Evening star., 1949-04-25
To Cope With Atomic Strikes

After months of study and consulta ton,
the Presidents special three-man COM
mission on the subject has recommended
what seems to be q relatively mild formula
for dealing with the threat OF crippling
work stoppages in our atomic energy prof.
ects. II adopted, the formula. which Is
comparable to the one embodied in the
Railway Labor Act, may work very well,
but 1t admittedly does not rule out the
possibility OF strikes in field where strikes
can be extremely harmful to the security
of the Nation.
The main features of the recommended
ton are these: % Labor and manage
ment in all Government-owned, privately
operated nuclear-f -fssion installations would
adhere to q broad code of conduct"
obliging them "to seek in every way by
voluntary procedures and mutual agree
ment the settlement Of disputes affecting
vital operations: (2) there would be a
permanent three-member panel appointed
by the President to assume jurisdiction
over controversies threatening to interfere
with such operations; 81 as long as the
panel had Jurisdiction, and for thirty
additional days, the unions and private
operators would be required to maintain
production; and "a II the panels efforts
should fail to work out an agreement, the
Atomic Energy Commission then would
have to decide whether or not Congress
should be called upon for special legislation
to cope with the situation.
In other words, the proposed arrange
ment would exhaust all possibilities of
mediation and conciliation, and II these
were unsuccessful, legislative compulsion
could be brought into play within thirty
days after the special panels jurisdiction
had come to an end. This would certainly
! minimize strike threats of the sort that
almost brought Oak Ridge to q standstin
last year, but it would not eliminate them
entirely, especially II there were no
Congress in session to enact emergency
legislation. In making its recommenda-
ton, however, the Presidents commission
headed by William H. Davis, former
chairman of the War Labor Board
apparently has been Of one mind in
believing that the approach to the problem
should not be drastic at this time, but
should instead be more or less expert
mental, with compulsory action held In
abeyance as q weapon of last resort.
1t may be that this course is not the
best one, but 1t is obviously better than
having no special procedure whatever.
There is something to be said, moreover,
for the experimental approach. Our atomic
setup, after all, is in kind of twilight
zone between private and public enterprise.
For example, although the industries
involved have management responsibility,
the Government is the real boss. Similarly,
the union members in the field have
status that Is not quite the same as that
Of either nongovernmental workers, who
are free to strike, or Federal employees, who
are not free to strike.
In the circumstances, since we have here
a unique mixture of private and govern
mental operations in which the rights OF
worker and manager alike are thus still
a bit hazy, the labor relations formula
proposed by the Presidents commission
may be sounder to try at this time than
one calling for drastic compulsory meas
ures. II experience shows otherwise, 1t
should be possible to take corrective action
before there is an atomic strike serious
enough to weaken our national security.
In the widest of our dreams we check
over the involved formula which always
appears on a blackboard behind the famed
physicist in the photo, and point out his
error.
A Communist Party card-holder turning
in regular reports to the FBI suggests
those Wheels -Withir wheels of which the
Wodehouse character remarked, How