Evening star., 1942-07-24
The Labor Picture

There is ample justification for the
decision by the Department Of Justice
TO institute antitrust proceedings
against James C. Petrillo, president
of the American Federation of Musi-
clans, who has decreed that no more
records shall be made by his musi-
clans for the radio industry and other
non-private users. Even If it be
assumed, however, that this proceed
Ing rests on sound legal basis-an
exceedingly dubious assumption in
view Of the Supreme Courts unsym-
pathetic attitude toward previous
attempts to prosecute labor unions
under the antitrust statutes-it by
no means follows that this corrective
action Is adequate to cure all of the
defects in the current labor picture.
Obviously the principle underlying
the position which Mr.. Petrillo has
taken, If generally applied, would bar
all industrial progress and operate to
the serious disadvantage of the
public. 1t is thoroughly monopolistic
In intent, despite the singular silence
on the part of those men in Congress
and the administration who are so
vigorous in their denunciation of any
monopolistic practice on the part of
industry, and it is to be hoped that
the Department of Justice has found
q way to proceed which will not run
afoul OF the protective shield which
the highest court has thrown around
the activities of labor unions.
At the same time, however, 1t
should be remembered that Mr..
Petrillo's tactics, deplorable though
they are, have little if any direct
effect on the war effort. If all mu-
sicians in the country were to be
called out by their autocratic leader,
the effect on the military effort would
be less serious than that of the single
jurisdictional strike at Dayton, Ohio,
which prompted Dean Wayne L.
Morris Of the War Labor Board to
assert that participants in strikes
of this nature face the prospect Of
being prosecuted for treason. Nor
do jurisdictional strikes, which the
national labor leaders had promised
to prevent, constitute the whole of
the war labor problem.
According to Government statis-
tics, the strike curve is rising sharply,
and reached a new war peak in June.
During the first six months of this
year more than 100000 man-days of
work were lost as result of strikes
In war industries. Should the pres
ent trend continue, we may expect
that 100000 man-days, or more, of
work will be lost during the first
year Of the war. Regardless Of the
efforts of labor apologists to minimize
the significance of this record by
pointing to the total number of days
worked, 1t seems clear enough that
something is drastically wrong when
war production is curtailed to this
extent by strikes at a time when
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and die for their country.
1t is these larger aspects OF the
labor picture that will not be reached
by the proceeding against Mr.. Pc
trillo. Nor is 1T likely that the appli-
cation of the treason laws would
afford a satisfactory remedy. What
Is needed is a reallv viporous effort
on the part Of the national labor
leaders to prevent strikes, and. if this
fails, a determination on the part of
Congress and the administration to
proceed against strikers who willfully
disrupt the war effort with the same
firmness which is being shown
toward all others who impair the
Nations capacity to fight.