Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-04-28

nronerties some 81
times revert to David Lawrence.
the management after it has grant,
ed the demands of the Govern
ment, and sometimes they are OPP
Grated by the Government indefi-
nitely.
There has been no case in which
q labor union has been penalized
for violating the no-strike pledge
or for defying the President and
his creature-the War Labor Board.
The difficulty has been that the
President has not been willing to
apply the rules of fair play to labor
problems. He has dealt in one
sided fashion with them, so that
today the country is witnessing the
spectacle of a powerful labor leader
telling the Government just how
and when he will negotiate.
Lewis Calls Bluffs.
In all the annals of labor con-
troversies, there is no more con-
spicuous example of humiliation
than that which surrounds the Pres
ident and his cabinet today. They
have been told by ultimatum just
what they must do. The Policy
Committee of the United Mine
Workers, after due elaboration. has
sent message demanding that the
Secretary of Labor order the en-
ployers to resume negotiations and
to ignore the orders of the War
Labor Board, which has taken the
dispute under its jurisdiction.
John L. Lewis has had experience
before with the administration. He
has called bluff after bluff and has
gotten away with it in what labor
leaders who are his rivals regard as
an unparalleled exhibition of eff
frontery. But they dare not cross
swords with him, because the ad-
ministration, despite its show of
hostility to Lewis, usually bows to
his demands anyway
Mr.. Lewis is angling for COM
promise He destroyed the National
Defense Mediation Board and forced
the creation of a new board. AS
long as the decisions of the latter
pleased him. he supported it, but
now that no more wage increases
are granted, he is opposed to that
tribunal.
Spurns Pay Formula.
Mr.. Lewis refuses to recognize the
limitations of the little steel for
mula" which the War Labor Board
uses to measure wage increases in
relation to the cost of living In
defying the WLB, he has incurred
big risk because the President, if
he comedies anything to Lewis and
the miners union, must concede the
same increases or their equivalent
to other labor unions.
The test of Mr. Roosevelt's skill in
handling the labor unions has been
postponed again and again by sur
rendering to their chiefs and by
permitting them to assist in making
policies favorable to them. In this
manner, legislation prohibiting
strikes has been squelched. The
President alone is responsible for
the fact that strikes are not pro-
hibited by law in wartime.
If any other citizen or group of
citizens deliberately interfered with
production of war weapons, they
would be condemned in no polite
terms by the President and men,
bers of the War Labor Board. The
records are full of invectives levelled
at employers. But whether it's be-
cause labor unions are the political
allies of the administration and Mr..
Roosevelt needs them for fourth
term, as he has needed them for
third and a second term in the past,
VI WllSllltI IL y UCCduSC biiC deiIliii-
istration has been waiting for an
aroused public opinion to settle the
question, the reason for the peculiar
policy will soon have to be disclosed.
May Devise Penalty.
The same labor union engaged in
a costly strike in the coal mines in
l941 just before Pearl Harbor but
suffered no penalty. In fact there
is no penalty for defying the Fed
eral Government if you are power
full enough labor leader.
Maybe penalty has to be devised.
The one being suggested is that the
union and its membership lists and
dues be taken over in trust and that
the union be given different leader
ship throughout the war period or
until such time as there Is COM
, pliance with the Governments de-
mands. There are rival unions which
would like the opportunity of taking
possession even for brief time Of
Mr.. Lewis union.
Will the administration have the
courage to apply the same rule Ut
seizure to labor union organization
as it does to an employer?
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