Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1947-05-16
The Taff Bill

The TUff Bill
Passage of the Taft "abor control bill
nv the Senate this week, while 1t was no
sunrise TO labor, marks new high In con-
gressional viciOusness.
Speculation relative to the Presidents
decision on the conference bill which VIII
eventually be passed and come to him Tor
annroval or veto must of necessity remain
pureIv guesswork We have no certain
Lnowledge that the bill in its final form
will be vetoed.
And even though the final HOuse-Sen-
ate compromise bill is vetoed what should
he the action of labor movement which
is being treated as though 1t were the
enemy instead of the backbone OF the ma
ton?
REGARDLESS of the outcome of the Taft
Hartley anti-labor legislation, the workers
have been given an overwhelming illustra-
tion Of the forces which are arrayed
against them.
Regardless how labor leaders and ex-
treme thinkers have "maligned" the i'm
dustriaI barons and their political stoogeS
in Congress, the present conduct OF re-
dictionary congressional majority has
uauperized descriptions of the anti-labOr
forces and rendered them understate-
ments. No wonder that clear thinking
labor leaders have pointed out the danger
of Communism and warned the nation OF
the consequences of vindictive and venge-
full anti.labOr legislation.
What better illustration do we of the
- af fha fnr
alignment of political parties based upon
principles, than the spectacle of reaction
ary Republicans and Southern Democrats
teaming up to ram through law which
would do credit to pre-war Germany?
What better answer could we find than
the Taft-Hartley legislation and the more
than three-to-One majority the bills piled
up, to those misguided or purpOseful per-
sons who tell us that labor should stay out
81 politics? Indeed, that is the entire diff
Guilty. Labor has failed, particularly in re-
cent years, to play a sufficiently large
enough part in politics to control or even
shape legislation upon which its destiny
and very existance depends.
These are but few of the lessons
which labor and the workers of the nation
can draw now from the Taft-Hartley bill,
lessons learned, as all good lessons seem to
require proper learning-the hard way.
There are other lessons which labor
must continue to learn before 1t can
achieve its full political effectiveness and
prevent such bills as the Taft-Hartley leg
islation from ever again being proposed.
OF what value will be the organic unity
asked by the AFL in bringing about labor
unity if the Taft-Hartley bill becomes
the law of the land?
What good purpose can union weak
ened by the workings of a vicious anti
labor law serve in laying down a wage
policy or outlining a social security pro-
gram?
We must face the facts. Labor has
failed. 1t has failed to unite. 1t has failed
TO crusade in educating its own members
TO the principles upon which strong and
effective labor must of necessity rest. II
has failed TO render vast numbers of work
ers aware of their political stake in their
own economic welfare. II has bickered,
fought and maligned itself and in the
doing weakened its spiritual and moral
fiber.
But from this failure must come the
awakening of the labor movement from
which will stem the principles making for
a stronger and more effective labor move
ment.
Although the going for labor is diff
cult now, we shall no doubt live to look
back upon the Taft-Hartley legislation as
the starting point for the birth of a
greater and more united labor movement
with its feet firmly placed on the true
road to progress.
Let the Taft-Hartley legislation be the
mark, not of defeated and disunited labor
movement, but the beginning of cour-
ageouS fight to ultimate victory.
Some General Motors workers were re.
ported disappointed because they won only a
l5c-an-hour wage increase. There's a perfect