Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-12-17 | Page 3 | 'Open Shop' Labor Policy Backed for U. S. Jobs

'Open Shop' Labor Policy Backed for U. S. Jobs j BOULDER CITY. Nev., Dec. 17 ! (UP) John C. Page, United States j reclamation commissioner, said today to-day that the government must maintain an "open shop" labor policy pol-icy on all construction jobs It handles han-dles directly. He announced the policy in dedicating dedi-cating a mmorisl to the annfl man who built Boulder dam. To permit a "closed shop." Page said, would I be handing the government- aov-i ereign power" to a union. Ha said this "is clearly contrary to democratic demo-cratic principles." Page's remarks dealt with the reclamation bureau's labor policy generally, and did not apply to Boulder dam. The giant bulwark which has liammed the Colorado river into a lake on the desert was not built directly by the government, govern-ment, but under contract to private pri-vate firms, page unveiled a bronze plaque set In the cliff on the Arizona Ari-zona side. The American flag was raised over the dam. for the first time, on a flagpole across Black canyon on the Nevada side. Compared to Pyramids I nf'ir r"""'l"l f"' "" "free American workmen" placed almost precisely the same amount of masonry Into Boulder dam in five years as 100.000 Egyptian slaves did in Cheops' pyramid in 30 years. Page said: "It seems appropriate to discuss the policy of the bureau of reclamation with regard to labor." la-bor." In contract jobs, the commissioner commission-er pointed out. the decision of whether the work shall be done on an "open shop" or "closed shop" basis rests with the Individual contractor, con-tractor, but "jobs being done by the government forces must be performed per-formed on an open shop basis." Must Have Freedom ' JOHN C PAGE Honors builders of dam If AltCFTT TDK ASSAn.T COVINGTON, Ky.. Dec. 17 (UP) John "Pete" Montjoy, negro accused ac-cused of criminally assaulting a white woman, was hanged today in the tiny courtyard of the Covington municipal building. ' "The reason for this." Page asserted, as-serted, "is that the government, no less than the men. must have freedom free-dom of action. To grant a closed shop on any work being done directly di-rectly by the government would be to grant a sovereign power that of saying who shall and who shall not work for the governmentt to a group, which is clearly contrary to democratic principles." "The department of Interior, of which the bureau of reclamation is a part, "will not permit discrimination discrimi-nation by its official and representatives repre-sentatives among applicants for force account work on the grounds that the applicant is or is not a member of any organization. "Personally," he said. "I share the belief of nearly all those In responsible positions in the government, govern-ment, that labor should be encouraged encour-aged to form responsible organizations organiza-tions through which it msy be represented rep-resented in bargaining when employed em-ployed on either privata or public work." Page dedicated "in the name of a grateful government" the memorial to the men who built the great dam that has curbed the rampaging Colorado's Col-orado's floods and saved its water tor us by the dry southwest. The 11-foot bronze plaque, high on the wall of Black canyon, where the workmen dangled on ropes a thousand feet above the river, drove tunnels at the gorge bottom, and performed other hazardous tasks, bears the inscription: "They died to make the desert bloom." Eighty-six Eighty-six men were killed building the dam.