Evening star., 1945-02-23

10 rest until Henry wallace Is
securely installed" as Secretary of
Commerce, he dwelt heavily upon
the tremendous contribution" of
the CIO>to the war effort, proudly
proclaiming that 100000 CIO
workers have given an uncondi-
tional pledge of no strikes while
the war lasts"
Then he solmenly declared: "And
that pledge has been kept in spite of
great provocation and frequent in
justices" The other delegates to
the World Trade Congress must
have been impressed Almost any
one would have been who did not
know the facts. But the facts stamp
that assertion as wholly false.
100000 Released" From Pledge.
Among the facts that Mr.. Robin
son did not mention was that at the
moment he was talking the CLOS
United Auto Workers Union, the
largest union in the world, was
voting whether to continue that
''no-strike" pledge or to abandon it.
The result of that vote is still
awaited And on last Tuesday, Feb
ruary 20, the CIO Textile Workers
Union officially released" 100000
members in SO mills from the no
strike pledge" denounced the War
Labor Board, Mr.. Byrnes and Mr.
Vinson. And, defying an order from
the CIO president, Mr.. Murray,
$500 workers of the Jones-Laughlin
Steel Corp. in Pittsburgh went out
on strike, shutting down all vital
war production there.
So far, not even a word of protest
or explanation has come from these
breast t-beating CIO leaders, Mr.
Murray and Mr.. Hillman, who have
been trading on their "no-strike"
pledge for three years, believing
about labor's patriotism and their
support of the Presidents war pro-
gram. Another fact Mr.. Robinson
ignored was that, as reported by the
United States News, there we're
5000 strikes in 1914, which is more
than for any year since records
began to be kept in 1916
A great many of these strikes were
of CIO unions. They involved more
than 100000 workers or 70 of every
1000 men employed in the country
In addition, the News points out.
strikes have steadily increased every
year since Pearl Harbor and officials
do not believe this trend will be re-
VerSed in 1945.
Add to this that the whole CIO
weight is now being used to break
down the Government bars against
imitation so as to force higher wages,
and that the CIO is the most effec-
tive force arlayed against the work
or-flght" law advocated as essential
by the President, the Secretaries of
War and Navy and the combined
chiefs of staff-add these things and
the effrontery of Mr. Robinson in
prating about CIO self sacrifice and
high patriotism can be more fully
appreciated. The truth is the mo
strike" pledge always was a phony
pledge.
Since 1t was made, strikes have
increased not diminished. The
truth is that, while publicly praising
their patriotism, labor leaders have
used the war to extend their power,
promote the closed shop and force
higher wages under threat of the
very strikes they pledge themselves
to eliminate. The truth is that strike
trouble of a serious kind is looming
this year and countless millions of
man hours have been lost in war
production through strikes, walkouts
and absenteeism.
Wonderful as has been our war
production, it would have been far
greater but for the strikes and the
labor lag. The heads of War and
Navy departments know this quite
well and privately have chafed un-
der the political pressure which
made necessary the sending of
Labor Day congratulatory messages
to labor leaders upon their mag
nificent performance.
If it were not for the strikes and
the labor lags, the chiefs of staff.
the Secretaries and the President
would not have urged limited
work or fight act. None of them
wanted to do SO. Considering these
things, the speech of Mr.. Hillmans S
aide would be ridiculous if the situ-
alton were not so serious. But Mr..
Robinson ought not to be singled
out for censure. His was just a
typical speech such as has been
made many times by CIO leaders
and often proclaimed by CIO publ
cations.
Perhaps some of them believe
these things themselves. Sheer re-
iteration has made good many
uninformed people believe them,
too. But not those who know the
facts and have the figures. They
know that in this whole war there
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