"I Am Counting On You"

"This is one of the most important domestic problems in American life. ... There are many cities and towns now where the local C. I. O. and A. F. of L. are ... in closest harmony. . . . The two factions, as they are called, are really not factions. They realize that their interests are the same. I accept the premise that both sides want peace. ... I am counting on you to succeed. . . ."

With this little fight talk Franklin Roosevelt last week warmed up A. F. of L.'s and C. I. O.'s peace negotiators. The six--A. F. of L.'s Harry Bates, Matthew Woll, Tom Rickert; C. I. O.'s John Lewis, Philip Murray, Sidney Hillman -- and Madam Secretary Perkins listened respectfully. But Franklin Roosevelt as he addressed them at the White House before the beginning of their labors must have been pretty certain that most of them had their fingers crossed.

A. F. of L.'s President William Green had gone home to Coshocton, Ohio. So sure that nothing could happen was C. I. O.'s Lewis that he dared to get funny. No sooner had the President concluded than John Lewis handed to Franklin Roosevelt, Fanny Perkins and the Federation committeemen a mimeographed document, proposing that:

1) A new American Congress of Labor "supersede and embrace" A. F. of L., C. I. 0., and the hitherto independent Big Four railroad brotherhoods (Engineers, Firemen & Enginemen, Railway Conductors, Trainmen).

2) Messrs. Green & Lewis be barred from any office, reserving the presidency for a railway brother like Trainman A. F. Whitney or Engineman David Brown Robertson.

3) A. F. of L.'s Green and its veteran Secretary-Treasurer Frank Morrison be guaranteed their salaries for life "for services rendered."

4) C. L O. and A. F. of L. between April 15 and April 30 pass on the plan at special conventions, to be followed "not later than June 1, 1939" by a joint convention with the Big Four Brotherhoods in Washington "in the hall owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution" (who last year barred Mr. Lewis' United Mine Workers from Constitution Hall).

5) With the "cooperative mediation" of the U. S. Department of Labor, jurisdictional disputes between competing A. F. of L. and C. I. O. unions should be settled after they enter the Congress.

6) Franklin Roosevelt himself should preside at the first session of the Congress.

The President tossed Mr. Lewis' paper aside, declared an hour later that he did not know its contents. Fanny Perkins and Messrs. Woll, Bates & Rickert, hurriedly scanning it, did not hide their feeling that John Lewis had pulled a fast one on them and on Franklin Roosevelt. When they emerged a reporter queried Mr. Lewis: "I see you've taken care of Bill Green. How about yourself?"

"Oh, I'll go on WPA," quipped John Lewis, who draws no pay from C. I. O. but has $25,000 a year from his United Mine Workers.

Barked A. F. of L.'s negotiators (after telephoning Bill Green at Coshocton): ". . . The C. I. O. proposal does not offer any possible solution. . . . We are convinced that it was not even designed for serious consideration. . . ."

Between the Lewis proposal and the A. F. of L. position is one big difference: the Federation prefers to settle jurisdictional conflicts before admitting C. I. O.'s unions to a reunited organization. Otherwise, industrial unionists would be sure to dominate from the start. New to peace talk was the Lewis proposal to include the railway brotherhoods' 300,000-odd members.

New also was the suggestion that 65-year-old, weighty (216-lb.) Alexander Fell Whitney might become the overall head of U. S. Labor. White-topped, lively Mr. Whitney runs his rich Brotherhood with iron hand, vehemently opposes A. F. of L.'s proposed Wagner Act amendments, has no great love for David Robertson whom John Lewis also suggested for the biggest job U. S. Labor could offer. For fun Trainman Whitney keeps deer, rabbits, pigeons, a raccoon, lovebirds, canaries and pheasants, reads Tennyson, deluges the press with polished expositions of his views. Last week in Cleveland he agreed with C. I. 0. that jurisdictional rows should be settled after reunion, said he might "go along" with John Lewis' Congress. For this there was some reason. Long jealous of their independence, many railway brothers now look with favor on unity. Reason: they need help in opposing railroad consolidations at the cost of railroad jobs.

Soon Woll & Co.--who would hardly welcome Mr. Whitney as a boss--had to reverse themselves and consider the Lewis proposal seriously. Franklin Roosevelt startled them with the news that Teamster Dan Tobin had agreed to rejoin their committee. Having first refused to serve as an A. F. of L. negotiator because he thought William Green's terms precluded peace (TIME, March 13), Dan Tobin returned 'to the committee in effect as a representative of Franklin Roosevelt, giving C. I. 0. a friend on A. F. of L.'s side of the table.

A change of tone was immediately apparent. A. F. of L.'s Woll, Bates & Rickert consented to debate John Lewis' idea along with "any other suggestions." Because Miners Lewis and Murray had to attend U. M. W.'s annual contract negotiations, the peace talks were shifted to Manhattan's Biltmore Hotel. While reporters pitched pennies at a line in the corridor (chief winner: A. F. of L.'s Press Agent Phil Pearl) the negotiators in Room 105 wrangled for five hours., consumed $11.90 worth of sandwiches, coffee and milk. The results were inconclusive but the conferences went on. Said William Green in Washington: "... I solemnly declare we will never liquidate the American Federation of Labor for anybody."

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