Show j Labor Disputants Must Heed Publics Public's Interests ests By BAUKHAGE Anal's land Commentator i NU Service 1616 Eye Street NW Washington D. D C. C WASHINGTON Regardless of he Jie bitterness engendered by the theoal oal oai strike many real friends of off f abor in Ill Washington watched the I preliminaries to the opening of congress con eon gress ress with far less apprehension I than han might have been supposed But that wasn't true of some of the he labor leaders There were several reasons for forthe forthe the he fears of the latter In the first place it was no secret that a 3 great 31 nan any nany union members were getting decidedly fed ted up with the autocratic methods of some of the top dogs Part of this m may ay have been the general feeling that it was time for fori i a change which the voters registered registered regis regis- so emphatically Many of these voters were of course union men Without labors labor's support the Republicans would not have made such great gains in many of the cities I talked to one union man who expressed this skeptical attitude toward toward to to- ward the top leadership He said there was discontent because of too many strikes He didn't mean strikes in his own group He was referring to the fact fr that when other unions walked out it affected him too He didn't like the idleness that he had He resented the raising of his dues He felt the pressure from the higher cost of living which he did not blame entirely on big profits He was not immune to the argument that lack of production due to strikes for lor which he was not responsible was also partly to blame t His inability to control the strikes I in other unions was not the only cause of his resentment He felt that his vote in itself had very lit ht- tie Ue effect that policy was hammered hammered hammered ham ham- out by the big fellows Then too the stories of the fine homes and the big cars of some of ot the high officers didn't help I found his attitude reflected in similar reports re reo ports from other sources Most of these conditions to which my informant objected of course stood out at the very beginning of the coal strike with its powerful one-man-domination one and its crippling crip crippling crip crip- pling effect on other industries Another feeling registered by many workers was fear of a de They know now that that would i weaken the unions because many men would do as ns my friend said he would have to do forget do-forget forget the union and take any job he could get If work grew scarce s i c Predict Curbs on Autocratic Leaders Since many of the men who followed fol lowed this line of reasoning helped make the Republican victory possible possible possible pos pos- sible astute political leaders with their eyes on 1948 are arc preparing to stop the union the talk and substitute for it the slogan smash h the autocratic leaders le-aders and keep them from smashing the union The friends of labor that I mentioned mentioned men men- realize this They are freely predicting that this tilis congress will not produce destructive labor I legislation tion r They feel that such radical moves as compulsory arbitration or rigid government control will not suc sue They do admit they expect many of the advantages labor has enjoyed under the Wagner act will willbe willbe willbe be p pared ared down When the President said at a White House press and radio conference conference con con- ference that he intended as strong a message as possible to the congress it was not interpreted as meaning that any labor anti shackles would rise Harry Truman's Truman's Tru Tru Tru- mans man's whole record in congress Is distinctly conservative but not reactionary re re- re i On the other hand he doesn't intend to approach the subject subject subject sub sub- from tram the New Deal point of ot view As I pointed out previously 1 in this column he considers himsel himself him him- pt self sel a free man bound by no previous obligations acting under no restraint He could not escape the tenor of the vote in November i nor could he ignore the gauntlet which John Lewis threw down Looking around in the senate the friends of labor feel they see evidence evidence evi evi- dence of enough wisdom and discretion discretion disk dis dis- k- k to prevent any labor bait L ing fog orgy even if 11 some of the members mem bers of ot the house may lean to ex ex- ex- ex After all all most legislation is writt written n in conference Although there was considerable concern expressed by their respective tive opponents both Senators Taft and Ball who naturally would be expected to initiate labor legislation legislation legisla legisla- I tion are considered too wise politIcally politically pout to overstep the bounds of what really amounts to commonsense commonsense common commonsense sense on this question Neither of them would be likely to do anything they could avoid to prevent the workers or anyone else from voting Republican Another thing which the optimistic optimistic opt middle of feel sure will happen is that there willbe will willbe willbe be a careful study by congress of any measure which is proposed proposed- unless of course some crisis develops develops de dc which demands speed In emergencies emotions run high and it Is necessary to shift shUt the ballast so rapidly merely to avoid capsizing capsizing ing that legislators may swamp the boat trying to reach an even cven keel Labor suffers most in an unstable economy Therefore it must have havea Thurman Thurman Thur Thur- a multiple objective as man Arnold and Walter Hamilton contributing their Thoughts on Labor Labor Labor La La- bor Day to the New Republic last September pointed out in these words It must work for a stable economy economy econ econ- omy with permanent high prosperity prosper prosper- ity it must hold and advance wage rates for the sake of that permanent prosperity it must stand firm and even take the offensive against limitation of production and the degradation of the dollar Therefore to succeed the thc labor movement must be a consumers consumer's I movement as well The consumers consumers consumer's con con- sumers sumer's vested interest in labor legislation will not be overlooked by thoughtful members of congress It was very plain that the will vill of the voter in the last election was expressed ex cx- i pressed in the voice of the consumer con con- sumer Must Consider Consumer In Any Negotiations One of the most searching surveys surveys surveys sur sur- veys of the whole question of col coU bargaining which undoubtedly undoubted undoubted- ly Iy has impressed our more studious legislators is a report made two years ago by a a special committee of the Century fund This report report re re- re port stressed the need of recognition tion by both labor and management management management manage manage- ment of this third party the con con- sumer In that connection the committee committee committee com com- recommended strongly the use of ot economists engineers impartial impartial im impartial im- im partial factfinding finding techniques They also suggested that managements managements managements manage ments and unions together explore the possibilities of ot wide market-wide collective collective col col- col bargaining This is a subject of which you will hear more before long I imagine The Century fund study also sounded a warning which might well have shown a foreknowledge of ot some of the big strikes which followed followed followed fol fol- fol- fol lowed including the coal strike It concluded with the admonition Unless spokesmen for Big Ownership Own Big Unionism and Big Government Gov Gov- acquire a sharper awareness aware aware- ness of their separate and joint obligations to society all three will become like the dinosaurs which grew too big and stupid to survive survive The representatives of ea each cath h sitting around the collective bargaining ta table table ta ta- ble must become more become more consciously conscious conscious- ly than ever before trustees of other peoples people's money skills and aspirations It is the committees committee's earnest belief that this change In moral and psychological climate oi of collective bargaining is vital necessary essary and long overdue That admonition which went vent ent unheeded unheeded unheeded un un- un- un heeded was responsible in part for forthe forthe forthe the temper of the people last November No labor legislation offered of by the present congress will stand long if it it includes the consumer con sumer out And if the consumer is protected protect ed both management and labor are safe sale NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS OF A l COL COMMENTATOR COLUMNIST I I ENT A TO R RI I will try to write and talk as ns much like a human be being ng as possible I wont won't use any words on paper paper paper pa pa- per or on the air I dont don't use on the street car and I will be sure I know what the words I do use mean I will not talk or write down downto to my audience or up to my iny news sources I will swallow my snorts and coughs and wheezes until I can sign signal al the engineer to cut off ocr the mike miJe I will read all my mail and answer it in person i if a stamp Is enclosed or on the air nir or i if there is no other way in spirit |