Evening star., 1944-04-26
Montgomery Ward
Seizure of Plant Dramatizes
Observation-Disclosures Tie.up

Seizure of Plant Dramatizes
Administration.Labor Tie.up
By David Laurence
The seizure by the Government o
Montgomery Ward q Co. on ths
ground that 1t distributes products es-
sential indirectly to the war effort would
prove to be more than labor dispute.
It could intensity the attitude Of hos
tility toward the present administra-
ton In the farm States and dramatize,
as no other single event could possibly
do, the tie-up and between the Roose-
velt administration and the labor unions.
The issue In the Montgomery Ward
case is whether the Roosevelt admin
istration, acting through the War Labor
Board, can force q maintenance -of-
membership contract on an employer
even though the latter has reason TO
believe that the union has lost the menu
bership Of majority OF its employees.
Congress has never authorized any
governmental agency to compel the
signing Of contracts either with or with.
out maintenance-of- membership clauses.
Such q piece Of legislation would be
bitterly fought by the labor unions
themselves, who do not want compul-
sorry arbitration or coercion of any kind
but desire it to be left entirely to col
lective bargaining with, of course, the
right to strike.
'No-Strike" Pledge Reward.
Because the labor unions have.
through their national organizations,
proclaimed that they would not strike,
the administration has felt that as a
reward for this the membership of the
labor unions must be maintained with
the aid of the Government. In previ-
Gus instances, where employers have de-
clined to sign contracts containing
maintenance nce-of-membership clauses,
the War Labor Board has insisted, and
the President has ordered properties to
be seized and operated by the Govern
ment. The threat of seizure has, in
most instances, been enough to force ths
employers to sign the contracts.
But change came over the situation
when the Smith-C ConnaIly law was
passed last year. 1t contains provision
that the orders Of the War Labor Board
must conform to the National Labor
Relations Act. This is generally inter-
preted to mean that the collective bar
gaining process shall be preserved and
that the determination OF whether an
organization represents the majority Of
the employees Is to be carried on by the
National Labor Relations Board in war
time as 1t has been In peacetime.
There has been no way, however,
heretofore, to enjoin in the courts the
orders Of the War Labor Board with
their multifarious commands supposedly
derived from presidential war powers.
As a matter Of fact, the President has
no war powers except those actually
delegated to him by Congress, but many
an executive order has been written on
the assumption that in wartime the
President can be a dictator and that
laws can often be brushed aside with
out authorization from Congress.
The pendulum is swinging now. There
there is definite feeling that test
cases should be brought to check
the unrestrained use Of governmental
power. The Montgomery Ward con-
troversy may result In just such test
case. The principle which has been
espoused by the Montgomery Ward
management-namely, that the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board should
determine whether the union In ques-
ton has majority-is accepted by the
War Labor Board, but 1t insists that
pending the outcome Of that election
the Montgomery Ward management
should sign contract renewing its
old relationship. This, Of course, Is
tantamount to saying that even though
the status quo may be wrong, 1t should
be maintained.
Normally, there is great deal to be
said in favor of maintaining existing
relations, but in the Montgomery Ward
case the maintenance-of-mem
issue is the vital thing that may de-
termine the outcome of the National
Labor Relations Board case itself. In
other words, by ordering a temporary
or intermediate contract the union Is
given an opportunity by the War Labor
Board to build up its membership so
that when the National Labor Rela-
tions Board holds an election the union
will have had a full opportunity to re-
cruit new members.
Position Taken by Company.
The Montgomery Ward management
takes the position that Congress has
not delegated any power compelling a
maintenance-of f-membership clause in
union contracts, and the big mail order
house, along with other large employers
of labor, consider the maintenance-of-
membership merely a steppingstone to
closed shop. President Roosevelt has
declared that he would never order, nor
did he believe that Congress would ever
legislate, compulsory closed shops in
America. This, he has insisted, must
be the result only of voluntary agree
ments between employers and unions.
But in the case of maintenance Of
membership, which Is considered by
many employers as a modified form of
the closed shop, the Government has
been willing to bring its full powers of
coercion into play. Inasmuch as Con-
gress has not legislated on this subject
and the administration has never sought
legislation empowering it to grant
nce-of-membership clauses to
eszsx. Is H.