The Wilmington morning star., 1945-05-31
nv WESTBROOK PEGLER

Of making people think.}
Nv WEsTBROOK PEGLER
tConvripht. 1915, by King Features Syndlcate)
NEW YORK. May 30-It didn't seem posi-
80, =. no that after all this time, any boss
''r;oneer would have the efrontery to tell an
s.,S;.nca that the so-called Wagner ACT did
not force people to join unions because 1or
wears now. most of them havent oolneIeo 10
49,, +hat It does but have insisted, instead
that this is all right. Blu tlie Utn.i a.seoon
t 49, nonoes over the air a Clyde-side burr.
So;ns one of those question: n-ansWer acts IN
.-h;oh the trainer throws the sea lion nsh
",d tho orator of the occasion then snacKs MS
diners together and banks ana carries VI, win
1ono.winded answers out OF the DOCK anu VINO
is i but Johnny Green, OF the Clo shipooiio-
ers arguing against hlmseH.
Johnny Green is one OF them tllat ! nave
,o $50 net personally, but it was only year
lev 90 100 +hat not untoothesome little num-
~ ~ LID m me to explain what dirty trick
40 IT s government had played on MIN and
80 NV giving an exclusive, closed shop contract
- 10 Roilermakers' Union OF the A. F. OF l..
eor al the Jobs in Henry Kalsers pig snip
.,.rds IN the Pacific Coast Not only was
Green having routine communist trouole IN MS
oroanization. but those communists were peat
inc the ears off him for letting the "A. +. OF l..
ro11nd I'D several hundred Thousand suckers IN
tho n q
boilermakers to get jobs ana now hdo W Aeep
in good standing to hold the JOBS.
The loot was something on the colossal
eide fact of special poignancy to umoneer
coming. as Johnny Green does, from Giasgo"'
for the chumps, mainly unskllied hanos from
the dust bowl and sheepers drawn from thelr
focks in Montana, not only had TO pay SUN
dues but Under the contract approved oy the
government, also had to buy life insurance
through the boilermakers.
This insurance gag paid TREMENDOUS rake
off to q fellow named Franklin, the son OF the
president of the boilermakers, which, IN ClO
,,nion might have been applied to some worth
;er n,,rnose. such as the P. A. c. or Russian
relief and the Young publicity wench was moan
inc low over the foul injustice OF 1t all
In the course of the inquiry I called on old
aenrv. himself at his New York ONCE WHICH,
in way. reminds me of some OF the earlier
speakeasies because it Is a sort OF hloe-awas
without letters on the door, and henry con-
firrned all. But, helPs bells, Henry had only
wanted to slap steamboats, together In great
bosta and numbers and it hadn't made no
never-mind to him which union got the graft
&C 1ono rs he could do business with some
high-powered slave-trader which would deliver
the faceless hordes to him in the enormous
numbers. take responsibility for their conduct
see that they didn't strike and agree with MN
on the rates of pay. The slaves were not COLI
suited They weren't even human beings IN
the sense of individuality but just labor In the
collective sense and the fact that the Portland,
Oregon. Padrone Of the boilermakers WOULDN'T
even let them come into their gaudy temple,
h1lt with their dues and assessments, was no
affair of Henrys.
The better YOU know Henry the easier 1t is
to understand how he can contribute MS pres
ence to adorn an occasion in honor OF henry
Az Nil lof loo a
when the totalitarians got together to fan soup
and tear up turkey wings and holler up his
ambition to get his hands on the billions OF
the RFC. To Kaiser, people are the masses
and he can be generous and get along just
fine with the unioneers for the same reason
that, in his own phrase, r. u. hooSeVeH
got along just fine with Joseph Stain.
Whatever they want they get ana tne TAX
PAYERS pick up the check and this, OF course,
makes Kaiser a great liberal and progress
sive industrial genius and accounts for his
popularity with the unioneers.
johnny Green, however, was In peculiar
situation. His was new union and the
boilermakers is a very old one and Used to
be a decent labor organization run for the
welfare and protection OF the members who
also built our ships in the old days. The bosses
of the West Coast boilermakers had seen the
opportunity and moved in quickly and old
Henry. not wanting any mess or shortage of
hands, had given them contract at time
when actually only skeleton force was en-
ployed. This contract, however, contemplated
compulsory membership for countless and, as
vet. unseen migrants from the inland and, as
JOHNNY Green was now contending, they were
written or dragooned into the boilermakers
before they ever thought of going to the Paci-
fic Coast.
And now that the boom was on, Johnny
couldn't pick up nickel and he was bowling
for labor board election and democracy and
the four freedoms.
But he never got anywhere and even II we
agree with him that, by this time, the majority
wanted to quit Kaiser's company union OF the
| A. F.. of L. and come over to the CLIO, we have
| to agree with him also that the Wagner Act
/ under which this exclusive contract was made,
lheld them captive and had been the means OF
herding them into the A. F. OF L. IN the first
place like African slaves into the compounds
on the ebony coast $50 years ago. That is
precisely what he was yelling at the time the
theology, babe came asking me to right a hor-
rible wrong
| I offer these reminiscent observations for
their value as information about the honesty
of those who get on the air and scenarios IN
tended to convince you that something. isn't
so that they were bitterly proclaiming to be
a sastly fact only yesterday
OJJOTATIONS