The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-05
AS Pegler Sees 1t
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
by King Features Syndicate. Inc

ooSH ~
stances might call for a court action, reor-
oanizat1on. perhaps a receivership, and posi-
b1v bankruptcy. In a union no such course
is possible. The interests OF the 1ndlVldual
members are outside the jurisdiction OF all
courts and other public agencles. The reason
lies in the fact that unions are governed by
%nolitical process, subject to no intrusion by
government, whereas, in business, even a MI
nority of stockholders may invoke the law 10
protect their investments against not only
criminal activity by the company officers but
against mismanagement. The union members
do have individual economic rights at stake,
but these have no existence in law.
The U.A.W. now is said to have about BOO,
900 members. Some OF the officials Oh me
Transfers Union of the A.. F. of l.. clam
that they have 900, 900 members In all cate
gories including even little bobby-sox clerks
in warehouses and mixers on California DAIRY
farms. At any rate, the U.A.W. is one OF the
largest unions and may be actually the larg-
est, numerically, in the country.
Born of violence under financial subsidy OIL
the United Mine Workers, which poured 81
0O0. 600 into the organization of the CLIO. the
U.A. w. IldQ CCb q I'eiN
from it's beginning. The governing board casts
| about 900 votes in a division similar 10 any
other rivalry of political factions. Whefher IN
a parliament or a policy meeting OF a party
between conventions. Policies are issues OF
conflict between rival factions adherl1s to
rival politicians and the factions will mutually
damn the policies o. one another as reaction
airy or disruptive. Sometimes, in so doing, a
minority faction will find itself repeating
! faithfully the very same objections 70 the of
fetal policy of the ruling group that are ad-
vanced by the employers themselves.
Only in the most formal sense do the Of
ficials of such big unions ever pretend that
the non-political rank and file workers, un-
educated in theology, are intelligently aware
Of the issues and genuinely partisan. In most
cases they are voted in blocks, as the dele
gates. under group leadership, in the national
nominating conventions of the two big par
ties. speak for the faceless nonentities back
home who eventually will vote for the party
nominees.
During the war, the U.A.W. enjoyed the
favor o. the government and a job monopoly
in many of the most important war indus
tries. The famous "no strike pledge given
by the A. F. of L.. and the CLIO. became
a derisive byWord in the presence of Slow
downs and cuttings over trivial grievances
such as a demand FOR more peanut brittle
or lemon hokey-pokey on the retreslment
stands. This pledge was given III return for
Roosevelts assurance that the 40-hour week.
an emergency law adopted to spread the work
IN time OF depression. would not be rescinded
now that the reason for it had vanished. To
the unions, the Roosevelt side Of the pledge
was worth hundreds of millions. To the
workers, it meant billions in extra pay for
technical overtime, meaning work beyond 40
hours in a week, work on weekends and hcli-
day time. 1t meant initiation for all, however,
so the net profit to most of those who drew
this bonus money vas practically nothing. The
withholding process was adopted to recapture
some OF it, a tacit admission that it was
absurd to pay a man a so per cent bonus
for a Few hours beyond forty in a week when
eleven million were working and fighting for
standard pay and much less Of it for as
many hours as the occasions required. :
There is no suggestion Of larceny in the
administration of the ia .W.'s funds in the
national administration of the union. There is,
however. ground for criticism Of the union
management in calling the great General
Motors strike which ran more than 100 DAYS
~ ANVIL Sto SAA6 g " re E1OOuJ IOU
600 workers were taken off the payrolls in
that historic struggle in the course of which
the "outs" ridiculed the ability TO pay
principle advanced by Walter P. Reuther, the
president.
r. J. Thomas. whom Reuther had deposed
as president, and George F. Adde's, the secre-
tary-treasurer. couldn' resist the opportunity
to blast him.. Reuther had seemed to think
trat this idea would be fetching. If the boss
made higher profits the help should get more
pay in proportion. His opponents hoped all
over him. To them, it meant that if the boss
were lazy. Inefficient or slow to adopt new
methods and were content with his old rate
OF profit, the workers wages would be stalled
This was a terrible strike and the JAW.
didn't win it. The workers. of course, lost
heavily in wages. Many Of them will not live
to recoup in the raises which they won the
money they lost totally in those three months.
In March, 1916, Mrs. Roosevelt and a stand
ard list OF honorary and vicarious bleeding
hearts got out a mimeographed appeal for a
relief fund which was mailed to a standard
sucker list, with the tempting reminder that
contributions would be 'tax exempt"
Hunger" the letter said. must not be
used as a weapon against American workers.
This prompted the logical reply that it wasn't
General Motors which had inflicted hunger on
these y 5000 workers and their dependents,
but the United Auto Workers of the CLIO.
through its governing politicians. None OF the,
bleeding-heart could dispose of the fact that
the hunger could be relieved whenever
Reuther said the word that would let the
people sign the payroll again. Meanwhile. GIN
stockholders, dependent on earnings from
their investments. were presumed to be SUI
fering denial. but no appeal was issued for
money to feed them.
Altogether, it was a bad strike from the
unions own standpoint, arduous, ill-timed and
Improbable. The current difficulties of the
JAW. in the treasury are largely attribut-
able to this act Of higher union management.
The unioneers resist all intrusion by govern
n1ent into their affairs for some valid reasons
but also for other reasouS upspoken. One is