The right to strike
was left unmolested and remained a permanent threat hanging over slow
moving officialdom and recalcitrant employers. And the only restraint
accepted by labor was a promise of self-restraint. The Federation was
not to strike until all other means for settlement had been tried, nor
was it to press for the closed shop where such had not existed prior to
the War declaration. But at the same time no employer was to interpose a
check to its expansion into industries and districts heretofore
unorganized. Nor could an employer discipline an employe for joining a
union or inducing others to join.
In 1916, when the President established the National Council of Defense,
he appointed Samuel Gompers one of the seven members composing the
Advisory Commission in charge of all policies dealing with labor and
chairman of a committee on labor of his own appointment. Among the first
acts of the Council of Defense was an emphatic declaration for the
preservation of the standards of legal protection of labor against the
ill-advised efforts for their suspension during War-time. The Federation
was given representation on the Emergency Construction Board, the Fuel
Administration Board, on the Woman's Board, on the Food Administration
Board, and finally on the War Industries Board.
Pages:
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348