Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-04-02
Washington
Labor Report
BY Bradford V. Carter
LPA CoIumnist

publican colleagues on the
Joint Committee on Labor
Management r relations got
through congratulating them
selves on what a heaven on
earth has been ushered in by
the Hartley law important
strikes came to a head in three
major industries - meat-pack.
ing, mining and printing.
The Ball group, you will re-
call, is the watch dog" com.
mittee set up by the Taft
Hartley law to study its opera
tions, and its effect on labor
management relations in the
u. S.
The disputes in the printing
trades are to q large extent
caused by the law itself. The
Typographical Union, perhaps
the Oldest union in the u. S.,
says that its union security
practices are the very life blood
of the union, and 1t will not
abondon them without a fight.
The -Hartleyites cannot
say that the l. T. u. is a rabble-
rousing union. On the con-
trary, no labor organization has
had a more amicable relation
ship with its employers. 1t took
the Taft Hartley law to pro.
mote disorder where order had
reigned.
The miners strike and the
meat.packers strike are eco
nomic strik e S. Taft Hartley
cart do anything about them,
expect to weaken the bargain
ing power of the unions by
putting the government behind
management.
MISSED 1T
The newspaper reports mis-.
sed the most Illuminating sec
tion of Sen. Balls apology for
Taft. Hartley. Two.thirds of the
document Is devoted to a series
of case histories of labor-man-
agement relationships in par.
ticular corporations.
But they don't prove any.
thing in support of the Taft
Hartley law. No doubt Ball
and his cohorts let them get
into the report because they
don't know very much about
how unions and employers get
along. Consequently the real
implications of these case his
tories were over the congress
slonal heads.
In the case of the Botany
Mills, the committee ascribes
the success Of the labor-man-
agement relationship to "a will,
manifest on both sides, to work
in harmony and understand.
ing" An attitude developed
long before Taft.Hartley. A
similar verdict Is rendered for
the situation prevailing In the
B. F. Goodrich rubber plants.
Again a before Taft Hartley
phenomenon. - Ditto HORNED
Meat.packing a. Murray Body.
NO UNION
There is no union at Lincoln
Electric At Int'l Harvester the
Farm Equipment Workers and
the company are at constant
odds, with the company going
over the head of the union in
an attempt to reach the mem
bership. Int'l Harvester has a
long background of anti-union
activity, dating back to the
1880's.
Let us assume that the un.
ion at Int'l Harvester Is not
made up OF angels either, what
possible contribution can the
Taft.Hartley law make to such
a situation, except to bolster
the company's anti-laborism,
and give II additional anti
union things to do? Doesn't
TIL. also intensity the unions
conviction that management is
a bunch of you-know.Whats?
What do these case histo.
rieS, plus everything that union
lists have experienced in their
contact with TIL. add up to?
In the majority of instances,
where good labor-management
relations exist, by the com.
mittee's own showing, TIL.
carnot improve matters. The
potential OF the law is towards
making things worse. In cases
where there has been bad blood
between workers and emplo.
yers, already TIL. has aggra-
yated the situation.
No, sir, the Ball Committees
pointing with pride" in the
first third of its report is not
justified by the implications
of the case histories in the
latter two thirds. Viewing
with alarm" would be more in
order, II the committee is
really concerned with stable
lahOr.nnanaperne understand.