Evening star., 1943-03-25
Bar 10 Bargaining
Seen by Burke in
Unions for Foremen
Tells House Group He
Thinks Lewis Opposes
Plun in His Heart
BY J. A. OLEARY.

The unionization of foremen
in industrial plants would de-
stroy collective bargaining be-
cause the supervisors are a part
Of management, former Senator
Burke of Nebraska, spokesman
for the Southern Coal Producers
Association, told the House Mill
tary Affairs Committee today.
The issue is one of the stumbling
blocks in the impending negotiations
between the coal operators and John
L. Lewis United Mine Workers.
Mr.. Burke was testifying on the
bill Of Representative Smith, Dem
ocrat, of Virginia, which would pro-
hibit such organizing and a variety
of other practices that Mr.. Smith
contends would impair war pro-
duction
Mr.. Burke said the constitution of
the United Mine Workers for years
barred supervisors from the union,
and he declared that 'in his heart"
Mr.. Lewis still believes it would be
better to adhere to that rule.
Would Bar Other Efforts.
Anticipating questions as to why
the change is now being sought, Mr..
Burke said that a decision of the
National Labor Relations Board up
holding the right of foremen to Or
ganize for collective bargaining has
given impetus to efforts to organize
those groups, "and Mr.. Lewis says
we are not going to let some other
union come in and organize this
small group in the coal industry.
Mr.. Smith, meanwhile, told the
House Labor Committee today the
manpower problem could be solved
without the drastic Austin Wads-
worth national service bill 'if you
get the utmost out of the workers
now available in war industry"
He testified on his bill, which also
would prohibit during the war what
ne called feather bed" rules "preva-
lent in various labor organizations
that restrict a mans output or the
appliances he may use" Mr.. Smith
said they are "antiquated rules that
were designed to spread employ
ment,' but which should not operate
during the war.
Mr. Smith, noting that his bill
covers number of provisions, asked
the committee to turn first to the
proposal to head off any effort to
organize the supervisors in war
| plants.
J1h 7 n+n,- ~ lNa
National Coal Association, testified
that in so years of collective bar
gaining the supervisors have been
| excluded by mutual consent of man
/ agement and labor because they rep
! resent the companies in the per-
/ formance of their duties.
| In many cases, he said, they en-
| force State safety laws and weigh
| the coal on which the miners are
paid. AS representatives of man
| agement, he added, 1T does not seem
right they should be on the other
side Of the fence"
In the meantime, the president OF
CIO shipbuilders union charged
before the Senate War Investigating
Committee that 10000 to 10000
workers in Henry j. Kaiser's Oregon
| yards have been forced to join an
AFL bargaining unit which they
had no hand in choosing"
TeStifying on CIO-AFL iurisdic-
tional disputes, John Green, presi-
| dent of the Industrial Union Of
Marine and Shipbuilding Workers,
CIO, told the committee that the
Kaiser company entered into
closed shop agreement with the AFL
when only 66 men had been hired.
This step forced every one Of the
! 10000 to $4,000 workers since hired
| in KaiSer's three oregon yards TO
join a bargaining unit which they
/ had no hand in choosing Mr..
| Green declared.
| His own union, he added, has filed
! charges with the National Labor
| Relations Board in a number of
| cases where. he asserted, employers
| had entered into "collusive closed
| shop contracts" with the AFL when
only a fraction of the full shipyard
force had been hired,
Says Kaiser Gets "Ballyhoo."
Il am the last person to deny the
/ achievements of Mr Kaiser, Mr.
! Green said. He certainly has been
responsible for organizing the supply
Of merchant vessels so badly needed
| for the war effort. But gentlemen.
YOU and 1 know, and every practical
! shipbuilder will concur in the state
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