The Wilmington morning star., 1946-06-13
Fair Enough
By wEsTBROOK PEGLER

alton of Musicians, whose counsel, Joe Pad
way, a typical, loud-mouthed union skate, re-
ceived honors from Franklin D. Roosevelt and
constantly bawls about his great devotion to
democracy"
have shown in some detail that this or
| ganization is a miniature of Adolf Hitler's
Nazi regime in Germany, trying to drive
home the fact that this immigrant American
| accepts money for i~nflicting this system on a
portion of the American people whose statue in
the musicians union is no better than, that
of the Jews in Germany under national social
ism. This unions national officers may retro
actively decla.e acts . be illegal which are
not forbidden and impose fines as high as
S., 900 without the slightest pretense of a trial.
In some cases, appeals may be taken to the
national convention, but inasmuch as the
national officers dominate the conventions the
appearance of justice IS only an illusion.
Padway. be it remembered, is a lawyer
and as such is sworn to uphold the laws and
principles of justice of the United States. New
ertheless, in the union which he represents
as counsel several of the legal principles
which stand between the American people and
ruthless persecution by G~lctators are explicit
ly flouted.
One section provides that if a member gives
testimony during a trial which shows that he,
himself, has been guilty of some violation,
lllC III IIldy iAl1POSC PollISiiiiiCilt
without specific charges against that per-
son and without further trial" Moreover, if
the fine does not exceed $500, the victim
specifically is denied even the right to appeal
to the convention. So, under the democracy"
which PadWay here uphclds and which we
may reasonably assume represents the sys-
tenn of justice which he would like to inflict
on the entire nation, three OF the basic princi-
pies of American justice are wiped out. First,
the witness is not granted the right, inherent
in our law to refuse to give testimony which
might tend to incriminate himself. Second, he
does not have the right to a trial nor need
he be told what the charge against him is.
And, third, the national officers may fine him
$500 without the right of appeal.
Another violation of common American
Justice is found in a provision which forbids
a member to apply 10 the public courts or
even to assist anyone else in applying to the
courts for an injunction to restrain the union
from violating his rights as a citizen unless
the plaintiff first has exhausted all the RENE
dies within the union. lnasmuch as the con-
stitution gives Jimmy Fetrillo, the president,
absolute power to revoke the entire consti-
tuition ano rule by fiat, it will be seen that
actually no remedies whatever exist within
the union.
The constitution torbids a member Of one
local union from soliciting or accepting work
in a theatre in the jurisdiction Of another
local. If an excellent musician in the Toledo
local gets an offer Of work in Bridgeport he
can't accept it even though he may be idle
and broke and the Bridgeport local may have
no member capable Of doing the work. And,
although he may apply to the Bridgeport local
for membership. it is not compelled to ac-
cept him. This offense calls for a minimum
fine Of 500. The maximum is $500.
H. 1Cfon1 IN tho
way of the successful operation Of a local."
even though that local be conducted as a
racket, for doing SO he may be fined $4,000
and expelled. The ruling gang, with PadWay
as counsellor, have the final right to say what
constitutes an "obstacle." So if an American
citizen merely objects to supplementary
conduct or gangsterism on the floor, if he
objects to a raid on the treasury to buy
Petrillo a new automobile every year or a
$50, 900 home, as the Chicago union did, he
may be fined S., 900 and thrown out for the
crime generally known as "un-unionlike con-
duct"
Incidentally, while tie strike benefit to
which members are entitled" but which
need not necessarily be paid, is limited to
one-half Of their loss of pay, P~etrillo's COM
bined salaries as president of the national
union and the Chicago local and his allow
ances tor expenses come to about $50, 900 a
year and are never interrupted by strikes.
He, and Joe Weber, the president emeritus,
at 2 0,000 a year, both are allowed to buy
new automobiles at will and the sky is the
limit on price, their chauffeurs' salaries are
paid by the members, and garage rent, gas,
oil, insurance and service all are provided
out Of the treasury.
Every member is compelled to bu y the
monthly journal of the union at 80 cents an
issue and, like Dan Tobin's journal of the
Transfers union, Joe Curran's pilot of the
National Maritime union, and many others.
this is devoted to the exaltation of the con-
trolling officers. In New York. Local 8O2. the
biggest Of them, publishes an official journal
which Is actually a medium of personal pub
licity for Jake Rosenberg who once used it
to promote a futile campaign for public office
and recently wrote a fulsome account of a
party In his honor on his fiftieth birthday.
Among those present to whom he expressed
appreciation were many employers of mu-
slclanS and others whose business interests
lie at the mercy of Rosenberg and Petrillo
and who undoubtedly knew what was good
Tor them when they decided to be there.
Some years ago, Rosenberg was accused by
another member Of stopping, with his family,
at a resort hotel which had been declared
unfair by the regional LEGAL. This would be- a
serious crime under union law but when I
asked Petrillo about it he said it had been
adjusted withou. trial and that Rosenberg had
not been censured.
r. 80. - Yoy otpo . /