The Key West citizen., 1954-06-18
The Midyear Labor Scene
By NORMAN WALKER


WASHINGTON R,-Now that Jobs
are scarcer, are workers less will
ing to strike?
With strike idleness for the first
four months of this year running
at a postwar low, the answer ap-
pears to be yes.
But to say that workers are less
willing to strike doesn't mean they
won't if they think the issues i'm
portant. Just last month an AFL
union settled a strike that had gone
on for 10 months at a Norwalk,
Conn.,, hat factory. The issue was
job security.
That single waikout cost the un-
ion. a small one, nearly two million
dollars in strike benefits. The work
ers themselves lost an estimated
four million dollars in wages. =,
Last year was relatively peace
full one in labor relations. Strike
idlenesS amounted to less than half
what it was in 1852.
Yet it was generally overlooked
that the number of strikes last year
was more than 5,000-nearly a rec
ord, although the walkouts were
generally small ones that didn't
last very long.
So far this year both the number
of strikes and resulting idleness are
running at the lowest point since
World War II.
This seeming reluctance of work
ers to engage in strikes these days
is probably due mainly to the busi-
ness situation-a realization that
employers don't have as many dol
lars to spend for wage increases
as they once had.
Recent plant surveys, however,
have strongly indicated that while
workers support union detectives
they also sympathize with their
employers problems.
These studies show that most
workers have dual loyalty"-that
is, while they may be ardent union
members, they also have a consid-
cradle respect and allegiance for
the boss.
It was found that even foremen.
who are supposed to represent
management in small groups of
workers, and union stewards. who
represent the union in such worker
groups, are loyal to both company
and union.
This dual loyalty" was found
even in cases where individual
company officers or union leaders
were unpopular.
Secretary of Labor James P.
Mitchell, in analyzing these re-
search findings recently, said "they
have definitely disproved the Marx.
ian philosophy of class conflict"
"As long as the company and the
union do not represent conflicting
forces and try to pull the worker
in different directions" Mitchell
said, "the workers can be loyal
to both and well disposed toward
each.
when there is conflict between
them, however, the employe must
choose which allegiance shall mott
vate his action in the particular
situation and circumstances. He
must choose between company and
union.
1T is to the advantage, there
fore, of employer, union, employe
and public not to have any conflict.
so that the worker can feel a ia
vorable and friendly identification
with both his company and union"
Late last year, the Cr0 IIni.~1
Auto Workers struck military air.
plane producing plants at me .SL4 al
American Aviation Co. at Colum-
bus, Ohio, and Los Angeles. The
strike, which lasted two months,
was ultimately settled pretty much
on the company's terms. The ex-
perience apparently didn't sit too
well with some of the workers.
Many quit the union.
To help build back membership,
the union has put the Columbus
local under an administrator, -