Evening star., 1942-04-13

lative body is - =
the National David Lawrence.
War Labor Board, which has no
specific legal right to exercise con-
troll over employers or employees
through any act Of Congress. The
board, created by an executive order
Of the President under the abstract
war powers, now has done what
Congress never has been ready to
do by statute. The board not only
has ordered compulsory unioniza-
ton, but has ordered inserted into
an employer union contract a pen
atty clause against coercion or in
timidation of workers by fellow
workers, something that the Senate
defeated when the Wagner act was
up for consideration in 1885 and
something which has been bitterly
fought by unions as police power
that shall not be exercised by the
Federal Government at all.
On top of this the board assumes
In this case also the power to flx
initiation fees and union dues, a
circumstance that causes the four
labor members who concurred in the
8-to-4 decision to declare that thus
fortuitiously to regulate the internal
affairs Of q union is an act which
has grave implications and may
create endless difficulties.
Held STRAINED" Interpretation.
There Is no authority in any
statute Of Congress and certainly
nothing in the Constitution which
gives the Federal Government power
to order a citizen to pay dues or
to remain q member of a union
against his will. Only a strained
Interpretation of national necessity
in wartime gives the claim such
plausibility as 1t possesses. The
four employer representatives In
their dissenting opinion said:
"The opinion of the majority Gre
ates the impression that their de-
cision Is founded upon voluntary
action of the workers In that they
are, or were. members Of the labor
organization which requires protec-
ton from this board. With this we
disagree. : When these employees
Joined the union, they did not agree
to forfeit their jobs or their seniority
rights II they exercised their right
to Withdraw from the union. In
any organization governed by demo-
cratic principles its members retain
the right to be heard in opposition
to policies and to resign at Will.
Why should the members Of labor
unions be denied these rights?"
Joined BY Labor Members.
The four public members OF the
board are naturally Joined by the
four labor members. The bias OF the
public members is frankly expressed
in the latest decision known as the
Walker Turner case wherein the
board majority declares itself III
favor of maintaining strong, inde-
pendent and self-disciplned union
organizations" and construes It's
duty to support and use such unions
AZ IAN indispensable asset available
to us IN this critical moment OF our
Nations history"
But the four employer members
see the move as leading to special
advantages for the labor side while
the employers have over their heads
the constant threat Of Government
communicating of plants If they do
not agree to the union demands.
The four employer members say:
Before this war is over, every In
dividual and every group will have
TO make sacrifices and accept re-
strictions not now dreamed OF.
"The effect of the directive order
supports the view that organized
labor, having agreed not to strike
while the war lasts, should not be
refused concessions which might
have been obtained by economic
force in peacetime. II this should
happen, then labor in giving up
the right to strike, would actually
be surrendering nothing. Ultimate
" such a policy leads to union shop.
closed shop, control Of hiring and
finally, the transfer to others OF
the rights and obligations of man
agement."
Union Security Demands.
Though the majority members
claim the case isn't to be regarded
as a precedent, this was said before
when the first decision granting
compulsory unionization under the
name of union security" was
by the old National Defense
Mediation Board last year. As a
demands for union Sc
curity rose up everywhere along
with demands for union shops and
closed shops and today this CAM
paign for special advantages to labor
unions appears constantly in labor
negotiations.
Thus does the War Labor Board
itself introduce an element Of In
dustrial insecurity into q situation
which it seeks to cure by union
security" Maybe Congress will have
something to say about the making
of national policies by a group of
four men with an admitted pro-
union bias. Certainly the people
have no way of holding these four
men responsible at the polls for |