appeared to be lost, when the police broke up the peaceful picket lines with tear gas and riot guns; but the next evening Governor Benson made a radio address at Duluth in which he blamed the management for prolongation of the strike, and hinted that he would call out the guard to protect the pickets. The next day the settlement was signed. Exclusive recognition was granted the Guild enlarged unit, including office workers, but this was made contingent upon disposition by the Board of a Petition filed in the early days of the strike by an A. F. L. office workers union. The scrap yards situation is also in our hands on the basis of charges filed by the C. I. O. union, which called the strike; and an A. F. L. union, which secured majority representation during the strike, and with which the employer signed an agreement. Following this the S. W. O. C. called off their strike. There appears to be a growing tendency on the part of C. I. O. unions to file charges of favoritism to A. F. L. unions where the two organizations are competing for membership in a particular plant. This has a tendency to engender animosity on the part of A. F. L. unions, and is unfortunate where it later develops that no evidence of company support exists. The A. F. L. unions seem to take offense as soon as an investigation begins, even if charges are subsequently withdrawn by the C. I. O. union. Another difficult situation which has newly arisen is the reorganization of company unions following voluntary disestablishment in the face of charges, or after Board decisions. The unions are becoming even more inclined than they have been to ignore the lengthy process of 8 (2) proceedings where they feel they have as good as an even chance of winning an election. On the other hand, they are insisting on 8 (2) proceedings where they know themselves to be in a minority, and the 8 (2) cases going to hearing are becoming increasingly weaker, as employers avoid the "more obvious badges" of company support. The husband of one of our witnesses in a Southern Minnesota case has been on the local police force and was told he would be discharged if she testified, and was when she did. We called the Chief of Police and Mayor, who frankly admitted that he had been discharged as a result of pressure from the Chamber of Commerce. They got him another job, and the company testified they opposed his discharge. The airing of this incident, we feel, made quite an impression on the community and was prominently played up by the local daily newspaper, which treated the entire trial in considerable detail and unusual fairness. We still find pretty general compliance, except for three of the four large packing houses. These three concerns are responsible for a considerable percentage of our hearings. Smaller employers, in general, show a disposition to comply with the Act, although being no less critical of the Board. ROBT. J. WIENER. TENTH REGION-JUNE 1938 COMMENTS ON CURRENT LABOR SITUATION Complaints are coming in that textile employers are cutting wages to anticipate the effectuation of the Wage-Hour Bill. This is the way it goes: A worker earning $12.00 for a 40-hour week now finds his wages reduced to 25¢ an hour. This ironical development has upset union representatives who are filing charges upon some vague asumption that because they were not consulted in advance of a reduction, the Act has been violated. Twenty new cases in June balance off the 20 old cases disposed of. Settlements continue to be difficult to get. Employers evidently think they have something up their sleeves. One gathers their lawyers have discovered some point which the Supreme Court has not yet passed upon. There are indications that the Board's interpretations of the meaning of "majority" is soon to be attacked. Intimations on this score have come from several separate quarters. During the bad, sad days from which we are emerging, organizing has been virtually at a standstill. Now that better times are at hand, the unions are preparing a drive that will certainly result in overflowing hands, so far as we are concerned. TWELFTH REGION-JUNE 1938 COMMENTS ON THE CURRENT LABOR SITUATION IN THE TWELFTH REGION, The Twelfth Regional Office ended the fiscal year by settling some of its most difficult and important cases. In the early part of the month we settled a case involving the Peavey Paper Products Company, Ladysmith, Wisconsin. This case, at the time we stepped into the picture, involved a serious and violent strike. Battles had occurred in the streets in front of the plant between union and non-union men. The settlement involved the signing of a contract between the two AFL unions and the Peavey Paper Products Company, and the reinstatement of a number of employees with back pay ended this dangerous strike. All the parties were highly satisfied with the work of the Board. We are particularly proud of a letter of commendation from the mayor of Ladysmith, thanking