Evening star., 1946-02-04
Case Labor Bill Held
Extreme Legislation
Observer Sees Measure a Part
Of Reaction to Unions
By David Laurence

The bill sponsored by Representative
Case, Republican, of South Dakota to
govern labor disputes is an extreme
piece OF legislation. Many of its pro-
visions have no business being given to
the Federal Government to enforce.
But labor union leaders have provoked
Congress and have resorted to so many
abuses of their privileged position that
the reaction which has set in to labors
special privileges is understandable.
So long as the Supreme Court has
said that anything which affects inter-
state commerce comes within the power
OF Congress to legislate, the so-called
police power hitherto vested in the sew
eral States will not be depended on
alone to deal with acts of violence such
as now are fagrantly being sanctioned
by union leaders.
Any organization which attempts to
achieve by open lawlessness the fulfill
ment of its economic demands must in
evitably pay the penalty of facing ex-
treme legislation by which the Federal
Government enters where the authority
VI Tie SGaCeS breaks down.
Labor "Overreaches."
There has been little effort made by
the larger unions to do away with IL
legal picketing or palpable acts Of CO.
ercion at the factory gates where strikes
are in progress.
That is why the famous La Guardia-
Norris anti-injunction law, which has
rightly protected labor so long against
mischeVious tactics by management's
lawyers, stands in peril today. The
House of Representatives is being asked
through the Case bill to prevent the
anti-injunction statute from shielding
those who perpetrate acts of violence
or coercion.
The whole temper in which Congress
Is considering labor legislation is un-
fortunate and regrettable. Every single
step, on the other hand, which Congress
has tried to take since the Wagner law
was passed in 1885 has been unwisely
opposed by labor union leaders.
Being able to squelch legislation in
committee or on the floor because it
has had ample political power for the
last 10 years, labor unions now have
overreached themselves in their tactics
to the point where legitimate demands
of labor are being lost sight of in a
melee of criticism and resentment
Objective Approach Necessary.
The labor unions may succeed in
toning down the Case bill or similar
measures but the industrial crisis which
the Nation faces will not be settled until
there is more objective approach on
the part of the union leadership of
today toward the necessary changes
that must be made in the labor statutes.
The public interest demands that
strikes and lockouts be prohibited until
there is period for fact-f1nding and
that strikes in public utilities and other
facilities necessary to the maintenance
of health and safety be limited. If the
labor politicians oppose this natural
trend, they will only keep the situation
boiling for months to come and the
consequence may yet be a depression
of far greater intensity than the Amer
lcan people have ever encountered.
The economic system is already los
ing millions of dollars of production
every day and millions of dollars of
purchasing power. This is not merely
because there is a disagreement on
wages. The wage issue is the lesser Of
the two major problems that face the
parties to the disputes.
Time for Restraint
The more perplexing issue Is the
growing power of the unions to dom
mate State courts, State police systems
and city police units so that protection
for life and property has been neglected,
Likewise, the employer groups are fear
full that economic power exercised
against them through the sanctions of
the Wagner Act has reached the point
where management cannot afford to
make wage concessions unless ironclad
guarantees against wildcat strikes and
lnslde-unlon conspiracies that produce
such work stoppages are given.
The demand that both sides in a
labor dispute abide by contracts and
that the powers Of management over
production be not interfered with has
grown to the point where many employ
ers are in bitter frame of mind, ready
to incur severe losses until something
Is done to equalize the uneven opera
ton of collective bargaining laws and
other Federal statutes that tend to
coerce the workers into blind obedience
to the threats of a few leaders.
1t may well be that the union labor
politicians will be able again to weaken
the proposed legislation and even to
Kill it or possibly to assure a veto by
President Truman. But this will not
solve Americas labor problems or bring
reconversion and full employment. The
need for self-restraint on the side of
labor as well as management has never
been more clearly demonstrated than
in the present industrial crisis.
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