Montana labor news., 1944-06-29
REILLY CHARGED
WITH PILOT
KILL WAGNER ACT

Ten years Of open attack by Big Bust
ness, spearheaded by the National Asso-
citation of Manufacturers (NAM) and by
the big newspapers american Newspa-
per Publishers Association to destroy the
rights of the majority of people of Amer
lea, came to a climax in May when a plot
to smash the Wagner Act was discovered
within the National Labor Relations
Board.
This news was not reported in the
press. The New York Times May %
under the heading "CIO Attacks NLRB,
Singles Out Reilly" said. The CLIO fired
another volley tonight at the NLRB, ac-
cusing it of 'retreating from the princi-
Piles of the Wagner Act The complaint
embodied in a resolution passed at a
weekend meeting of CLIO vice presi-
dents. " etc. The United Press re-
port, as it appeared in PM May % under
the heading "NLRB Evades Wagner Act,
Go Charges" said: 1.-THE CLIO, long a
staunch friend of the NLRB, accused the
NLRB Of r%etreating from the principles
Of the Wagner Act. " etc.
Attack Led by NAM General Counsel
These and similar newspaper dis
patches suppress the fact that the NAM
led the attack on the Wagner Act at
the meetings in question, and that the
attorney for labor openly accused the
NAM Of attempting to smash the Veg
ner Act from within the NLRB, after
failing for ten years to smash it via open
attacks from without. Newspaper men
and friends of labor who attended the
hearings inform In Fact the situa-
ton developed there is the most danger
Gus the labor movement has had to face
in recent history.
The seriousness of the situation was
recognized May 10 when all organized
labor joined hands to fight the rule, pro-
posed by NLRB member Gerald Reilly,
that employers could call elections Of
workers at any time they felt that the
union no longer represented a majority.
Up to now the Wagner Act permitted
workers to petition for an election but
did not permit employers to call cleo
lions for the purpose Of throwing the
unions out.
MANS general counsel, R. S. Smet-
hurst, speaking for that NAM element
of Big Business which is the enemy Of
labor, seconded the Reilly proposal with
the suggestion that the NLRB should
be available to both parties"
CLIO Charges Anti-War Plot
CLIO counsel, Lee Pressman, then ac-
cused the NAM of attempting to destroy
the Wagner Act from within the NLRB
you couldn't get this plan through
Congress" he said, land now you arg
trying to put it through here"
Previously, President Murray of the
CLIO had declared that the imposition
of the NAM-sponsored rule would Gre
ate disorder, confusion, misunderstand-
ing and lead to more strikes than any
thing since the creation of this board.
It invites terror, incites disorder, invites
fights. 1t is damaging to the interests
of the nation and to the nations war eff
FORT
The AFL, CLIO, National Federation Of
Telephone Workers, Confederation Union
of America, Railway Trainmen and
United Mine Workers agreed on this.
The moment every employer is permitted
to demand elections whenever he wants
them, production would be ruined and
chaos would result in Il war industry.
Big Business Disregards the War Effort
Throughout the hearings it was evil
dent that the first thought of the labor
unions was to continue the war produc-
ton effort peacefully and that keeping
the Wagner Act intact was necessary
for this. 1t was also evident that the
first plan of big business, as represented
by the NAM, was to smash the Wagner
Act even if the U. S. war production pro-
gram was sabotaged as a result. Attor-
ney Pressman, winding up the case for
labor, declared to the NLRB that no
where in the NAM presentation of its
for the employers was any attempt
made to show how the rule would i'm
prove the war effort, while we Qabor)
said if you put in the rule it would dis
turb production"
AFL spokesman, Attorney H.. S.
Thatcher, declared the AFL was "pri-
marily concerned with the effect on the