Evening star., 1937-04-23

SlllSollS u dI1VSu ally IISllS ny lllc
law, the National Labor Relations
Board being supposedly an impartial
tribunal and anxious to carry out the
purposes of the law, namely to d.
minish the causes of labor disputes,
has ample power 70 investigate all
kinds Of labor troubles. 1t has power
also to take action with reference to
the calling OF an election 80 as to
determine the true representatives for
collective bargaining
An employer who wishes to comply
with the law may well ask who are the
true representatives" of his workmen.
The Supreme Court decision recently
made it clear that an employer must
be sure he is dealing with true repre-
sentatives" and not with those who
"purport" to represent his workmen.
How else can the employer find out
than by asking the National Labor
Relations Board to discover the truth
and to certify by an election or other
wise just who are the authorized rep
resentatives of majority Of his work.
men?
Power to Protect Minorities.
Has the board any authority to pro-
ceed against workmen who coerce or
intimidate their fellow employees?
This Is not specifically defined in the
statute, but there are some reasons
for believing that the board does have
power to protect minority OF work.
men against abuses and also that 1t
has power to protect any group Of
workmen rom being intimidated or
coerced by other workmen.
The grounds for such statement
are to be found in careful reading OF
the Wagner law. Thus section 10 says:
The board is empowered, as here
matter provided, to prevent any person
from engaging in any unfair labor
practice (isted In section 81 affecting
commerce"
II the Congress had intended this
section to read that the board Is
empowered to prevent "any employer"
from engaging In any unfair labor
practice, it could easily have done
so. But the word person" is used.
And the word person" is defined
earlier In the statute as lone or more
individuals. partnerships, associations,
corporations, legal representatives,
etc"
Thus any union organizer Is q
"person" within the meaning Of the
above and 50 Is any association Of
workmen.
Why didn't Congress specifically say
that only employers could be pre-
vented from engaging in unfair labor
practices? The answer may be found
in the declaration of policy in the
beginning Of the Wagner law, which
says:
1T is hereby declared to be the
policy Of the United States to elimi-
nate the causes Of certain substantial
distractions to the free flow of COM
merce and to mitigate and eliminate
these distractions when they have
occurred by encouraging the practice
and procedure Of collective bargain
Ing and by protecting the exercise by
workers of full freedom of association,
self-organization, and designation of
representatives of their own choosing,
for the purpose of negotiating the
terms and conditions of their en-
ployment or other mutual aid or pro-
lection"
Bound 10 Protect Workers.
1t will be noted that the policy"
OF the act is, among other things, to
eliminate causes of labor disputes "by
protecting the exercise by workers Of
full freedom of association" This
means clearly that the board can pro-
tect any Horkmen and is, in fact, in
duty bound to protect them in their
FULL freedom Of association"
Now 1t Is known that disputes do
occur between rival labor organiza- :
tions. Today the c. I. O. and the
A. F. OF L. are engaged in struggle
for power. Employers have nothing
10 do with that dispute, which relates
TO whether labor shall be organized
by industries as John Lewis wants It
or by crafts as William Green wants
1t.
Congress, however, provided for the
protection Of the workers against any
unfair labor practices growing out Of
such disputes. The law says In Sec
ton 9:
The board shall decide in each
case whether, in order to insure tc
employees the full benefit Of their
right to self-organization and to COL
lective bargaining and otherwise tt
e1ectuate the policies of this act, the
unit appropriate for the purposes o1
collective bargaining shall be the en-.
ployer unit, craft unit, plant unit, OF
subdivision thereof"
How else could the board "effectu.
ate the policies of this act" unless Il
had the power to enjoin any person.
who declined to obey Its decision a.
to whether the unit appropriate TO-
the purposes Of collective bargaining
Is an A. F. Of L. or G. I. O. unit
Couched in Broad Terms.
This is the reason, presumably, VIII,
section 10. which follows the section
about deciding the appropriate unit
is couched in broad language ant
gives the board the power ito preven
any person from engaging in any un
fair labor practice Qisted in section
3D."
1t has been contended by spokes
men for labor that the languag
listed in section 8" implies that onl
employers are meant because sectiol
does start out with the words II
shall be an unfair labor practice 70
an employer, etc" But. then, ther
Is series of numbered paragraph
giving the list Of unfair labor prac
tices. In constituting a statute. a lis
begins not with the language Of othe
sections preceding 1t, but with tn
numbers that are prefaced to eacl
paragraph. It Is only the '1istv q