The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1946-03-07
THE SILKEN STRAIGHT-JACKET

THE Case Bill, which is now waiting action il
the Senate after passing the House of Rep
Tesentatlves by vote of 258 to 155, is a silker
IStraght-lacket clevery connived to inprison the
working people Of America. Experienced lawyers
who have studied its terms say that it is the most
cunnngly-devlSed measure ever written by big
lcorpoialon lawyers on behalf of wealthy clients
in the name Of anti-Labor tools in Congress- They
call 1t clevel4y worded because much of it, to peo
pie who do not know the score or who have not
been trained to read between the lines seems to
radlate sweet reasonablness. Sugary platitudes
conceal the knife intended for Labors back
The Case Bill proposes to set up a Labor
Management Mediation board. It's chairman has
the power to forbid strikes for 80 days. Obstruc-
tlOnal picketing, violence and threats of violence
are banned, as are boycotts Courts may issue in
functions for violations Individual violators lose
their status as employees and can get neither re-
instatement nor back pay Unions which are found
to have violated it's provisions lose their status
representatives for 80 days to six months,-thuS
leaving the employees without protection. Fore
men are completely out of luck they can be kicked
around as the employer pleases.
People who are unfamiliar with the realities
of the situation may not thing this is bad at ALL
Why should not violence and threats of violence
be banned? But, to discover what the Case Bill
really means you have to go behind the words for
Words all too often, conceal meaning rather than
reveal it. A good clue to what may be concealed
is to know who does the conceaing. 1t is there
fore highly significant that the Case Bill was
guided hastily through the House by the same
brand of vicious anti Union buccaneers that has
tried to blackjack Labor for years.
Violence and threats of violence already areI
banned and punishable by law Why, then, are
they IN the Case Bill? The answer is simple Un-I
der the Case Bill the judges will be able to handle
things in their own way. They would decide i'll
picketing constituted violence or threat of vio-
lence.
Cases could be framed with the greatest Of
ease. In unctions could, and would be issued with
out hearing. But it doesn't stop there. 1t won't be
enough to punish a striker who is found guilty by
filming him and sending him to jail: he also loses
his job and any back pay due hin-even the back
pay due him before the strike, due to an illegal dis
charge. Indeed, the way the Case Bill reads, he
may lose his rights for the rest of his life.
The Case Bill takes from Labor the right to
boycott unfair employers and their products. Cam
paignS of Unions to encourage their members and
friends to patrOnze fair Union concerns and goods +
may be stopped by court order. Thus, a terrific
blow is struck at one Of fLabor's most potent Weap-
ms. How the low-wage, long-hour southern haters
If Labor Unions must have cheered when the
House passed this bill
The most deadly feature, some labor attor
ieys believe, is the restoration of government by
ourt Injunction, rather than by law.
The situation is serious. The very day the
case Bill passed the House, delegation of super
,ig fellows told the Senate that something Just
ike it was required to put the unions in their
,ace, and some of the reactionares nodded sagey II