Show Bruc karfs karls washington digest digesi signs of impending Tro trouble tible for national labor relations board advocates of amendment wagner of act grow agrow more vociferous la law w itself and its administration cause widespread criticism some expert stalling by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press bid washington D C washington TON it was only a few years ago thata that any ny politician seek seeking ng a harvest of votes would rather have cut off his right arm than offend organized labor in a close fight the labor vote held the balance of power labor unions forged ahead with remarkable force but labor started fighting within lt sown ranks and there came the C I 1 0 rather hather john lewis the leader ot of the mine workers got ambitious b aitio us and broke away from the old id established and respected amerlean american 00 federation of labor and gave birth to the congress of industrial organizations so many politicians including president roosevelt turned to C I 1 L 0 because it was modern modem streamlined aggressive it appeared tor for a time that C 1 I 0 was going to be the big power among the workers having that hd advantage vantage C 1 I 0 went to town as the football players say its strength was manifest in congress and under the impetus of C 1 I 0 force senator wagner the new york democrat brought forth the national labor relations act under which the national labor relations board was appointed and be gan functioning that much is history B but u t now there are signs of impending trouble for the national la her bor relations board with its main support the C 1 I 0 having its troubles in collecting dues and with the peace efforts of president roosevelt who sought to get union men of thi the united states back in one organization having failed dismally the labor board is up against it in fact to summarize the situation in the homely expression of my boyhood home it looks like the swashbuckling defiant calf Is just about ready to choke itself because of too much rope it may not happen in tills this session of congress ion congress gress but it will happen before long why the answer is that organized labor as re represented P by the lewis faction made the same mistake as greedy big business frequently makes it became arrogant it bit off ob more than it could chew the reaction has now set in demands for amendment of labor act grow noisier advocates of amendment of the wagner W agner labor act have been knocking at the door a long time recently the knocking has resembled sledge hammer pounding A very I 1 large number of senators and representatives senta tives have heard it As a matter of fact it was mr Roosevel ts efforts to get A F of L and C 1 I 0 back into a single national union that has delayed the moves in congress looking to amendment of the labor law C 1 I 01 0 having stood by the president when he was a candidate and having fought for his cause time alter after time was entitled to fo the presidents services a as a peace negotiator many persons thought there would be a happy reunion but there was no chance at all from the very outset of the negotiations and the affair did nothing to lift mr Roosevel ts prestige especially in the rural areas where C 1 I 0 and sit down strikes have much the same mean tag ing while the administrations plans for a union reunion were slipping there came that sensational verdict by a federal court jury in philadel ania which assessed damages afes against the sit down strikers in a hosiery plant the damages were assessed aps aFF essed directly against the men who did the job and thus tor for the first time a responsibility as 0 well as a right was given to labor the right to strike long has been established find and labor must guardia gu ardt ardit antver before however had there been a court determination that ua lia ability also exists if damage dama geis is done it is unnecessary here to review anat the labor relations board has been doing time after time it has been accused of dancing to the bagpipes played by C 1 I 0 the american federation of labor among oilier critics has charged it with rank C 10 I 1 0 favoritism the board does not consist of persons capable of winning very much respect true I 1 believe they have very alert and fast moving minds but I 1 cannot help regarding them as without any trace of judicial temperament without doubt the country would be better oft off had all three members been ousted months aio ago act and its administration causes widespread criticism it is perhaps as much because of the terrible administration of the law as from the inequities of the loosely drawn law itself that the criticism has been so widespread hundreds of cases coming before the board have left employers with personal losses asa as a result of one sided aided determinations labor un unions loris affiliated with the american federation of labor cabor have repeatedly asserted they could not obtain justice it if thc jhc 1 I 0 figured in the situa y alon in any event there are now senators and representatives sponsoring a hatfull ot of amendments to the law and a large number of these amendments are being promoted by the of L lobby at the capitol there Is one amendment for or instance that proposes to disband the present three man board boar dand and supplant it with a five man board that of coursens course is Js the political maneuver to get rid of people with whom congress is disgusted the amendment Is by senator walsh massachusetts democrat senator walsh also has introduced several other amendments one of which in particular is worth noting it would attempt at least to eliminate prejudicial delays that sounds rather academic it is however important beca because iise according to the A P F of L explanation delays by the board have worked or have been used to the advantage of C 1 I 0 it if the C 1 I 0 was not sure that thai it had a majority according to the other union rather thinly disguised reasons for delays were brought up then C 1 I 0 organizers would start their drives whether the A P F of L charges are true and whether the criticisms of employers have been justified it remains es as tact fact that C 1 I 0 I 1 is Is now opposing amendment to the act hearings are delayed by various stalling maneuvers supporters of the law in its present form and defenders of the board a as it is now made up succeeded for example in delaying hearings on amendments to the act for more than a month They urged senator thomas of utah committee chairman not to hold hearings while peace negotiations were in progress they insisted that it was unfair to embarrass the president in his attempts to restore unity in the labor movement and argued that hearings would bring bitter statements into print mr thomas yielded to the plea for delay but eventually the pressure for action became too strong even for the utah senator to resist and the friends of the law were right when they anticipated bitter words senator wagner in his testimony spoke rather blatantly about critics being unacquainted with the purposes of the law he felt too that there was no need tor for haste about changes he rather hinted that there were some ethiopian gentlemen in the woodpile but failed to put his finger on them he simply was standing pat about the whole thing A little later however the C 1 I 0 people named the terrible conspirators who wanted the act changed the american federation of labor had conspired with the chamber of commerce of the united states there was the ahe fine unseen hand the chamber of commerce big business personified it was the guilty party it was speaking for the employers who want to grind poor workmen into the dust destroy unionism wreck the families of the wage earners or so the C 1 I 0 shouted well as far as I 1 am concerned I 1 fall fail to see why the C 1 I 0 picked the chamber of commerce it is so thoroughly discredited that it had bad any influence at the capitol in 10 years why anyone should think that the chamber of commerce could have started a movement as strong as the present demand tor for change of the lab labor 0 r act is quite beyond me but that was what the C 1 I 0 charged it nay may have been what senator wagner meant say changes would benefit neither labor nor industry finally the labor board itself appeared before the senate committee and announced it had an open mind its mind was so open that it submitted a document of typewritten pages analyzing the proposals tor for changes and arriving generally at the conclusion that the proposed changes were no good in s substance the board said that the bulk of the changes being pressed would benefit neither labor group nor would they be of help to industry most of all in the labor boards mind the amend amendments men IS wo would uld conflict with the basic purposes purpose of the act thus as the hearings were concluded and the committee seeks to do some deliberating on its wn account labor finds itself still fighting within itself lacking direction and one could almost say lacking purpose it is too bad that there mus must t be thi the same greed the same thirst for or power within the ranks of workers as there Is among political cal leaders and heads beads of governments those fellows who play the game of politics ean can lose their jobs job s a and nd the country Is none the worse but when political labor leaders play their games androse and lose the pawns are the workers who have no mean of protection a newal aper union |