Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-07-29

the ardent par Frank r. Kent.
tisan of either side in an industrial
labor dispute.
1t is such serious departure from
the position which the Government
is supposed to assume and so clearly
in conflict with any elemental con-
cept Of fairness. that the average
citizen is justified in resentment.
For thirteen years under the late Mr.
Roosevelt the Government weight
was always on the labor side. In
every dispute between industry and
labor the administration assumed
the former right and the latter
wrong.
Held Hopes for Truman.
Though Mr.. Truman felt himself
obligated to adopt Mr.. Roosevelt S
policies, it had been hoped he would
not permit the Government to be
Used to enforce union demands re-
CARELESS of the interests of the pub
lie or the rights of the employers
Perhaps Mr.. Truman does not
know 1t. But if the Allis- Chalmers
charges are true land the facts seem
to sustain them) in the current
strike the Government and the union
are acting together and the collec-
tive bargaining principle is showed
aside because the unions believe they
can get greater concessions through
Government seizure of the plants
In this case it is the company which
is urging collective bargaining and
the union which is avoiding and
evading it. The company offered
the union the 1872 -cent-an- hour
wage increase approved by the
Government before the strike was
called. 1t has made numerous other
proposals on other issues since, but
it cannot get the union to sit down
across the table" for the purposes
of collective bargaining on these.
The union Bosses" declares the
company, ARE not interested in bar
gaining. Instead, they stall and
stall and stall, attempt to break off
negotiations-sta and try to break
off negotiations again. All in the
hope of forcing Government seizure
of our plants-all in the hope of
gaining from Government sources
advantages they never could obtain
through the lawful and fair proc
esses of real collective bargaining
Labor Bureau Aid Charged.
And then the company makes this
direct charge They are abetted in
this by their fellow CLIO aides in
the Labor Department" In other
words, former CLIO officials now
holding key posts in the Labor De-
partment have steadily encouraged
the unions to hold out until the
President seizes the plants. Then
the unions would get everything
they ask, including the closed shop,
which is the main point at issue
now. Naturally the union leaders
deny they are "stalling" and insist
the company's efforts to negotiate
are lame pretense." However, the
report that the Government was
about to take over has appeared in
print a number of times. The COM
pany asserts that these reports were
inspired by Labor Department
spokesman supposed to be acting
as mediators and that they directly
encourage the strikers not to
bargain.
At q White House press confer
ence on June IA, Mr.. Truman was
asked about these reports and re-
piled that seizure was not planned
and he expected the company and
workers to get together Two days
later another report known to have
come from the Labor Department,
insisted that seizure would take
place. Since then these negotiations
have been almost at a standStill. On
July 10, the CLIO executive board in
Washington requested President
Truman and the Labor Department
to take immediate steps to seize
nine plants of the Allis-Chalmers
company lin the interests of pro-
ducing farm implements" And the
violent young Mr.. Reuther now
threatens to extend this strike to
the whole farm implement industry
If the Government does not take
over"
No Action Taken.
As yet the President has taken
no action, though it is clear the
Labor Department backs the CLIO
demands. What this all amounts to
is this: Instead of adopting the
prescribed method of collective
bargaining, these striking unions
deliberately toss that sacred prin-
ciple' overheard and concentrate
upon forcing Government seizure
of the property.
Between them, the unions and
the Government make a joke of COL
lective bargaining Between them,
they are promoting the sneak
ing development Of naturalization
which is an avowed goal of the
Communists. This kind of collision
Is offensive to any sense of fair
play. 1t is degrading and un-Amer-
lean. 1t can be justified only In case
of great national emergency such
as distinctly does not exist in the
present strike. 1t is vital that the
American people should under
stand that these professional labor
bosses no longer are interested in