the Board for averting serious bloodshed and establishing peace in the small town of Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Our Regional Office also succeeded in settling the Castile Mining Company case. This case involved blacklisting of miners in the iron ore mining country in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and other unfair labor practices. According to the settlement, eighteen blacklisted miners received $13,000.00 back pay and nine miners were reinstated in the mine. This was one of our largest cases in terms of back pay. The effect on the campaign of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee in the Upper Peninsula is considerable. An unfortunate occurrence this month was the outbreak of violence against members of the Teamsters' organization by a group of organized farmer patrons of a Co-operative, known as the Richland Co-operative Creamery Company. These farmer patrons had been aroused by misrepresentation concerning the ends and objective of the Union. This misunderstanding was seized upon by reactionary politicians in the community, who attempted to use the situation for their own political advancement. The situation culminated in a mob of irate farmers forcing the Union men to resign their jobs. Violent attacks were made against the Board, and particularly against the Regional Director. A large picket line of farmers was established to prevent the Union men from coming back. Our men used a good deal of tact and good sense in finally explaining the issues to the farmers, and, at the present time, we have succeeded in securing the reinstatement of the employees driven out of the plant. We hope to be able to settle this case in such a manner as to frustrate the attempts of reactionary politicians to drive a wedge between the workers and the farmers, and to discredit the National Labor Relations Board. At the present time, the labor situation has quieted down. The number of strikes have been reduced, and no large-scale strike actions are threatened in the near future. From: Edwin A. Elliott, Regional Director, 16th Region. For this month our adjustments and settlements about equal the number of new cases. We do feel, however, that there has been some indication of a trend toward compliance. We have had difficulty in the field of “independent” unions. Once disestablished by Board Order or by voluntary notice, they bob up again under a different name, sometimes under different leadership. But this is not always the case. We have now before us some notable cases where we are having to go to hearings again with the same company and practically the same independent in the picture, although under a different name. We do think, however, in the course of time the companies will learn their lessons and will rather tire of being hailed into hearings. We note with interest that "The Nation" of June 11 carried notice that the Political Intelligence League of American Business Men is going to conduct an advertising campaign against the Board in 110 newspapers in which they will spend a half million dollars. It is our suggestion that we might get some publicity, at least if at all possible among such of the press as may be desirous of being fair, from stories having to do with complimentary letters concerning our work. Complimentary statements of respondents' counsel at the close of hearings praising the work of our Trial Examiners and Board counsel have been frequent. The fact that criticism has been loud and vociferous does not mean at all that the praise of the work of the Board in its actual accomplishments does not far outweigh this criticism. The highlight of the month was the short but very helpful visit of Mr. Edwin S. Smith. All of our staff was so happy to have him. It meant a great deal not only to us but to representatives of industry and labor who met with him. I think all of the regions would be interested in knowing that in Houston, Texas, we had a joint meeting of representatives of the A. F. of L. and representatives of the C. I. O. at a luncheon. The delegates numbered about 15 from each organization and represented the major unions in both groups. Included in those present was the president of the State Federation of Labor. The address of Mr. Smith and the few remarks made by the Regional Director were well received in both camps. This tends to justify our previous observation that this schism is somewhat wedgeshaped-broad and vicious at the top among the leadership of the upper brackets of the A. F. of L. and C. I. O., but it shapes down to an almost indistinguishable point when it comes to the rank and file leadership and rank and file workmen. We were also fortunate in arranging in San Antonio, Texas, for Mr. Smith to meet not only representatives of labor, but he also addressed a luncheon of 80 of the largest employers in the city. This month we have heard 11 cases. We hope by October and November to be pretty nearly on a current