Show washing e agton digest D ige s national topics intern interpreted rete by WILLIAM BRUCKART NATIONAL PRESS washington 0 C L washington it is undoubtedly one of the fundamental foundation stones of demoi the people cratic government 11 lose that where a civic right or privilege is accorded the persons who are ranted granted those rights necessarily have some soma duty to perform under those rights it is well established tor for example that workers may organize into unions that those unions have the right to bar bargain gair collectively which means that a committee representing the mem ibers bers of that union may speak for it ia dealing with the employers and it Is a right undoubtedly of unions to call its members away from work on strike I 1 think there can be no debate concerning these three premises but since these rights have been granted to workers and accepted by them on the same inalienable basis as the right to vote the obligations that go with these rights necessarily have been accepted by the workers we have just seen a settlement of one of the great strikes of this decade and the return of more than one hundred thousand workers to the plants of the general motors corporation immediately after governor murphy of michigan had announced that general motors and john L lewis and his committee tor for industrial organization had reached an agreement efforts surged and swelled in a movement on the part of each side to claim victory in the settlement from all sources I 1 have been able to tap from every trustworthy observer of national affairs I 1 have obtained virtually the same story about the general motors C 1 I 0 strike settlement As far as I 1 can see after digesting all of the opinions within my reach it seems to me that neither general motors nor john L lewis won what is much more important is that the american people lost by that strike and they are in a fair way to lose much more the general motors strike was one of the costliest cost liest in history I 1 am told that the workers alone lost something like one hundred million dollars in wages and of course the stockholders of general motors likewise lost because during all those days forty four of them that the plants were closed no new cars moved into trade that means that all the thousands of dealers and salesmen of general motors automobiles earned no income the truth about the settlement seems to be that each side was will w r ing S near the end truth about to accept gover settlement nor murphy s proposition for settlement as a face saving proposal it is undoubtedly true that john L lewis would have been sunk bunk without a trace and his movement to break up the american federation of labor and take control of labor for himself would have been utterly ruined had there not been some concessions by the general motors officials he apparently attempted to break up the A F of L before he had sufficient union men weaned away from the parent organization and that is the reason why his position in the general motors strike was so precarious from his personal standpoint on the other hand it is quite evident as well that general motors was forced into a position where it had to make concessions or be charged by the federal government with responsibility for bloodshed and destruction of property in riots governor murphy acted throughout the strike negotiations under the flag of president roosevelt saying his movements were at the wish of the president general motors did not dare attempt to run counter to the presidents commands because it could not withstand public sentiment that could and probably would be built up against it should it be publicly criticized by the president and to support my statement that the settlement is a face saving agreement and that neither side won in it it is necessary only to consider that this agreement will run just six months it contains no elements of permanency nor does it show any signs of a basic understanding which will swing public sentiment to the lewis faction thus there are many observers who feel that another crisis will arise along about another the first of july cr crisis and that in the meantime william green president of the american federation of labor will have built up a considerable amount of strength on his side of the factional fight what the future holds therefore is difficult to guess it can be said eaid only that in the recent strike and in the controversy that seems certain to lie ahead general mo tors again will be the goat and the public will pay I 1 have been wondering whether many people recognize how they are going to pay for the cost of this strike I 1 have mentioned ways in which they have lost by it and it seems equally clear that when the lewis unions get through with the use of force it is likely to bring about an increase in the cost of the automobiles they produce it is likely to go further than just automobiles there is a move on now to attempt something of the same sort of labor attack on the steel manufacturers rs if that materializes it is easy to see how widespread the increased costs will be and how consumers will pay in the end this may seem to be an argument against increased wages it may seem to be a defense of steel boots that used to be worn by industrialists and with which they trod upon defenseless labor but it resolves itself into a question of justice and a consideration of the problem as it concerns consumers as well as workers if there is anything in the theory that labor is entitled to a fair wage there must be likewise some merit in the contention that the public which consumes the product of labor is entitled to an equal amount of consideration political leaders have been quick at all times in recent years to sit astride the neck federal of business es charters specially ally big business corporations were held up as something to be despised especially if they were large corporations lately there has been quite a definite movement for legislation in congress that would force corporations to have federal charters that is charters issued by the government at washington which therefore could control such corporations with whatever regulations were deemed necessary this legislation it is true has not approached pro ached the stage where a prediction of its passage can be made the point is however that it represents the thoughts of a certain percentage of the people the question of legality of such a statute obviously remains to be determined but it is to be noted that this proposition is simply another step in the movement to cast a stigma upon business a move to make business appear immoral or criminal or generally infamous business has found it advantageous to incorporate it removes certain responsibilities from the individuals divi duals joining in a corporation and adds certain commitments at the same time here again are the rights and counter obligations arising with those rights and I 1 think no one can dispute the fact that our nation has moved forward more rapidly because of the use of the corporation as a business entity but I 1 have been unable to find an answer to the question why the federal government should take control by law of business corporations without at the same time taking control of labor organizations now it is to be noted that labor unions have steadfastly avoided taking the step of incorporation it is not true abroad where many labor organizations hold corporate charters just as would a business enterprise the fact that labor unions have not incorporated leads one to the presumption that the unions have felt such a step would hamper their activities and indeed it might for example there have been scores of instances where labor unions through their authorized officials or bargaining committees have signed wage contracts with their employers only to ditch that contract subsequently without regard for its binding force As labor unions are now organized gani zed they are very loosely knit associations and there Ss is nothing by which the individual members are bound except their own will to perform in the case of a business corporation for example the stockholders have invested money and obviously when the corporation is sued in court or accumulates any kind of liability the stockholders money in the corporation is available to pay whatever obligations develop hence the lack of a corporate organization on the part of a union removes all responsibility insofar as law is concerned fron from the unit into which the workers have organized themselves the point is after all that the general motors strike has demonstrated beyond the peradventure of a doubt that the national labor policies are utterly ineffectual and contain no consideration for the consuming public labor as represented by the john L lewis faction has shown it its s willingness to back its demands with fore force e in disregard of law and it has fa failed ed to answer the responsibilities which it seems to me accomplish the rights and privileges the nation accords it 6 0 western newspaper bolon |