On the strength of magic words embedded in the National Recovery Act, U. S. Labor set out last month to unionize U. S. Industry. For the American Federation of Labor it was a golden opportunity, for big manufacturers a real crisis. First objective was Steel, that "open shop" fortress against which union labor had repeatedly smashed itself to bloody bits. Last week an A. F. of L. local was started in mighty U. S. Steel Corp.'s Gary plant with more to follow elsewhere.
The steel industry had forearmed itself against such an emergency. In its pending trade code it had refused to dally with its labor policy and had carefully detailed plans for company unions. Employes might bargain collectively—but only by electing their own representatives "on the premises of the employer." In case of a deadlock with the management the head of the company was to render "a final decision that shall be just and fair." These labor provisions drew the A. F. of L.'s angry protest for, if approved, they would balk its unionization campaign at the outset. Last week Steel and Labor were preparing for a red-hot battle at hearings before the National Recovery Administration.
The National Recovery Act also speckled the U. S. with strikes as workers sought to unionize and anticipate its benefits, as employers held out for the last penny of profit under the old system. From bridge builders in New Orleans to shoemakers in Lynn, from Buffalo dock-hands to Hollywood sound technicians, employes left their employers in the lurch.
All these labor disturbances paled beside the strikes which last week pock-marked Eastern Pennsylvania. Of the 25,000 workers on strike throughout the U. S., 18,000 were in Pennsylvania. The trouble centred mostly in the hosiery industry as a result of attempts by the American Federation of Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers to complete unionization of the mills. A. F. F. F. H. W. is an alert, enlightened union under smart leadership. During the Depression its members voluntarily took cuts in wages to help "closed shop" employers meet "open shop" competition (FORTUNE, January 1932). But now it was up against one of the most stubborn groups of "open shop" employers in a stubbornly "open shop" State. At Reading thousands of hosiery strikers peacefully closed half the city's mills. In Philadelphia 2,000 strikers stormed the Walburton Hosiery plant. Near Bristol the Blue Moon Silk Hosiery Co. was having similar labor troubles. In the face of these demonstrations a majority of the mill operators offered their employes a 25% wage increase but flatly refused to adopt a "closed shop" policy.
At Lansdale where the strike began in late June three hosiery plants shut down. Last week one, the Dexdale, tried to reopen. Strikers and their friends gathered outside to block "scabs." Fifty local police turned out to drive off picketers, guard the plant from a mob of 1,000.