Ford Between Unions

Henry Ford had good reason to feel, last week, like a man who has not only turned the other cheek and been smacked on it, but has then been kicked in the pants.

Four months ago, Mr. Ford, who had sworn he would never negotiate with C.I.O., changed his mind, decided to give the union all it asked for and more. He named C.I.O. the collective bargaining agent for all Ford workers in the U.S.; granted a union shop; agreed to check off union dues from payrolls. C.I.O. was surprised and jubilant.

But Mr. Ford found that he had agreed with his adversary too quickly. A.F. of L. complained that he had had no right to make a union-shop contract for all his plants, since NLRB elections had been held only at River Rouge and Lincoln. The Labor Board thereupon ordered elections to be held at 14 small-parts plants in Michigan. A.F. of L., which claimed some members in the 14 plants, demanded that Ford meanwhile stop the check off, refund dues already collected.

There was little likelihood that the small plants, employing not more than 3,000 workers, would dare to vote against C.I.O. The huge C.I.O., with jurisdiction over 85,000 workers at River Rouge and 3,000 at Lincoln, could and doubtless would boycott parts made in the 14 "feeder" plants. But there were some 29,000 other Ford employes in other parts of the U.S. If, after the election, A.F. of L. felt it had strength enough, it would probably demand elections in those outlying plants. Ford might face a labor squabble after all --one of the very things he thought he was avoiding when he gave C.I.O. a union shop.

Motorman Ford, who is already looking beyond the horizons of World War II, remarked philosophically: "It just takes time to straighten these things out." What he said to himself was nobody's business.

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