Anti-Strike Bill May Force Arbitration In Future Negotiations WaRhint-ton, D. C.—stern con demnation of the Herter Bill to punish strikers in the public utilities field was expressed by fioris Shiskin. AFL economist, in £■ re cent radio debate with Rep. Verier of Massachusetts, author of the bill. ■Such a measure, Mr. Shishkin warned, could “never reach the roots of the trouble—the causes of industrial disputes—and would only delay our working out a real notation.” 'This legislation, Mr. Shishkin -asserted, could be applied, if passed, to almost all labor dis putes. Mr. Herter conceded this was true, depending upon the In terpretation of this bill which is aimed at prohibition of strikes "involving interstate or foreign commerce, or stoppages “which result in or threaten to result in danger to public health or safety.” Agreeing witl\ Mr. Herter that dovernment seisure “will not work" and declaring that "com pulsory arbitration awards will siot work, either,” Mr. Shishkin , declared: “In a free society, human re lations cannot be forced. Every work stoppage brings hardship, especially to' the v. orkers involved. Workers don’t strike unless they have a real grievance. My point ia t iat the only way to insure jndu trial peace is to eliminate rthe causes of strikes. Compul jsory arbitration will not work in tthese, special areas of public In terest any more than in any other industry or trade. "•I certainly agree that our in sdustrial relations have been in a mess for the last couple of years. The crucial point being overlooked is that the strikes since V-J Day were not brought about by any breakdown in collective bargain ing. Almost all of their, v/cra wage disputes brought about by one thing; inflation. This involves wages, prices and profits, and .whether we arc ready to have these issues determined by a gov ernment tribunal, and a political ly-mnded tribunal, to boot. The question we must come to grips with is how- labor disputes can best be settled. | “I can’t be done by compul sion. You can’t wipe out the es sential freedom of contract, which is the basis of good industrial relations, and preserve private enterprise. If you start tamper ing with freedom of c ontract, where are you going to draw the line? How can you arbitrate rights ? And how about prop erty rights? Are they, also, sub ject to compulsory adjudication?" Summing up hit view of the broad labor-management picture, Mr. Shishkin said: “I would recommend, as an approach, specific methods of working out indsutrial problems which would, really work and which would strengthen, instead of undermining, our private in terprises system. A recent rec ommendation of the Labor Man agement Advisory Committee of the U, ..^^Conciliation Service, in which the employer members— top management men designated by the NAM — were in perfect agreement with the labor men, of whom I am one, stated that “in cases of national importance, where normal mediation has failed and the parties consent, emerg ency hoards of inquiry should be appointed from outside the Feder I al Government to conduct hear ings on the issues and to publish findings based upon evidence sub mitted at theae hearings. The committee believess that any form | of compulsory arbitration or ‘su , per machinery for disposition of i labor disputes may frustrate, rather than foster, industrial peace.’" Send in your subscription to Tho Journal today! WILL THESE LITTLE PIGS GO TO MARKET? They have a 30 per cent better chance of reaching marketing age under their. ^ electric brooder than they would have If left with their mother. ( For the first ten days or so after birth, baby pigs huddle close to their mother. When she lies down or turns over they are in danger of being killed or injured. Under an electric brooder they are both warm and safe. One pig killed often means loss instead of profit on the whole litter. Here is just one more instance of how elec* tricity can help to decrease risk and Increase profit on your farm.’ „ DUKE) POWER COMPANY <6 /utymmi Cmo/*uu, if*.i NAJ SCHACHhEt JACK AiDERMAN fl Ml* SIMMS } IS STtU. Mut.-wr NOT KM UmS. MYVTVHOU* union snwtee/tt* gow6 Still all ltm ' CH BtMBf t* oumoB tm CAU net* urm l mtimh uim mi ; 0/AHA Poe9tTT \ ...IC006M).. / pour kmo* AMYM9S MtMf «MK UP, OH 1 THAT* 1AU* 5c*6ANHNGi or mck Alone, ye* me Butuesi r^r 7ve .'jmf IT* CM JBUtSH too jmmi dWW «M BUKMf 9pohb> my irons UMO A CM O’ 9 Atomic Commission Okays The Check-Off Atlanta.—An AFL union con tract with {ffe manufacturers of atomic energy for civilian use has been approved by the U. S. Atomic Commission. The contract between the AFL Atomic Trades Council and the Monsanto Chemical Co. m Oak Ridge, Tenn., was approved by David Lilenthal, chairman of the commission, and endorsed by the War Department; George L. tiooge, AFL southern director, said. „ The contract covering workers in the Clinton Laboratories ope rated by the company includes: 1. Wage increases ranging from 6 to 20 cents an hour. 2. Time and a half for over time. . ■ *$■ „ 3. Two weeks’ yearly vacation with pay. Googe said the wage increases are retroactive to December 14. The 6-cent increase affects only the top pay group. Hourly rates range from an 82 1-2 cent min imum for janitors and unskilled laborers to $2.02 1-2 for elec tronic instrument mechanics. The rate for journeymen mechanics in practically all other occupa tions is $1.18 1-2 an hour. The contract, the AFL said, contains a provision barring work steppe ir.-s, lockouts and slow . low! 