Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-01-16

i,,sttded '-r On the the A
ground that the David Lawrence.
war effort will be aided by compelling
workers to remain in unions they
have once joined, but now it is a seri-
Gus question whether the board will
devise formula to do something
more important than maintain union
membership-namely, to maintain
coal production and any other kind
of production requisite to the war
effort.
The representatives Of the miners
In the anthracite coal regions and
their national officers have ap-
peared before the board. The top
officials confess that they have no
control over the workers and that
the strike is one of those "unauthor-
lied" affairs. But Congress passed
the Wagner law and insisted on
making it one-sided in order, as it
was alleged, that union responsible
ity should be developed.
The United Mine Workers is one
of the Oldest of the unions. For
a long time, in its contracts, the
closed shop has been agreed to by
employers, so the anthracite fields,
as well as all of the bituminous
fields, now are all-union. There
is no allegation of employer inter
ference. In this case, both the en-
ployers and the public are the inno-
cent victims of a quarrel inside the
union.
Grounds for Strike.
The grounds for the strike are
twofold-a protest against an in
crease in union dues and a demand
for $2-a-day increase in wages
The former is believed to be more
OF a protest against the recent as
sessment and not as much of
grievance as the effort to get an
Increase in wages. Incidentally, at
the hearing before the War Labor
Board, John L. Lewis, president of
the miners union, served notice that
when the miners contract came up
for renewal he would press for an
called Little Steel" formula, which |
grants wage increases when costs of
living have risen IS per cent above
the January l, 1941, level.
1t begins to appear as If the
national officers are content to let !
the agitation for an increase in
wages develop at this time as a
stepping stone toward the making
of their case later on.
Meanwhile, the strike of the an
thracite miners may come to a con-
clusion when the War Labor Board |
fixes up some gesture to permit the
leaders of the workers to save their |
faces. But when the miners return !
to work, nobody will be punished |
for the interruption of production
of an essential commodity. To |
strike on an unauthorized" or
wildcat" basis involves no risk to
any union leader or workers.
No Penalty Provided.
Congress has failed to provide any
penalty for interruption of pro-
duction by workers even when or
ganized to restrain the flow of In
terstate commerce. The manipula-
tors of legal language in the New
Deal can find plenty of phrases
under which to threaten and even
prosecute arrangements but 6ey
seem to be at loss to find any law
that can penalize union for Vio-
lating the no-strike pledge given to
the President Of the United States.
In fact, whatever semblance of a
penalty might have been derived
from the interstate commerce laws
concerning impediments to produc-
ton was removed by a decision of
the New Deal majority of the ST.
preme Court, so that today the exc
cutive bureaus will not venture to
penalize strikers even when their
own chiefs call it an illegal" strike.
Plenty Of power and authority APP
parently can be invoked to prevent
citizen from using his automobile
or ration book to carry on the
normal pursuits of his everyday life
-punishments can be devised over
night for such offenses-but some
how nobody in the whole New Deal
has been able to think of any way
Of Furnishing those who by con-
certed action conspire to deprive
their fellow citizens of much needed
fuel to heat their homes. Maybe
Congress, which is the only body
that ought to prescribe penalties,
will find some way to protect the
war effort against such sabotage.
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