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Show A ;in WASHINGTON By Walter Shead WNU Correipond.nl WNU Washington Bureau, 1616 Ere St.. N. W. StifEer Attitude Toward High-IIanded Unions Seen TpHE "anti-Petrillo" is now the law of the land, signed by the President. . And that signature marks a milestone of some kind, for this reporter believes that despite de-spite the fact that we have a week-kneed, week-kneed, supine congress, the law will mark the turning point in govern-, govern-, ment relations with labor abuses. This so-called Petrillo bill is a Blap on the wrist for Mr. James Caesar Petrillo, head of the musicians' musi-cians' union, but it eliminates abuses In only one industry, "featherbed-ding" "featherbed-ding" in the radio Industry. It permits the same abuses to be practiced prac-ticed by Mr. Petrillo in other industries indus-tries . . . rotably motion pictures and theaters, and it leaves other unions free to perform the same practices that Mr. Petrillo is punished pun-ished for in the radio industry. For instance, the law says that Mr. Petrillo cannot levy a royalty or a tax on phonograph records ' used for broadcasting, but the union I can still levy this royalty on every record you play in your home. Mr. John L. Lewis is at this very mo-l mo-l ment seeking to levy a tonnage tax f on every ton of coal, 10 cents a ton, to provide a huge fund for his miners' min-ers' union. But Mr. Lewis is free to do that since the "anti-Petrillo" law doesn't apply to the miners' union. But a congress which gave In to political expediency in its worst sense, and played checkers with the security of the nation in the emasculated emas-culated draft bill, and which indicated indi-cated such utter stupidity and disregard dis-regard for the welfare and opinions of the rank and file of the American people in passage of the vivisected OPA bill in the house, probably could not be expected to take up the abuses of labor union leaders in one fell swoop. Unions Are Necessary Your Home Town Reporter believes be-lieves in labor unions. They are necessary in our American way of life, since without them the American Amer-ican workers would be at the mercy of greedy employers. Were it not for labor unions, a man's toil would still be a commodity to be bought and sold, to be used or disregarded at the whim of any capitalist. But the abuse of these benefits which have been granted to labor by certain cer-tain labor bosses and in which these bosses even defy the government of the United States, should most definitely def-initely be curbed. Public opinion polls indicate that the rank and file of the American people hold to this opinion and the folks who live in the small towns and the rural areas are particularly incensed at practices prac-tices and unlicensed affrontery of some of these leaders. The Case bill, approved here by some of the farm organizations, will die aborning in the senate and in the senate labor committee, a majority ma-jority of this committee has had the temerity to propose a measure which would punish unions seeking to extort money from farmers by coercion or force to prevent farmers farm-ers from transporting perishable farm products to market. This has happened In Pennsylvania, Pennsyl-vania, in New York, and in other sections wherein farmers' trucks have been overturned, or the farmer farm-er has been forced to pay tribute to unions to drive his truck of produce prod-uce into the market place. But what about the farmer who seeks to transport nonperishable products? Why not include that in the bill for it Is most certainly as wrong for unions to prohibit the hauling of logs to market as it Is to levy tribute for lettuce. And why not at the same time protect others besides farmers? A Tribute on Every Ton Now the entire country is just about to pay tribute to John L. Lewis Lew-is before he consents to let his miners min-ers mine coal for industry and to heat your houses. Mr. Lewis struts from the headquarters of the United Unit-ed Mine Workers of America, a stone-facaded building about a block from my office here, and which resembles re-sembles nothing more than an exclusive ex-clusive Union League club or a Carnegie Car-negie library, and issues an edict ... an edict to the Mine Owners, to Industry, to the American Public and to the Government of the United Unit-ed States . . . and he will probably get away with it Wages for his miners is a sec-j sec-j ondary issue. What he wants most if is that royalty of 10 cents a ton which would mean some 50 to 60 million dollars a year in Mr. Lewis' cofTers for welfare or whatever he determines to use it for. So what difference 400,000 miners out of work for three, or five or sx weeks, or why should Mr. Lewis care if members of other unions in steel, autos and a dozen other industries are thrown out of work by his coal strike ... or that production is stopped and reconversion slowed? Mr. Lewis wants to strut his power. |