Evening star., 1945-10-14
British Labor Parallel

DTlllSn I0DOT TOT0Ilel
There is striking" parallel in
the literal as we'll as the figurative
sense between our own postwar labor
troubles and those developing in
Britain. In both countries the root
cause Is the same. Organized labor
seeks to retain its wartime wage
level by demanding regular wage in
creaSeS sufficient to make up for
losses in overtime pay which are
ceaSing as the war emergency gives
place to peacetime conditions where
in overtime is economically needless.
Those demands are coupled with
widespread use of the strike weapon,
regardless of It's effect upon recon-
version, price-levelS and infiation-
ary possibilities. Indeed some of
the most damaging walkouts are
wildcat" strikes undertaken by the
rank-and-file against the orders and
in open defiance of their union lead
ers. The outstanding instance of this
trend Is the parallel between long
shoremen and dockworkerS' strikes
now occurring simultaneously on
both sides of the Atlantic. But these
wildcat strikes are merely the un-
disciplined fringe of a strike wave
which threatens to spread as war
plants close down or are reconverted
on peacetime basis Obviously,
both America and Britain are con-
fronted with a major problem in
labor management relations which,
unless conStructively dealt with, can
have the gravest consequences
Theaway Britain handles the diff
Guilty will have special interest for
us, because Britain now has gov
ernment in which organized labor
is the controlling factor. The British
Labor Party is composite political
organization with an influential
wing OF radical "intellectualS, while
It's recent sweeping victory at the
polls was due largely to the votes of
middle-claSS electors not formally
affiliated with the party. Neverthe-
less, the party'S core remains the
closely integrated bodies of organ
lied labor known as the T. u c. or
Trades Union Congress, which is
technically distinct from the Labor
party though functioning with it in
harmonious cooperation. The Brit
ish trades unions have a much
longer background than ours, with
a record of sane leadership and eff
fective discipline over their member
ship which has facilitated stable
contractural relations with employ
ers. A wildcat strike like that of the
British dockers is thus a much more
serious phenomenon than its fellow
here. These strikers belong to the
Transport and General Workers
Union, one Of the most numerous
and powerful British labor organiza-
tions. 1t should also be noted that
the mass demonstration of London
construction workers unanimously
demanded the resignation of the
executive head of their union. These
events appear to indicate a radical
revolt against existing leadership.
For Britain. crippling wave of
strikes would be even more serious
than with us, because Britain'S post
war economy is in desperate straits
and needs speedy reconversion to
avert national catastrophe. Though
the government has not yet taken
positive action, Minister of Labor
George Isaacs has virtually ordered
the striking dockers back to work,
warning them that continuation
of their unauthorized walkouts, now
more than a fortnight old, would
teopardize Britain's food supply, de-
lay rehabilitation of the armed
forces, and work against the strikers
own interests. Consideration of the
labor crisis will doubtless be prompt
ly taken up by Parliament which
has just reconvened.