Evening star., 1947-11-28
Labor Dictators Seen
Intent on Breaking Up
typographical Union
Issue in Strikes Declared
Limiting Of Apprentices
And the Closed Shop

Limiting OF apprentices
And the Closed Shop
Bv David Laurence
Shall a union of skilled workers,
. union of fine citizens, union
with decades OF excellent employer
relations, be disrupted and perhaps
destroyed, altogether by small
group Of dictators from within?
Shall this same group exercise a
monopoly power to forbid a young
man from entering that trade or oc-
cupation and limit the number of
applicants even though more are
needed, thus restricting production
as we'll as the opportunity for indi-
vduals to make living? There
are thousands of veterans who would
like to share in the high wages, now
reaching from $4,000 to 5000 year,
In many trades.
These are the issues emerging IN
the Nationwide controversy between
the printers unions and the employ
ing businesses throughout the coun-
try, with strikes already occurring in
Chicago and threatening printing
plants in other cities.
The ostensible issue is whether
the bosses of the International
Typographical Union, against whom
already an independent faction of
workers has risen in dissent, shall
use economic power to require en-
ployers to violate the laws which
Congress passes.
Demand Violates Law.
The printers union is demanding
in violation of the Taft-Hartley
law-that employing printers shall,
under duress, agree not to hire any
but union printers or allow any
nonunion printers to work along
side the union men.
This is known as the "closed
shop" and is forbidden by law. The
National Labor Relations Board will
soon apply to the courts for an in
junction against the union leaders
for their efforts to induce a viola
ton of law.
The Taft Hartley law itself, how
ever, provides a method whereby
only union men will work in q
plant. This is called the union
shop and the law stipulates that
If the workers vote for it, new
comers must at the end of 80 days
Of employment join the union.
It is a simple thing for the print
ers' unions to achieve the same
status as a closed shop, and the
Taft-Hartley law provides the ma
chinery. Why then doesn't the In
ternational Typographical Union
permit its local unions to comply
with these routine requirements and
assure a completely union shop?
No employers, certainly, would dare
stand in the way of such a step
If the workers wanted it-in fact
the law forbids the employer to in
terfere in any way with the process
when a union shop is being re-
quested and voted on.
The truth is that the union bosses
want the right to say who shall be
hired in the first place. They want
also to limit the number who can
be hired.
This is the crux of the issue
the right of the employer to hire
whom he pleases with the under
standing that at the end of 80 days
the worker must join the union.
The union bosses admit that they
do not want more apprentices hired
than they themselves may decide Is
adequate. On the witness stand in
a hearing recently, printers union
executive testified that less than
5000 young men were being per-
mitted annually to become appren-
tices. An apprentice must serve
six years before he can become
full-fedged journeyman. Actually it
takes only about six months to teach
an intelligent worker enough to be-
come a journeyman.
5000 Journeymen in U. S.
There are about $4,000 journey
man printers in America. Some
experts say it requires $1,000 ap-
prentices to be put in training In
order to get enough to replace those
who reach old age or die in service
annually, to say nothing of the in
creased demands for printing which
obviously means more printers
Only a third of this needed supply
of manpower is being permitted
though wages of printers nowadays
run above $4,000 a year.
The strategy of the union bosses
has been to insist on work weeks OF
under 40 hours. In many cities, 1t
Is 81 or even 36 hours week and
there are some instances Of 80 hours
This means that overtime at rates
of pay of time-and-one-half per
hour force up the costs to the en-
ployer and, Of course, there Is nc
corresponding increase in output
In the end there will be unem-
ployment as prices go 50 high as
to bring on depression. At that
time, many printers will suffer. But
the union bosses, who draw fat sal
aries. will not be affected. Thus
are the workers being victimized
and some day they will rise up In
their wrath against the present-day
dictators of their unions and de-
mand sensible leadership. For the
rank and file of the workers now
know it is not the employers but
the union bosses who are bent on
breaking up the splendid unions in
the printing industry that have ex-
listed in America for nearly 100 years
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