Montana labor news., 1951-01-04
.SCr,E WERE SHOT;
OTHERS CHASED
OUT OF TOWN
Continued from Page u

lltNf ne american lulCdu NNIt
iany There are those who say 'hst
lhc american Thread Compauy
Iad nothing whatever to do with 'ni
Incident However, this seli-con-u
ulcd citizens committee met tic \
f. ui l.. organizer. informed i'm
hat organizers were not welcomc ~
rallapoo>a. ordered him to leave
town immediately and to eros, 'he
line into Alabama ,threaicucd
him with violence ii he did not ohsy.
and then escorted him to the state
line. not too gently
4 woman organizer from the co
received the same handling. \ rep
rc,cntatiyc OF the company witt al
,horiiy OF deputy sheriff was a,
signed to keep a watch on her The
iir,t nigh, She a i'll town a mob
broke into the roominr house wlierc
She ga, staying. loaded her into
truck and dumped her in the Country
sale Nith the warning that she had
better not come back
lcad,f> ii the employee, wha
,4ulcd t. organize were fired AID
fhcr, Wlm showed any interest were
threatened Armcd violence Wa
i,cd against organizers who tried
"a distribute leaflets at the plant. a
company union WAS organized. and
ltampan officials described the evils
ii Yankee influence m the liz VI
| the community
Charges Of unfair labor practice
were brought against the company
| about a year later the MACHINERY OF
| the 1a~ii-llariley Act got to moving.
\itcr receiving a report OF a trial
Examiner which cleared the com
panv officials OF any serious wrong
| doinps. the Board then issued a cca,e
and dcsist order against the OH
pany maintaining a company uniln
and acting unlawfully. But MORSE
said The paper cease and deslat
order lluttcred in the breeze, totally
ineffective either To protect the fignt
q. REORGANIZATION or To restrain
the employer from unlawful acts.
The employer did the same thing
over again when the employees
made another attempt to organize,
and the employees again appealed
to the Board. 1t is expected that
another order will be issued in due
course, and Morse predicted that i
twill loin score, Of other orders thai
are "fluttcring ~innocuously i'll teNtil'
mills all ovcr the South.
In his address at the Ll-PE meet
! ing. Morse cited other cases llki
! the foregoing Workers lost in al
81 them. Employers have arine
: their supervisors, strictly within tn
law, TO break up unions. They hay
, used the tcchnicalities OF the law t
deprive their employees OF union rep
rcsentation. Even the anti ON
nnnist provision is thrown into tn
y faces OF the most patriotic workers
y The question OF compliance with tn
taw arose in a dispute with a telt
= phone company. The Board rule
that the union could not rcpresci
~ lis members because some OF Il
y union officers had not signed tt
~ non-C Communist affidavit within Il
hour that the grievance occurre,
y There had been a change in officer
y and newly elected officers had III
= had time TO declare that they wei
= not Communists. The employee,
= lost the case.
T. On this legal rigmarole, Senate
T. Morse made the following CONNER
NJ in the l947 fight against Il
~ Taft-Hartley bill, | repeatedly poin
" ed Ii in the Senate that il wou'
a, work great hardship in inorganic
81 industries. | said that II would c
- able a lawyer to take a case ire
any employer interested in keep
organization out OF his shop on t
= understanding that the legal fee
~ the lawyer would not have to be pa
rs unless the lawyer succeeded in !
mission Of organization. The te
'oS tile industry in the South is a go
example Of the validity OF Il
: statement. What most people do
"u understand about the Taft-llartl
au' .\ct IS that il is h~oney-combcd W
=: provisions which permit any laws
to engage in delay and delay and
lay. with the result that organic
lion Is clicked OF eventually.
One Of the most vicious thir
about the Tait-Hartley Act is Il
S las sonic OF us prcdicitcd-it is
% makc-work project Tor labor la
n yers. Its procedures are as de'
ors, as complicated, and as endle
as aStutc lawyers could make the
Its language is so involved, its pr
ccSScs 50 tortuous. its coniradi
! tions SO profound, that only a La
ycr-and a lawyer specially train
with respect to its provision &C;
- ever hope to understand it and ma
: ipulatc it. Shop stewards and Il
ion nceotiators can't understand
Management can't understand