The Pittsburgh Press (June 3, 1943)
Editorial: Do we have power to win this war?
Must this nation lose the war because our government lacks power to do the things necessary to win it?
Must American soldiers, sailors and fliers die in vain because they were betrayed at home?
It’s time to ask these questions; because the strikes that developed this week have passed the limit of ordinary labor disputes.
They are strikes against the government, aimed at destroying policies which the government holds to be essential to the war effort.
John L. Lewis called out a half-million coalminers because he wants to break up the War Labor Board and force wage increases which the government holds would start disastrous inflation. He has placed his will and his lust for power above national welfare.
The various truck strikes are also against the government. They are aimed at forcing the Office of Defense Transportation to abandon delivery instructions intended to conserve gasoline so there will be enough for the Armed Forces. Because of them American people are being denied milk and other necessities, in the hope that hunger and suffering will make the government modify its policies.
During May – when our forces were winning a glorious but bloody victory in Tunisia and were battling savage Japanese in the snows and fog of Attu – there were more strikes than in any month since Pearl Harbor. They involved the production of such military essentials as tanks and rubber.
We keep hearing about “labor’s no strike pledge.” But almost daily that pledge is broken with impunity. And a government which thinks it is strong enough to