Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-18

pubic MEMBER.
o December, 1941-A Labor
Industry Conference was called
by President Roosevelt after
Pearl Harbor. CLIO members
had walked of the National
Defense Mediation Board be-
cause Of its refusal to give the
United Mine Workers a closed
shop In the captive coal mines.
Some machinery was needed
to settle labor disputes during
the war. Congress was in q
mood to legislate, but Roose-
welt preferred that industry
and labor agree on some vol
untary procedures.
The conference agreed on
three points: % No strikes
or lockouts, ca peaceful set
Element Of disputes, and (3>
establishment Of a War Labor
Board to handle the disputes.
They remained deadlocked
for days on management's in
sistence that the board not
consider any closed-shop dis
putes or any demand that a
worker be forced to join a
union or remain a union mem
Der to keep his job.
Roosevelt broke the dead
lock by accepting the three
points Of agreement with the
statement that they would in
clude all disputes. The tri-
partite WLB which followed
adopted q compromise policy
on the closed-shop question.
1t allowed maintenance Of
union membership, which re-
quires only that workers who
are union members or Join
voluntarily must maintain
their membership.
Q March, 1945-With the war
nearing an end, Eric A. john
ston. then president of the
US. Chamber of Commerce,
arranged an agreement with
AFL President William Green
and CLIO President Philip
Murray on a Charter for
Labor and Management" The
charter contained seven prin-
ciples, including one that
there should be no laws passed
interfering with labor's rights.
Many employers we're inter-
ested in getting legislation
balancing the onesidedness of
the Wagner Act and not SYM
pathetic to the charter. The
National Association Of Manu-
facturers did not sign, and
nothing came Of it. I
. November, 1945-A Ma
tional La bor- Management
Conference was called by Pres
ldent Truman to seek agree
ment on procedures for ham
ding a rising number Of post
war labor disputes and to fill
the void in disputes-handling
machinery created by the dis
solution Of WLB. Union recog-
milton, which caused the pre-
vious postwar conference to
fail, was no longer an issue.
However, as In 1919 when the
country had a steel strike on
its hands, strikes were
threatening in steel, auto
mobile. electrical and other
big industries. and a long
strike did begin against Gen.
eral Motors while the confer
ence was In progress.
This conference failed to
achieve any major accom-.
phshment largely because the
CIO tried to involve it in the
reconversion wage fight then
current instead of sticking to
principles and long range
problems, and also because
management had some ideas
OF its own on curbing some
union abuses permitted by the
Wagner Act.
In trying to push the con-
ference into influencing post
war wage policies. Mr.. Murray
leaned heavily on a radio ad-
dress by President Truman In
which the President urged q
policy Of higher wages without
price increases.
Industry delegates to the
conference wanted agreement
on management rights, equal
responsibility under law for
both management and unions
to abide by union contracts
and not engage In unfair labor
practices, some restrictions on
jurisdictional disputes, an
end to the closed shop, and
other labor issues.
When the conference dis
banded Mr.. Truman reported
the results to Congress and
asked for fact-finding legisla-
ton similar to that contained
in the Railway Labor Act. At
the same time he went ahead
on his own to appoint fact
finding boards in the General
Motors and steel disputes.
This was followed in 1916
by the worst strike period In
history. Organized labor was
spared from a congressional
breakdown only by Mr.. Tru-
mans veto of the Case bill.
But the respite from correc-
tive labor legislation was only
temporary. A Republican Con-
gress elected that year passed
the Taft-Hartley law over
Truman's veto in 1947. It's
provisions included many
which business representatives
had proposed, but were re-
jected. at the last labor-man-
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