Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-10-12

aforementioned items and reveal how
failure to find solution to both those
problems can disrupt a business, in
crease costs. upset personnel. create
never-before- problems and engen-
der an atmosphere of hostility where
highly amicable industrial relations ex-
listed before. While this situation i'm
mediately affects this one firm and its
700 employees. its real significance lies
in the fact that it mirrors similar ex-
perienceS in scores Of plants in dozens
OF States across the Nation.
w. c. Hamilton & Sons Co. has been
unionized for more than 16 years. At a
time in American industrial history
when many sections of business were
resisting unionization and refusing to.
bargain collectively, this company dealt
with its employees representatives,
signed contracts and enjoyed peaceful
relations It should be noted, more
over. that for all of the Is years, con-
tractual relations were on a plant-wide
basis,
Roughly year ago, the kind of ram,
pant labor imperialism so vigorously
assailed by Mr.. Gray. an important
AFL chief, manifested itself in the
Hamilton plant. An AFL affiliate de-
cided to try to organize several Sepa-
rate. so-called craft units and seek rec
ignition for each craft. Aside from
all else, this meant hacking away at
the stable. plant-wide unit that had
existed for Is years. This AFL union
appealed to the NLRB for separate
elections in IL crafts, consisting of a
total of IS people. Many of the units
had 2 people. Some others had or 4.
The largest was Is. This fragmenta-
ton Of long standing unit was bad
enough but the union actually asked
for a separate election in a unit of
one man! The NLRB refused to allow
this absurdity but permitted separate
elections in the others, including sew
eral two-man units.
It is apparent that the demand for
separate" elections is, indeed, sub
terfuge and an effort actually to cir
cumvent an established board policy.
The Hamilton Co. has appealed the
decision of the old NLRB in allowing
the breakup of the 16-year-old plant
wide unit. It is asking the newly APP
pointed NLRB to reconsider the de-
c1Sion and permit it to return to the
old pattern which has aided produc-
ton and produced an enviable record
OF industrial peace and stability.
It has received unexpected support
for its position from the AFL, in the
document released earlier this month
by Mr.. Gray.
What Mr.. Gray has said, in so many
words, is that AFL groups are raiding
any one they can, whenever they. can,
with no regard to proper Jurisdiction
and no regard to the effect of the raids
on the workers or their employers. He
says this indiScriminate chopping away
Of units-''just for the sake of gaining
few MEMBERSHIPS increased to such
an extent that it endangers the very
existence of the AFL and must be
brought under control =
If his accurate analysis is applied
to the Hamilton Paper Co. in this in
stance, what guarantee has the COM
pany (if it signs with the AFL group
that won three crafts that some other
"imperialistic" labor group won't try
to capture the same three units? And
: another after that? And other unions
in different crafts? The firm will be
at the mercy of competing unions once
the plant-wide principle is abandoned.
This is not idle speculation nor is
it far-fetched. We have the solemn
word Of one OF the most influential and