The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-11-18
LGbOr's Worry OUer Congressional Curbs May AUert NelU Strike WGUe
HY & BURTON WEATw

tNpd lNHof N WOffyiiiH MlofN NiaaA q caree eo admit over aclaon tlae nexl conetesS may take iA an effoga ts curb what many consider union ex. cUNses, and to cut down the freQaen. ~ and seriousness of strikes.
 Experienced observers believe there k Q possibility this worry may avert a major strike wave that was in Che making up to electaor day
 Organized laoorN laclios thls fal and winter win depend partly upon how fer N thinks the COP, wall dare Co 90 in the taee of the lesl presidential gDoll; what it conclaaes presldcnt Truman waN ao in view oi the increasingly open feeling of poll. tiolanS that he cannot possibly ot reelected, and what John l.. Lewis proves able eo get away with.
 Realize Raa Beating
 However reluctant they are Co con. code N for publication. the smarter union publication, the smarter un- ion politicians realize that they took . bad beating in the election. Inc three states whose citizens voted bo ban closed shop contracts Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota-are prcdominantly non-induStgial. But their act was Q tTiple-length straw in the wind. Massachusetts over whelmingly decided to require un~ ions Co make public financial re ports, California, hitherto strongly New Deal, rejected the Fair Employ ment Practices Act, promoted by the FAC. West Virginia reelected Sen- ator Kilgore against open, active op- position by the Mine Workers. Un~ ion-sponsored candidates generally fared badly, even in strong indus- trial centers.
 No alert labor politician could doubt that. rightly or wrongly, the electorate had had enough" of many things, including many union activities, and had switched from ace tive partisanShip of ardent pro-lab- orites to either indifference or active diStaSte.
 It may be coincidence -- but it Is a tribute to his foresieht--ehat President Daniel ]. Tobins Inter- national TeamSters. in election week, warned editorially that strikes have become a national menace" He add cd that if the international union ShirkS its duty of discipling locals the Government will act" and laid responsibility for many restrictive laws that have been passed" directly at the door of wildcat strikers.
 That was about as far as a union president perhaps could go. Many Labor men realize that it Is not only wildcat strikes. but strikes in general, that have begun to pail on the public. including a substantial segment of unioniSfn itself.
 Taft Down on Labor
 Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio. who seems scheduled to become major fly leader in the new Senate, pro- poses to push for legislation that would make unions liable to civil suit if they violate their contracts: that would make certain types of secondary picketing illegal under the antitrust laws; that would re- move organization of foremen from Wagner Act protection: that would set up a federal mediation board in- dependent of the Labor Department. and would require a 6o-day cooling off period after strike notice had been given.
 This is not necessarily COP. policy, and if 1t were adopted. President Truman might veto But Senator Taft is in position to exercise con- siderable influence; legislators have lost some of their terror of union re- taliation: and President Truman has given signs of being upset by strikes and their effect on reconversion and imitation. If a combination Of Re- publicans and conservative Demo- cratS were to adopt the Taft pro- gram, or even go somewhat beyond it, Labor is not very sure the PreSi- dent would not accept it as the will of the peoples representatives.
 And union strategists realize that 8 strike wave, such as was taken for granted before election day. would play into the hands of their more bitter critics and might force the hands of middle-of- -the-roaders, in- cluding the President.
 AS the situation stood. John Lewis proposed coal strike to force the sec- ond big wage boost in 6 year, would have started things off--unleSs. as seemed probable. the Administration averted that strike by a settlement. In any event. Lewis was to get a nice, fat raise.
 Phil Murray was prepared to de- mand another boost from the steel industry in January. arguing that when he took l-2 cents instead of 9 cents an hour this year. he un- derStood that the cost-of-living line would be held. Since it hasn't, he thinks his men are entitled to higher wages.
 NEW WAGE PATTERN
 How far Murray will go in press ing this claim, in the face of public opinion as recorded at the polls, might be a question. But fl Lewis wins a boost for his AFL members, the c.Io chieftain may feel more or less obliged to do his best to match 1t. And if both Lewis and Murray win eOxt-af-liviy,o rafeae Tahor wsi1i