basis. Our Mr. Wells was fortunate in obtaining a stipulation in the Texas Corrugated Box Company case, and the hearing itself lasted ten minutes-just long enough to get the stipulation into the record. Mr. Wells has been fortunate in saving long hearings on a number of cases by getting stipulations and making settlements. There were adjustments on two eases involving strikes, both of which resulted in agreements-one of them a closed shop. In the Waggoner Refining case where an election was Ordered by the Board, the respondent refused to give us access to the payrolls. In lieu of subpoenaing the payrolls and, probably, taking the matter to court, on advice of Mr. Witt, we took affidavits on each worker who voted to the effect that he was an employee as to the date designated in the Order and giving his occupation. The election unfortunately was without avail in that no one won a majority. The major number of votes for the Oil Workers over the number received by the independent union was offset by a large number of votes for neither. Sincerely, EAE: K EDWIN A. ELLIOTT, Edwin A. Elliott, FOURTH REGION-JULY 1938 Regional Director. MONTHLY REPORT ON BUSINESS CONDITIONS The curve of popular feeling (one might almost say superstition) has swung gradually, within the last month or two, from pronounced pessimism to a mild but appreciable optimism. The allocation of Government contracts for clothing seems to be a definite factor in this, and the signing of the hosiery agreement has contributed to a feeling of less uncertainty and hopelessness in that large industry. The so-called boycott of the NLRB by the American Federation of Labor in this State is not to be taken seriously except for the fact that it puts dangerous weapons in the hands of our common attackers for later misuse. We are assured that there is no criticism implied of the Regional Offices in either the Fourth or 218054-41-vol. 24, pt. 2-12 the Sixth Region, but this is no great solace. Not only have no cases been withdrawn, but additional cases have been filed by Federation locals since the issue of publicity in regard to the "boycott". The flagrance of the local attack has been chiefly due to community of interest with one of the local papers and a "labor attorney" who is widely believed to be more interested in promoting personal publicity than in serving any fundamental aim of labor. In consultation with the National Board we have consistently maintained a policy of "no comment" and believe, as the furor dwindles, that this has been definitely the best course to pursue. Several widespread dairy company situations have given us severe headaches because of the fact that the Board has found it wise to order dismissal of cases against them without declaring the reasons for dismissal. Although the basis for such action is fairly apparent, we are placed in an embarrassing position because of our inability to explain. The difficulty is complicated by the fact that in some of these situations the State Board is clearly disinclined to take jurisdiction and disposed to hold that the facts indicate interstate commerce. We have opened 17 cases this month and closed 29, indicating (1) relatively slack organizing activity in the region, (2) further progress in cleaning up the dead wood in our files. Both the local and the national publicity playing up criticism of the NLRB by the Federation of Labor is obviously calculated to influence the Board's attitude toward situations such as our United Fruit Company case (recently heard), in which the question is raised as to the validity of an alleged verbal closed-shop agreement supplementing a written contract as justification for requiring the dismissal of members of another union. We find few recent cases of sweeping lay-offs, but are still cleaning up the debris from old cases of this kind. About the only way to resolve these cases satisfactorily is to send an examiner into the plant to spend patient hours in conference between the complainants themselves and the plant's officials, thrashing out the individual details of each lay-off. We have an interesting case of mortgage foreclosure and reorganization either calculated or seized upon as a pretext for evading the corrective action of the Board. Quick and ingenious work on the part of Jack Davis is apparently proving effective in frustrating this attempt. The Labor League, Inc., of Salisbury, Maryland, product of the fertile brain of an ex-Railway Audit and Inspection man "reared its ugly head" in the rayon situation in Pennsylvania and Virginia. We will appreciate from any of the regions information as to the activity of that organization or of its known representatives. "Dr." V. L. Edmunds, and Robert McVeagh. I believe that these monthly statements may practicably be used to focus the attention of all regions upon activities of similar organizations. Some of these outfits are tending more and more to assert themselves in situations where