CRITICISM OF ACT

Hokitika Guardian, 14 September 1933, Page 5

CRITICISM OF ACT

1T.3. RECOVERY PLAN SUBJECT TO SEVERE STRAIN. (United Press Association—By Electrio i eiegraph—Copyright.) ■ N‘EW YORK, September 13. It is clearly, indicated 'that the [National' Recovery Act is being subjected to-the .severest strain o;i the issues of the labour clauses. ! The essential motivation of the N.R.A. i 3 &-..balanced'.sacrifice, and a gain from , controlled nation-wide economic modi- j fications. . /l

; ''die ,A!ct involves,- above all, the abandonment of the mental view* point' of -a ‘‘struggle” "'between tlm employer and the worker that, nos 'being - inherent in the history of industrial relations.' It' .fiOw seems that

inevitably the •Jiftß.A' riiiist intensify the struggle, rather tb:.n prove ameliorative, and consequent disturbances may shatter* the whole concept. As early; as Jude • 27, the Interhational Brotherhood bf Electoral Workers sent President Roosevelt ' a let:er

severely criticising Mr Johnson (head of’* ( tKe .N.R.A. Administration), and his. deputies -in handling labour aspects of various codes. They alleged that great industry representatives had been openly grided and ' instructed, during hearings, by„ N.R.A. representatives “’to circumvent and defeat every labour aspiration. This allegation sounds comical in the light of a recent declaration ot war by motor, steel, oil, and other great industries .against ,tile N.R.A.> on the ground that the Aict openlv favours labour. "

It . is contended " that President Roosevelt’s Government ' and Party are predicated as pro-labour Competent observers at Washington sayi 'that this pro-labour bias is. part and parcel of the ‘‘bloodless revolution.” But one. must go to the Recovery Act itself to' get most lighten the question. Section Seven, which became a; battle ;i . ground, ~grants the right qf collective, bargaining as concerns wage? prates; (hour's, and conditions of employment, to the labour grbups, ;through representatives “of theiri own- j choosing.”'' * :Thig "is interpreted as compulsion by law for the workers’to Join the Unions.

Those who .claim to. know the intent of. Congress .in -framing,. Or rather in approving of the Act, . s a y ■ th"t Section Seven was intended only as a safeguard against the old practice of dismissal. by .certain open shop employers .of those who joined the Trade Unions. :

The Te litie s , of the situation became immediately evident, however,, when it'"was realised that Trade Union organisers during the past several weeks have appeared at ■ offices a r'- <1 that' have never before been unionised.

When -the body economic' of the nations is sick unto death, and is undergoing :a sensitive experiment for recovery,'' it seems hardly the time to try to settle the problem of the “open shop” and the “closed shop,” which ft was ’ impossible to settle when it was in full healthy vigour.

In justice to the Roosevelt philosophy, at least that part which underlies the N.K.A., it must he s;id that he is in no sense “just another Trade Unionist himself.” The frnmor s of the N.R.A. had a whole and not a partial outlook. The system of the codes aspires to create a Ftderation of Industries co-extensive with a super•federatiori of labour.” In general terms, 1 this is even specified in the Recovery Act, which .alms to “induce and maintain the united action of labour and management under adequate •\>iovferntnenta'l hanciSons 'and super-, vision.’'’ " Jn anticipation oh these inevitable problems. President Roosevelt, on August 5 . created a national board of arbitration, with Sgn.atprWagner at its. head. This body'ha.s been move or less scrupulously- avoided by disputants: One mu 5 t conclude that, even if the best motives' are imputed, the fact 'remains that the American Union is as badly prepared for the ■1 echnique of. intelligent co-operation in industry as a social phenomenon as are .a great majority of. the individualistic employees.