The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-08-31
1850 Version of Labor Spy
Racket Hedrd By Senators

by American Thread, Anchor Rome
and Celanese left me untouched
But it did plenty of damage to the
workers. By and large, the same
things is true of the Taft Hartley
act itself. The men who wrote the
act say it was aimed at union lead
ers; but in practice it has hit every
American who works for wages"
Rieve told the Senators that he
thought their committee could tex
pose a condition just as shocking
and even more dangerous to the
nation, than the labor spy racket
Of 20 years ago" He was referring
to findings of an earlier Senate
committee, the LaFollette Commit
tee, which put professional strike
breakers out Of business by expos
ing the methods used by the big
corporations.
"You have the opportunity to
bring the story up to date" the
union president declared. 81 am not
suggesting that criminals and
thugs are interfering with labor
relations today. The employers
have refined their technique. The
modern Pearl Bergoffs are to be
found in the offices OF manage
ment lawyers; and the bulk of
their activities are within the law.
"But do say that what is going
on today is a greater threat to
America than the company goons
and thugs of 20 years ago. | charge
that there exists in the textile in
dustry, primarily in the south, a
widespread conspiracy to prevent
union organization and to destroy
those unions which now exist.
II charge that the connecting
links in this conspiracy are the
management lawyers, who have de-
veloped most of the weapons used
against workers and who them
selves conduct and direct much of
the union-busting work.
~ charge that the aim of this
conspiracy is not merely to prevent
the development of unions as such,
but to keep the south in the poll
tical and economic grip of the
backward, bigoted, reactionary in
terests which now control it,"
Ownership of the Southern tex
tile industry is becoming more and
more concentrated Rieve pointed
out. To-day, we estimate that AZ
owning interest control half the in
dustry.
Outlining the techniques used
throughout the south against the
unions, he charged that storekeep-
ers and ministers are tools of the
conspiracy. "If the union campaign
shows PROMISE" he said, "merch-
ants, ministers and other towns
people are lined up against the
union. Workers are fed anti-union
propaganda on the streets, in the
stores and in church. Anti-union
literature is sent to their homes. "
(Senator Murray advised Rieve
that unions should take a page
from the employers books and hire
poets and ministers to spread their
side Of the story.)
I'll find it impossible to believe"
said Rieve, chat every southern
textile mill has its own evil genius,
all of whom conceived the same
program at the same time"
If the union succeeds in winning
an election, he said, the employers
avoid bargaining by delaying tao
ties. The lawyers, he pointed out,
have often held cases in the courts
for ten years.
One Of the lawyers named by
Rieve as part of the southern con
spiracy" was Frank Constangy, at
torney for the companies which the
Senators had heard about earlier.
"From the employers standpoint, 3"
Rieve ventured, "my guess is that
Mr.. Constangy's brand of strike
breaking and union-busting is not
only more effective and more re-
spectacle than Bergoff's; it's also
chaanar Only ona man tha lau-ya,,