'The union guaranteed its support to thd; company in main taining productive operations. V" “The contract has ideal fea tures,” Googe said, “every prob lem of management and labor has been carefully considered and ad quate provisions made in the igreement for their equitable handling and adjustment with1 fair dealing to all.” Featured in the contract are: union dues check-off, a special grievance board with equal com pany Snd union representation, arbitration of any disputes with the company, and employe sen iority clause, special provisions under the agreement for the set- | tlement of jurisdictional disputes, also disability for non-occupa tional illness. Radiomen On Ship Lines Make Gains New York City— Announcement was made here by the Radio Of ficers’ Union (AFL) of the sign ing of new agreements with 45 ship lines providing for salary in creases ranging up to |21 a month. J More than 4,000 officers on 2,000 vessels, including the Na tion’s two largest passenger ships, the United States Lines’ America and Washington, benefited by the agreement, it was revealed by Fred M. Howe, general secretary treasurer of the 16-year-old union. The contracts, effective from last October 1 until next Sep tember 30, provide for overtime pay of |1.60 and hour on dry cargo ships. This provision al ready is in effect on the privately owned ships that have contracts with the union. Application on Government-owned vessels must be approved by the Maritime Commission. The overtime rate is 10 cents an hour higher than that paid to radio' operators who are members of the American Communications Association (CIO) under that un ion’s current contract. The ROU overtime scale on tankers has been set at 91.70. Mr. Howe announced. Eleven tanker companies are among those under contract to the union. Deeming thqt the contract with operators of dry cargo ves sels was a standard contract, Mr. Howe said: * “It has taken two years to get these companies to agree on a common date." Previously there had been sep arate agreements, he adgsd. * Hie pay on freight ships that carry only one radio officer will be 9354 a month. On freighters with more than one radio officer, $271 a month; first assistant, $246.50, and second assistant, $234.50. On the liners America and Washington, the chief radio of flcen will deceive $333.50 a month: the first assistant, $296.50, -the second assistant, $274.50, and the third assistant, $259.50. Another feature was a clause calling for transportation of a radio officer dismissed at a port other than that at which he joined the ship back to the port where he signed articles. The agreement also specified eleven categories of work for which overtime - pay may be charged. , LAUNDRY WORKERS GAIN Washington, D. Ci—The Wage and Hour Administration has is* sued as important ruling which will affect the worknig conditions of laundry workers favorably. It provides that laundry and dry cleaning establishments servicing commercial accounts engaged in interstate commerce are subject to the Wage and Hour La. Laun dries in this category will be brought under the minimum wage and time and a half after 4C hours. EMERGENCY MEET CALLED New York City—The New York Central Trades and, Labor Council was aked to hold an emergency meeting of all AFL locals to act against threatened anti-labor leg islation in a resolution adopted by the joint board of the Hotel and Restaurant employes Interna tiona] Alliance, lids board rep resents 11 locals with 60,000 mem AFL EXPERTS SEE BETTER DAYS AHEAD (Continned From Pare 1) ment to make this year. Hasty and irresponsible action by anions or employers could bring about a depression with widespread loss of jobs and incomes for workers. Hasty action by Congress cou'd destroy worker’s freedom and limit collective bargaining. If ever there was a year which called for good judgment and economic statesmanship on the part of unions, employers and Congressmen, it is 1947. “Production shifts will not be easy. Consumers have already made up many of their short ages in soft goods, sucn as cloth ing. The demand for high-priced luxuries, furs, jewelry, etc., is falling off $ sales and marked downs in stores, especially in women’s clothings, show that people will no longer buy shoddy goods at high prices; competi tion is forcing stores to demand better quality goods at lower prices from factories. Business observers forecast that sales of soft goods will decline during the year, bringing production cuts and layoffs in plants producing them.” Pointing out that the worst result of the wage price form ula of 1946 was that most work ers did not even get an 18-cent increase, the report declared: “From V-i Day to December, 1946, cost of living rose slightly more than 18 per cent, but it is safe to estimate that no more than 40 j?er cent of American workers received wage increases of as much as 18 cents during this period. The President’s ec onomic report sums it all up by showing that the ‘real’ per capita income or buying power of the American people as a whole dropped 5 per cent from 1945 to 1946 due to price increases, and that workers took the heaviest losses." Asserting the low income groups had lost “billions in buy ing power of savings,” the re port continued: “One serious feature of a price rise is that it cuts away the buying power of people's savings, war bonds and insurance. A fam ily who had $1,500 in a savings account in 1939 can get no more with it today than they could buy for $100 when they invested. Workers want to see prices come down in 1947 to restore the buy ing power of their savings.” " Discussing profits as they re fer to the creation of jobs, the report said: “The business man's profit in a free enterprise economy serve* two useful purposes, both of which raise workers’ living stand ards. It creates better products at lower costs and expands pro duction, increasing productivity, creating more jobs, more con sumer goods and making higher wages possible. “The effort of business men to make a profit in competition with each other, under