The Wilmington morning star., 1945-12-11
Fair Enough
BY wEsTBRooK PEGLER
fConyripht 1915 BY King Features Syndicato)

BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Cartwright. 1945 BY King Features Syndicatc)
NEW YORK, Dec 10. - Without any we'll.
ing or pounding of the table, let us examine
some matters involved in the dispute between
the CI.O and heavy industry from an OBJ
jective point Of view
Our trouble is that we have cluttered our
minds with msinformation and superstition
We believe so many things that are not So
Now, for example, Ford has asked the Unit
ed Auto Workers to give legal undertaking,
backed by financial responsibility, to indemni-
fly the company in breach OF contract The
company must obey its agreements or suffer
penalties. Ford proposes that, to balance the
equation, the union agree to pay Ford SIS
day for each day missed by each worker in
so-called wildcat strikes which often are not
irresponsible strikes at all but real union
strikes, managed by word-of-mouth orders
from the union executives which leave no rec
ord and thus permit the executives to disa-
vow them. In >any case, the damage is done
by breach of contract
Except as to the particular form of the
Ford proposal, this is not new idea It is
inherent in most business contracts. II has
been agreed to and operated successfully in
number of union agreements. The alarmed
the public an impression that Ford here had
| thought up slick trick.
| Another fact that We have lost to view is
that Ford, or any other employer, may sue
union for breach of contract under our pres
sent laws 1t might be good to pass new law
explicitly affirming this right because, in that
case, the liability would be emphasized But
unions right now can be sued not only for
breach of contract but for libel, both in sour
rilous statements of their officials in the heat
of controversy and in their official publications.
The explanation of the loose defamations ut
tered by these men and the published scurrili.
ties lies in the fact that the injured parties
simply have forgotten their rights. They
have come to believe that unions are immune
to all laws and penalties whereas their real
immunities, outrageous as they certainly are
nevertheless exist only in certain definitely
bounded areas. Damages may not be recover
ed for boycotts and exclusions Of goods if a
union is acting solely in its own interest We
got that dictum by inference from Felix
Frankfurter in the infamous opinion in the
Carpenters case, and new law will be neces-
sary to revoke it and impose on unions criminal
and financial responsibility for violations Of the
antitrust law. However, when a union COM
bines with one group of industrial employers
to exclude the products of other employers
from certain markets, the victims may sue and
recover That is the basis of large suit now
pending against Local of the A. F. Of L. Elec-
tricians Union in New York.
In the General Motors dispute, the company
was asked to show its books and permit the
union to fix prices Of automobiles to the pub
lie and limit profits.
| A reasonable answer to that would be a
counterdemand for access to the unions ac-
counts and stipulation by General Motors
that the unions dues and fees be regulated by
the company, and that its collections, or prof
its, must not exceed some figure which the
company deemed to be sufficient.
l This may have a startling sound but. II 50.
that just shows how one-sided our thinking
has been. Here are two giants Of equal size
The union is powerful enough to tie up the
company and has money to spare for political
campaigns In support Of candidates hostile to
private ownership and management. The COM
pany IS big and strong enough to lock up
and sit out strike but is forbidden by law to
i contribute to political funds and even to ex-
| press political preference to the workers.
II 1t is entirely reasonable, then, that the com.
pany should demand a reciprocal right, I'm.
der contract to watch the unions books and
equallze heir positions by regulating its collec.
lions and limiting its wealth. Just as the union
argues that the public must pay any increase
in the price of automobiles, the company NAV
: argue that dues and treasury reserves of un.
ions likewise are paid IN the end, by the pub.
t lie, as part of the wages which are 10 large
q portion Of the cost
Some of the union executives, notably Phil
up Murray, have accused the companies OF a
slt-down strike. Admitting this, for the sake
e OF argument why not? The sit-down strike
was introduced in this country from France
by the c. I. o. and has been defended by
the {. l. o. as fair weapon in its own hands
And, finally, the auto workers executives
bounced on statement perhaps unguarded
by General Motors that unless 1t could create
ut hor 1,1yfe ~, -.
mobile industry must close This, the unior
said, was an admission that General Motors
was monopoly. That is a plausible touch
But, going another step, the union admits
that it IS higher and more powerful mono
poly When it boasts that it has, closed dowr
S the monopolistic company
n these are just some obscured and forgot
o ten realities, rediscovered, busted off and pre-
sented in the interests of intelligent under
Il standing.
III N 49, ~.