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Show THE SEARCHLIGHT Propaganda Drive Under Way Beyond question the most diabolical phase of the country-wide anti-union propaganda drive launched by predatory business interests in De- cember, 1943, has been the attempt of its spokesmen on the radio, and in the press, to arouse the hatred of soldiers and sailors against ganizations on the production front. Every episode on the labor labor or- front has been twisted and distorted to carry out the unholy purposes of the instigators. When employers, or a governmental agency have left workers no alter- native but abandonment of collective bargaining, or a work stoppage; radio commentators have seized upon the incident, blamed it upon the labor union, and broadcasted it to the four corners of the earth. If a complete statement of facts would absolve the unions from blame, then those facts have been conveniently ignored or forgot- ten while employer statements have been substituted as a purported factual statement of the case. The radio commentators—and the press— have had full access to reports by General MacArthur, Donald M. Nelson, the Truman Com- mittee, and other high authorities who have described the astounding achievements of union men and women on the production front as little short of marvelous. The record of 14 or 15 million production and transportation union men and women is officially cited as 99.92% perfect. Have employers a record equally good? But who would ever get such an idea from the average radio broadcast, or the average daily editorial? Regardless of whether the blame for a work stoppage should be charged wholly to the employer—as in the Tribune-Telegram strike—the commentators raise a menacing howl; point an accusing finger at the labor unions in the case; and ask the soldiers not to forget to exact an accounting from the union—not from the em- ployer—when the war ends. There is not even a mild reprimand, let alone a threat against the employer who Apparently incites and compels strikes. the radio commentators that unions should believe accept everything the excep- tional, predatory, and designing employer chooses to dish out. If an employer starts to break up a union as a preliminary to starting post-war wage cuts, the union is supposed to turn the other cheek so that the employer may carry out his projects without hindrance. A careful watch instance wherein has failed to reveal a single a union has been defended for protecting the wage structure and the employment standards of production and transportation workers. Soldiers and sailors are never told that labor unions have waged a gallant and fairly successful fight to kReeb wages on a decent basis for service men and women vilian life. when they return to crv Nor have the service men and women ever been told that union organizations have taken the lead in organizing labor-management production committees to push production levels to incredible heights. The credit—all of it—is given to management. The discredit—all of it—for strikes in wartime has been heaped on the unions. Small wonder that service men have been propagandized into such misleading beliefs that they vow to clean up on labor unions when they return. The recent physical attack on John L. Lewis is merely the half-baked grandstanding of a pair of unthinking nitwits who have been goaded by radio commentators into acts of violence— a product of the vicious anti-union propaganda campaign. The foul misrepresentation of radio commentators gets results, exactly as planned. Probably the worst offender is NBC’s rhetorical dervish, Hons Von Kaltenborn. Hons has perfected a radio tone that is supposed to herald the crack of doom. He shrills his menacing threats at unions in such grandiose ‘style that his admirers expect the army to destroy the un ions before breakfast next morning. Hons is frequently a mile off first base. For instance, when the Steel Operators and the National War Labor Board forced a 24-hour stoppage in steel, Hons blew his top in extraordinary fashion. He echoed General Marshall’s un- fortunate crack, and castigated the Steelworkers (Continued on following page) |