The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-03-08
President May Visit Alaska During Summer
LABOR CONFIDENT
 COULD WIN VOTE,
 RATHER NOT TRY

.kAInEK WVl IKy
 We believe we could win in a referendum on the closed shop, but would rather accomplish the same end by defeating Senate Bill TT in the Legislature.
 This was the view expressed by several spokeSmen for labor groups who talked before a crowd of some POO persons at the CIO Union Hall last night. Labor expressed itself universally opposed to S. B. TT as being anti-union legislation. Senators Norman R Walker and Don Carlos Brownell, both of whom voted for the bill, held the referen- dunn up as a challenge to labor
 Lick this thing now and you'll be rid of it" Walker told the group.
 "Open shop" and closed shop" are just phrases which mean very little and for where there are doz- ems of definitions, Irving Hill, lob byist for the Alaska Territorial Federation of Labor, told the group in his opening talk. An exact de- finition of the terms bothered speakers on both sides of the ques- tion during the entire evening, and no agreement on them was reach ed.
 Traps Are Utilities
 The unions have been ridiculed because they favored a referendum on fish traps and do not favor one on this question, Hill said. Fish traps are a public utility" he con tinued, but the rights of the la boring man are at stake here and they should be treated with more dignity than fish
 No matter what legislation is passed, the workers will continue to have closed shop" William Wilson, AFL organizer for Alaska, asserted. There are many closed shops in the country now without contract or agreement, he said, and some unions prefer to have it that way They handle disputes by taking job action and get them settled quickly.
 Union security is democracy at work Wilson said, and cited the Wagner Labor Act in which, he said, the bargaining rights for the whole group go to the majority.
 He quoted letter from William Green, AFL president, on anti-la- Dor legislation pending in Congress and various State Legislatures. Many Congressmen who voted for the anti-labor Case bill and have generally had bad records on labor legislation were returned by large majorities, despite the fact that their records were publicized by the unions, Greens letter said
 Seeks To Disrupt
 This bill does not seek merely referendum-it seeks to arouse and disturb both the people and the unions during the next two years" Harold Bowman, AFL re- presentative, charged, While the unions generally are in favor of re- ferendums, they are not in favor of this one, which hits directly at AL askan development and the earning power of it's workers" Bowman an nounced
 Les Grove, of the Alaska Marine Workers Union asserted that Alas ka has never been affected by strike of Alaskan workers, but this is asking for trouble" He seemed confused on the purpose of refer endum, however. If the people vote against the closed shop, that will make it against the law, won't it?"
 Senators Speak Senators walker ana BrOWnell were received courteously during their initial talks but were heckled somewhat by union members dur ing the questioning which followed.
 Senator Walker offered to help the union to fight vote for the closed shop at the polls. T did not, and do not, believe s. B. 77 is an anti-union measure, or would never have voted for it, Senator Brownell said. But how can labor ever explain to the pub lie about the closed shop and get it's problems across to the public unless this is all brought out in the open," he asked. This question of the closed shop cannot be settled here in Juneau. There is too much pressure. The only way is to take it to the people,
 Others who spoke during the evening included Senators Enge- breth, Peratrovich and Rivers, Reps Frank Johnson, G. E. Almquist and Mrs. E. E. Engstrom and Chris Hennings of the CIO.