shop and
.he maintenance Df the national Ia
Tor relations act, wages and hour
law, and all the other federal leg
islation now on the books to protect
trade union practices, including the
40-hour week and extra overtime
compensation
Second is a drive for increased
wages ard opposition to all forms OF
wage freezing for duration OF the
war This objective is stated as
maintenance of the living stand
ards of the workers threatened
/ by the spiraling cost of living and
! increased taxes on low income
groups" but it is simply a national
policy of demanding substantial
wage increases in all negotiations.
/ AFL has gone further to suggest au-
tomato increases as living costs rise
] SEEKS MORE SAY-SO
On the war production program
labor can be counted upon to ask
/ for more authority. Labor leaders
say they are interested in having
share of management as such, but
this is stated lal 5ely TO counter
claims of management that LABOR
should not "interfere' in manage
ment because labor doesn't know
ANYTHING about management
Labor resolutions state this az
behind a lot of words in asking
for labor participation in the pro-
secution of the war by affOrding Ia
Dor direct representation and com
plete participation within the ad-
illustrative machinery responsible
for obtaining the production OF mu-
ritiOns of war" What this means Is
more of the Murray industry plan,
more Reuther plans for every war
industry.
Elimination Of nOrth-South VA"
dffercntials having been won IN the
coal industry anC started IN the
aluminium industry, will be pushed
whereVed the union think tho 70
strong enough to put it over And
or the same basis, there VIII Dt
increasing demands for wage acales
within whole industries on d broad
rr basis, to eliminate compcu',2n
for labor between plants
On the legislative front, the Ia
Dor lobbyists think they haze ..dc-
tracked the Smith anti-s'rIEc bill
though they realize it can bc hc.d
over the head like an administration
club TO be pulled out If labor gcts ou'
Of hand. Biggest prO-labOr measure
the lobby works for is to lLcrtas"
unemployment cOmDcusatlO' tor
workers displaced temporarily thB