company unions have been found by trial examiners or the Board to be in violation of the Act. BENNET F. SCHAUFFLER, Bennet F. Schauffler, Regional Director--4th Region. FIFTH REGION-JULY 1938 COMMENT ON CURRENT LABOR SITUATION IN THIS TERRITORY The upturn in business in this region continues. Employers now, however, complain that there is a "buyers' market", and although sales are being made, the prices obtained are at cost and even below cost. We are well on the road to settling a company union situation involving 14 separate printing houses. The company union is seventeen years old and was undoubtedly a commendable attempt seventeen years ago. If the settlement is effected, it will be our first wholesale disestablishment of company unions by settlement. After the Board had scheduled and then postponed an election among certain employees of a textile mill, the employer conducted the election on his own initiative. The Regional Office protested his action during the course of the election, and telegraphed him that his defiance would promote further proceedings. Neither the Board's order nor cantioning by the Regional Office deterred the employer. We recommend the invokement of Section 12, but learned from the Board that the section was not applicable to the situation. Consequently, we shall recommend reopening of the hearing, and consolidation of the new record with the old. Mr. Fred Krivonos spent several days with us during the month, and made many practical and helpful suggestions and recommendations. We shall profit by his visit and certainly look forward to another. W. M. AICHER, WMA: MRK William M. Aicher, NINTH REGION-JULY 1938 COMMENTS ON LABOR SITUATION There has been little or no improvement in business conditions throughout the region, which means that there has been practically no organization either by the A. F. of L. or by the C. I. O. There have been two very large strikes in the area: one involving shoe workers in Portsmouth, Ohio, a strike by the C. I. O.; the other involving the iron manufacturers in Cincinnati, a strike by the A. F. of L. The shoe workers' strike resulted most disastrously. We were hard pressed to obtain a satisfactory settlement. On the other hand, the iron strike was adjusted with very excellent results as far as the union is concerned. Strikes in general are illustrative of the relative strength of the two unions in this particular section of the country. The A. F. of L. has in very few instances consented to any wage cuts, and the contracts that they have renewed are as good if not better than those they received last year. On the other hand, the C. I. O. has been willing o take almost anything they have been offered, and they have not obtained as advantageous terms for their members in this particular area as has the A. F. of L. Company unions still persist. They are getting more bold. Only recently, we were met with a charge filed by a company union claiming that the C. I. O. local in the particular plant was in violation of Section 8 (2), as the company had permitted them to meet on company property. The Court of Common Pleas rendered a very interesting decision in an injunction case involving the A. F. of L. and the C. I. O. A strike arose in one of our local automobile dealers' shops where it appeared that there was absolutely no evidence of interstate commerce. It was a typical A. F. of L.-C. I. O. wrangle. The dealer signed a closed shop contract with the A. F. of L.; a petition for election was filed; the C. I. O. picketed the employer's place of business; the employees sought an injunction and were joined in this action by the A. F. of L. The court of common pleas (elections are held in the Fall) refused the injunction on the ground that proceedings having been instituted before the National Labor Relations Board the court would take no action until it learned how the Labor Board would decide the case. The net result seems to be that the A. F. of L. is now picketing saying the dealer is fair, and the C. L. O. has pickets announcing the opposite. PHILIP G. PHILLIPS. ELEVENTH REGION-JULY 1938 COMMENT Business has been rather quiet during the month, with strikes at a minimum. The only disorder during the month was at the Muncie, Indiana plant of the Serrick Corporation where the Auto Workers, after much alleged interference and discrimination, called a strike, padlocked the factory gates and refused to return to work unless recognized as sole agency. Our office intervened which brought about a settlement wherein the U. A. W. was recognized as sole agency, pending Board decision on the issue. I. A. M. thereupon refused to permit the toolmakers to return to work unless the I. A. M. was also given some recognition for the production employees. The factory was doomed to close because of failure to fill Orders when the Board, by quick action, issued its Order directing the Corporation to bargain exclusively with the U. A. W. for all employees, |