Evening star., 1946-01-04

which it had exercised over wages
and over industrial relations as a
whole. 1t was thought, particularly
by labor and management, that
through collective bargaining, laboi
and management would be able tc
find common ground, that they
would be able to agree upon ways
to avoid stoppages of work and te
continue the production that is sc
necessary to our economic life.
Unfortunately, industrial disputes
soon began, and many strikes were
lcalled. Many of these disputes ano
strikes were settled or conciliated
But there were more strikes of Ma
ton wide Importance in which COL
lective bargaining and conciliation
botn failed.
Failed to Solve Strikes.
In order to enable management
and labor to make a common effort
to find means for preventing work
stoppages, and to consider many
other aspects of industrial relations
the Government invited their rep
resentatives to meet in a conference
OF their own, in Washington.
Although it did reach agreement
on some matters and although it
did pave the way for future meet
ings and discussions, the Labor
Management Conference could not
agree upon solution of the most
immediate and pressing problem
what to do about strikes when bar
gaining, conciliation and arbitration
had all broken down.
AS industrial strife has increased
with automobile workers out on
strike, and with the steel workers,
electrical workers, and packing
house workers scheduling strikes
very soon, I have been deeply con-
cerned about the future. l am sure
that all of us, including these work.
ers themselves, share that concern
When the Labor Management
Conference ended, it became my re-
sponsibility as the President of the
United States to recommend a
course of action. This I did in a
message to the Congress on Decem-
ber 8, 1945.
Cites Inaction in Congress.
recommended certain fact-fnd-
ing procedures which I believe can
go a long way toward meeting these
problems.
I had hoped that the Congress
either would follow my recommen-
dations or would at least propose a
solution of its own. 1t has done
neither.
The purposes of my recommen-
dation have been misrepresented by
scme of the spokesmen of both la
Dor and management. The recon-
mendations, however, are very clear
proposed that in the few Ma
tion-wide industries where a stop
page of work would vitality affect
the national public interest, after
all other efforts had failed, the Gov
ernment should step in to obtain
all the facts and report its findings
to the country.
I Experience has repeatedly shown
that once the public knows the
facts it can make its opinion felt
in a practical way. In order to give
a fact-finding board a reasonable
chance to function before a strike
is actually called, I suggested that
there be 30-day cooling peri
3D." I further recommended that
the power of subpoena be given tc
the fact-flnding board so that il
could get all the pertinent facts.
Uphoids Right to Strike.
In the setting up of fact-findine
boards, there is nothing harmful
to labor. There is no reason why
a strike cannot be postponed for
80 days. Nor is there any intention
OF taking away labor's right to
strike. That right remains inviolate
There is no effort to shackle labor
There is only an effort to find the
truth, and to report it.
On the other hand, there is
nothing harmful to management In
this proposal. No detailed informa-
ton obtained from the books Of
any company is to be revealed. 1t
is nothing new to have the Govern
ment get accurate information from
a corporation. 1t is done now by
many Federal agencies-by the Blu
reau of Internal Revenue-by the
Securities and Exchange Commis.
sion-by the Wage and Hour Divi
sion of the Department of Labor
by the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, and by many others.
Without legislation, fact-finding
boards cannot function as efficiently
as they can under a statute. Fol-
example, shortly after I made my
recommendation to the Congress,
appointed fact-finding board in
the dispute between General Mo-
tors Corporation and the United
Automobile Workers. I thought the
matter too urgent to wait upon the
passage of legislation. You have
seen how the General Motors Cor
poration has refused to cooperate
with this fact-finding board. There
is no way that it can be compelled
to cooperate unless a statute is
passed giving the board the power
of subpoena. That is what Is nov
up to the Congress.
Plea for Speed Ignored.
Every day that production is de.
layed and civilian goods are kept
from our markets by strikes or lock.
outs brings injury to our reconver.
sion program. Already millions ol
dollars in wages have been lost tt
workers. Laboring men and wolner