Evening star., 1948-12-12

puteS and strikes and that 1t got
along we'll in the department.
However, for much of the time
the service was in Labor it was
subjected to heavy management
fire. In going about the work Of
mediation, conciliation commits
sioners have about as many dealings
with employers as they do with
unions. The lack of complaints
from either side against the agency
have been noticeable in the 16
months it has been directed by
Cyrus S. Ching, the former vice
president and labor relations ex-
pert of the United States Rubber
Co., who became the first inde-
pendent director.
1t is perhaps noteworthy that the
only loud complaints against the
Ching administration have come
from John L. Lewis and, during the
recent campaign, from Henry Wall
lace and Thomas E Dewey.
For more than year Mr.. Ching
has been reorganizing and building
until just now he has a smooth
working, efficient organization. The
fact was attested in the settlement
of the recent East Coast dock strike,
where the mediators were con-
fronted by an unusually nasty
situation brought about by revolt
in the AFL union against its leader
ship.
The 6-foot-7-inch Mr.. Ching 10
recognized by both labor and man.
agement as a big man in other
ways He has the stature to talk
turkey with the heads Of the big
gest organization of labor or capital.
He seems to have their confidence,
too.
Not Enforcement Group
The Cancellation Service is not a
law-enforcement agency. Its only
power is that of persuasion to dis
putting union and management to
get together. For its work to be at
all effective, the agency must be
above suspicion of bias and par
tiality. It's setting must be such as
to give the disputants complete con-
f1dence in it. 1t is to the benefit
of unions that the service have the
confidence of management, too.
In nearly every labor dispute,
either the union, management or
both go so far out on a limb in
negotiation that it is very difficult
to scramble back to balanced posi-
ton. 1t is the job of the Federal
mediator to get them of the hook
and into position for fair settle
ment Of the issues.
For example. say there is a strike
and the union through contract
demands and other ways has
crawled so far out on a limb that
it cannot get back under its own
power and retain the respect Of its
members. The union head ap-
proaches the Federal mediator and
says, Listen, ff-the-record, this
thing can be settled on this sort of
a deal =" The conciliator then
approaches management with the
proposition. If the conciliator has
the confidence of management the
chances for a successful settlement
are good. But, if the management
thinks the man is Stooge for the
union, then there is no chance Of
success.
While the dispute-settling mech
anism admittedly should be ex-
clusively propublic in viewpoint, the
Labor Department has become more
and more the advocate of labor.
The Secretary is called upon to
take sides on controversial issues
like repeal of Taft-Hartley. There
are two Assistant Secretaries, one
from the AFL and the other from
the CIO. The department is called
upon to administer laws protective
of labor such as the Wage-Hour
and Bacon-Davis Acts.
Favoritism Always Suspected
Because OF all of that it is difficult
or impossible for the Secretary and
his men to escape the suspicion Of
partisanship, regardless of how
sincerely they try.
$50 far as it is known, there is no
intention of bringing the National
Labor Relations Board under direct
control of the department-that is,
to the point Of directly influencing
board decisions. The current talk
is that the NLRB should be in
Labor for housekeeping purposes"
What has been said here regard
ing the necessity of impartiality in
the handling of disputes goes Double
for the work of the Labor Board.
It has a quasi judicial function Of
equal Importance to its work of adj
ministering ACKNOWLEDGEMENT law.
1t has become labor court which
weighs charges made against both
employers and unions. The board
to be effective in stabilizing labor
management relations must also be
above suspicion of partisanship.
While the Taft Hartley Act prob
ably will be repealed. it is equally
probable that whatever substitute is
passed by Congress will contain
some of the provisions Of Taft
Hartley. 1t is almost certain that
the new law will define as unfair"
certain practices of unions like jur-
isdictional strikes and some types Of
secondary boycotts. In other words.
the board will be required to crack
down on labor when the occasion
arises.
In considering the transfer of the
NLRB and, perhaps, the Mediation
Service. too. the President and then