Milford chronicle., 1947-12-05
THE APPROACH OF THE 194S elections

in the road.
Straight ahead lies the familiar route OF
free collective bargaining. Except Tor an Oc-
casional side trip labor has been travelling it
for years. On this road the role OF govern
ment is to act as traffic cop, removing OBJ
structions for all travellers.
The fork is, the road of political action
the road to special privilege for labor. On 1t
government is called upon to clear special
right of way for organized labor-to push all
others aside.
Which of these two roads will organized
labor take2
Most American labor leaders are now urg-
ing their followers toward political action.
Their first objective is to get all members
of Congress who voted for the Taft-Hartley
Act. AFI. plans to raise $5 million political
combat fund through contributions and per
capita tax on its membership. CIO is solicit
ing 81 donations for political action from its
100000 members.
For their own sake, however, as well as
for the welfare of the country as whole, the
rank and file of organized labor will DO well
to stop, look and listen before they turn their
unions into political action squads. If they
examine the facts for themselves, they will
make two significant discoveries:
T Political action is blind alley for labor.
If there is any doubt about that state
ment. a good way to dispel the doubt is to
look at European countries where organized
labor has been following political action
line.
Britain, where the Labor Party is in
power, is such country. How is labor far
ing there? Measured by the good things
money buys, the average hourly wage IN
Britain is less than two-thirds of what it is
in the United States Part of the difference
may be accounted for by the fact that the
British Isles are poorer in natural resources
than the United States. Another reason is
the war damage to Britains plants.
But there are two other big reasons why
the British wage Garner is far behind the
American worker in enjoying the good things
of life;
First the incentive to produce has been
dulled by vote-catching programs which
promise economic security and a levelling of
incomes. Lulled by promises of cradle-t0-
the-grave security ard discouraged by high
taxes, the British have descended to a state
neatly described by the London Economist:
Nobody gains anything from activity or
suffers anything from inactivity"
Second, to run program like Brltain's
requires more and more government func-
ti0naries. Civilian employees of the British
government have increased by so percent
since before the war, putting one worker out
OF ten on the government payroll More AND
more people stop producing and spend their
time instead cutting up what others produce
The result is smaller production, higher taxes
and lower real wages.
The British Labor Party must accept
most of the responsibility for this sorry state
of affairs. 1t is due primarily to program
of political action by organized labor which
promised the individual worker security anC
equality of income-but which cannot deliver
either because the incentive to work is gone
The lesson for American wage earners is
clear. Political action by unions to enforce
the economic fallacy of more-and-more-for
less-and-less will end by impovershing tht
working man-and bringing the nation tt
ruin
Unions exist for collective bargaining, no
for politicking.
II. The Taft-Hartley Act is an essentia
bulwark of free collective bargaining.
Bargaining works satisfactorily onl,
when both parties management and labor
think they are getting fairly even break.
Management was very sure that the Wag
ner Act, as administered from 1885 to 1947
was giving employers the short end of tn
stick. Furthermore, management's feelin,
OF Illustration was no whim. 1t was justife,
by case after case where rights were granite
to organized labor with no counterbalancin,
recognition of the rights of management. @
individual workers or of the public
The Taft-Hartley Act goes a long wa
toward establishing equality in employer
union relations. 1t may fall short of doin
perfect job. 1t leaves virtually untouche
the public menace of industry-wi bargain
ing and labor monopoly. And it leaves un
protected what should be the individual
right to hold job without joining any pal
ticular organization. But it does proyid
some major safeguards for collective bal
gaining by striking at abuses
Organized labor, therefore, has no caus
to damn the members of Congress who vote
for the Taft-Hartley Act True, the law wi
check what has been an uninterrupted marc