Evening star., 1943-02-13
Open or Closed Shop
Prevailing al Plants
Frozen by WLB
Retention for Durution
OF War Is Directed
As General Rule
By TIE Associated Press

~ 0CuCeNi NuIG
/ By TIE Associated Press
The War Labor Board has laid
! down the dictum that, as a general
| rule. regularly established union
| shop or closed shop shall remain
regularly established for the dura-
ton of the war"
| The decision. with employer mem
! bers dissenting. was issued in the
case of the Harvill Aircraft Die
Casting Corp, Inglewood, Calf. and
the CIO National Association of Die
| Casting Workers.
An agreement providing for a
union shop there, requiring all
workers to be union workers, expired
! last April Is. The company refused
| to renew that provision and the case
came before the WLB.
DR.. Frank P Graham. public
member, said in the ma iority opin-
ion that the board, by delaying set
| tlement of the case, must share part
| of the responsibility for the fact
that since April Is new workers have
| become employed without the
knowledge or acceptance of the con-
ditions Of the union shop"
Two Policies in Conflict.
The board, consequently he
! said finds in conflict two of its
basic policies in this case:
First, that worker shall not be
compelled by the Government to
! join union to get job and sec
ond. the herewith declared policy
that company cannot take ad
vantage of the no-strike agreement
to give up union shop previously
established by the agreement of the
company and the union
1T is the responsibility of the
board to resolve this conflict in basic
| policies and yet make clear that, as
general rule. regularly estab-
lished union shop or closed shop
shall remain regularly established
| for the duration of the war"
The board ordered the union shop
and check-off restored as of April
IS with the proviso that employees
hired between that time and the
date of the order shall be subject
only to the boards standard main
tenance of membership provision
that is, If they are not union men,
bers they need not join, and if they
already have joined, they have Is
days to withdraw If they wish: but
otherwise they must pay their union
dues and remain in good standing
However, future employees must OBJ
serve the usual union shop condi-
tions and join the union.
Exemption Ruled Out.
This exemption of the so-calleo
interim employees" from the union
shop provisions will not be allowec
in any future cases
BY this decision said DR.
| Graham. notice is now given tC
both workers and management, be-
| yond future misunderstanding oi
| appeal, that no company can take
| advantage Of, the boards standard
provision for union security TO re-
duce the provision for the union
shop to the provision for main
renance Of membership, hereafter
also for the so-called interim en-
| ployes, and that no company car
| take advantage of the no-Strikt
agreement to throw out union shop
previously established by agreement
between the parties
The company, in arguing for Q
return to the open shop, said it hao
! accepted the union shop as an ex-
pertinent; that it had caused drol
in production. and that it was un-
! satisfactory in other ways
The union contended the union
shop agreement was made in good
faith, and that any drop in pro-
, duction was not due to the union
shop, but to confusion attending the
conversion OF the plant to war con-
struction.
Defense for Union Urged.
Having waived exercise of the
strike weapon. the union argued
that if the union shop was not con-
| tinued, every union by such a prece-
dent would become defenseless
against the determination of any
| company to overthrow the union
shop.
Dr. Graham said the case does not
present the clear situation of a un-
ion on an open-shop basis struggling
for the union shop. The board S
| standard answer in such a case, he
said. would be maintenance of mem
bership, by which the board seeks to
stabilize conditions for the dura-
/ ton of the war
For unions in en-shop indus
tries" he said, to fight out to the
bitter end the battle for the union
shop would be most unstabihzing
and devastating for war production
Likewise, to push union shops back
into open shops would unstabilize,
for war production, the unions of
the millions of American workers
, who have pledged themselves not TO
strike, but to leave to peaceful arbi-
/ trament the security of the unions
which they have won after long and
| arduous struggles"