Word: 7a
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Collective bargaining and who should represent whom was the nub of the Weirton Steel case at Wilmington. For 14 months Industry on one side and Government and Labor on the other had been building up this court action into a major test, not only of Section 7a of NIRA but also of the deeper concept that the Federal Administration can control the minutest labor relations anywhere in the U. S. under that article of the Constitution which gives Congress the right to "regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes...
...Amalgamated Iron, Steel & Tin Workers, an American Federation of Labor affiliate, let out a mighty howl that they had been tricked and cheated at the plant polls, that Mr. Weir's union was owned hand & foot by the company, that the steelmaster was a ruthless violator of Section 7a. Mr. Weir's attorneys replied that their client did not control the company union, that the plant elections were free and fair-and, even if they were not, the Government had no right under the "commerce clause" to meddle...
Another sledge hammer blow has fallen on the New Deal and section 7A has been declared null and void. Of course an appeal will be taken, putting more work on the already overburdened shoulders of the Department of Justice. But this appeal will take some time before it is settled. Meanwhile the bill to extend the life of N. R. A. awaits passage...
Furthermore, far sighted business men should realize that it is to their interest not to press labor back into a state of irritation. If an attempt is made by the Administration to rephrase Section 7A it is to be hoped that the change will not sacrifice the right of free association by the workers...
When Section 7a was written into the National Industrial Recovery Act two years ago, observers agreed that A. F. of L., whose membership had declined 38% since its peak in 1920, had been handed something very handsome on a silver platter. What neither William Green nor his lieutenants foresaw was that in guaranteeing all workers the right to organize, the Federal Government could not guarantee to organize them for A. F. of L. The A. F. of L. would have to show a little ability on its own account. Despite the fact that A. F. of L. elaborately pretended...