The union times., 1947-10-25
(Continued from Page One)
 "A SAD BLOW"

Tt was a sad blow to American democracy when the Taft-Hartley law was passed over President Truman's veto, because one of the most vicious provisions of that law outlawed the closed shop. Although the law per- mits a union shop, it is so hedged i'll with restrictions that 1t is almost inn possible to have union shop If the employer is opposed to 1t.
 Let us take a look at the closed shop. It simply provides that all the employees of given employer must belong to the union with which the employer is dealing When there IS a vacancy, the union furnishes a new employee. Under the union shop, when there is a vacancy, the employer may hire anyone he wishes but that em- ployee must join the union withln a stated period, usually 30 days.
 ''The propaganda has e e n spread that the closed shop is un- democratic; that it is dictatOrial, and so forth. If that is so, our whole system of government is un- democratic. Our tax system, for in- stance, provides that we all pay taxes. Your taxes are no less be- causes you have no automobile and therefore do not use the highways. Your taxes are no less if you have no children, and therefore do not benefit from the public school sys- tenn. In our elections, the man with the largest number of votes wins, and the minority accepts the winner as public official.
 "The closed shop or union shop IS an extension of the principle of maj ity rule to the field of labor relations. Men and women have died in this country in their attempts to organize unions. Why should the outsider get the benefit of their activity without lifting a finger. Workers have some times become impoverished forming a union. Why should minority be al lowed to ride on their coat-tails? You will never understand labor's insis tence on the closed shop until you ac- cept the fact that labor means 1t when it says that it is working to benefit everybody, and therefore. everybody should belong to the union.
 HELPS EMPLOYER
 Now let's look at this problem from the point of view of manage ment. I concede that any employer who wants to fight labor at every step should oppose the closed shop. { But, if the employer believes that his workers have a right to organize; if he understands that unions are as basic to our economic system, he will accept the closed shop as a logical extension of his thinking.
 Tt is conceded, think, that the employer who has closed shop i'll his plant has little or no trouble with the union The employer knows where he stands at all times. His labor rela- tions are stabilized.
 : ssWhat better proof of this can be given than in the needle trades, as an example? The International Ladies Garment Workers Union has had the closed shop for number of years. 1t is no exaggeratiOn to say that the. employers would be the first to oppose the elimination of the closed shop in their industry. The reasons are simple. The whole industry is unionized.
 "The immediate effect is to freeze out the chiseler, the man who runs a sweatshop, and thus underbids his competitor Working closely, labor and management, through the means of the closed shop, are very familiar with each others problems, the I.L.G.W.U., for instance, has a division working in the field of promoting new markets where the manufacturer can sell his products. The union realizes that the : welfare of its members, in the long run, depends upon the successful oper- ation of the employers business, and does all it can to help sell the em- ployer's products.
 STRIKE HURTS BOTH
 Do you think for a moment there would be this attitude, if say, one third of the members, more or less, did not belong to the union? I assure you there would be a different attitude There has not been a strike in the needle trades in a number of years, because the closed shop has made it possible for labor and management to realize that strike would hurt both sides. It can be stated as a basic axiom that where management accepts labor as an equal, not in the field of profits, but in the field of human relationships, there is very little industrial unrest.
 The average American working man and woman simply want a good job, at good wages, with good working conditions, and with req sonable job security. These can best be achieved through the closed shop and that is why firms with the closed shop have the best record