PREVENTING STRIKES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25309, 20 August 1943, Page 5

PREVENTING STRIKES

AMERICAN COAL INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE ORDER ISSUED (Rec. 7 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Aug. 18. President Roosevelt has issued an executive order empowering the Director of the Economic Stabilisation Board, Mr Carl Vinson, to cancel the draft deferments of striking workers or workers who fail to obey the orders of the War Labour Board. The executive order also authorises the withholding of union dues from recalcitrant unions and the cancellation of Government contracts and priorities of non-complying employers. The United Press points out that the executive order has strengthened the War Labour Board in handling the coal mining dispute. It means that the War Labour Board can collect union dues from workers, but hold the money if the union persists in its refusal to sign a new contract with the employers.

The Associated Press of America explains that when an employer refuses to comply with a War Labour Board order his plant may be seized and operated by the Government, but if this could not be done without impeding the war effort, President Roosevelt has recommended less drastic penalties, such as the withholding or withdrawing from the employer of any priorities, benefits, or privileges, including contracts, until the War Labour Board’s order has been complied with. When a union refuses to comply, the plant involved will be operated by the Government, if necessary, to prevent interference with production and protect the workers who wish to work.