The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-02-25
Treading Softly
Cincinnati Enquirerl

Within recent weeks there has been decided about-face on the part of labor From period of riot and rampage the nation has emerged into an era when both sides talking labor peace-both sides mind you Indications growing that serious indus trial strife may be averted this sprng-a situation quite unlike that of wear ago, when major strikes quite the vogue.
 In other words the lion of labor is showing signs of becoming a lamb
 Let's look at the record of recent days The United States 5ce Corp. and its CIO union have agreed to extend their contract from February to April 30, thereby avertng nationwGe strike. The contractors and the AFL have just agreed peace pact affect ing 100000 construction industry workers-lt was announced by President Truman himself, and hailed by him "a notable step the road to labor peace" coupled with a plea to Congress to go easy on labor legislation
 The Teamsters Union has outlawed wildcat strikes and has threatened to expe any union that disagrees with an expressed fear of Congressional reprisals for what has happened in the past, The AFL has invited the CIO into it's fold which would labor tension materially. The CIO has asked it's unions to go slow contract demands.
 The portal to- portal pay issue has almost disap- peared from the The AFL has taken an anti stand this question, and there hints that CIO leaders believe they made major blunder in raising the issue.
 These straws in the wind would seem to indicate that labor finally is adopting concliatory attitude This does not there will be strikes this year an independent union of phone workers even now is raising a strike threat tempered with promise that every effort will be made to avoid an actual strike But it does that nationwide strikes, the ones that influe..ce public opinion likely to be minimzed this sprng.
 The net effect of this attitude will be to give public psychology a rosier hue and to give postwar business another shot n the arm, at time when business can it.
 Yet you can bet that all these developments coming together. they are aren't accidental They sound very much like planned program, possibly with government assist" behind the to spur them along
 i But why the changed attitude? The answer is rather easy-merey matter of expediency.
 The new Congress is in session. With it's COP ority this Congress has been threatening severely restrictive labor legislation. Some of the suggestions so far actually serious enough to cripple labor
 Friends of labor, peering into their crystal ball and seeing the obvious probably counseled labor that it would be wise to drop the big stick and tread ened Congress would undoubtedly step in, and, very lively, step too hard. Or maybe the labor leaders i figured it out for themselves. At any rate, this has been unusually mild winter, winters go but labors changed attitude certainly isn't due to the fact there has been a 1 tinge of spring in the air If the attitude brings a settlement of the disastrous strike at the Milwaukee plant of the As Chalmers Co, we'll be more inclined to believe that labor really intends to tread sotyat least until the new Congress decides what it's going do about labor | legislation.