The Daily Alaska empire., 1938-05-24
THE LABOR BOARDS BROAD SCOPE

Due to the conflict in industry between labor and employer which has precpitated scores of shutdowns and r.uch inactivity there probably is single piece Of national legislation which has focused the public attention more than the National Labor Relations Act The proceedings and decisions of the Board have aroused the criticism of both employer and union Generally however its decisions and proce- ure have thus received the approval of the courts This perhaps due to the broad power which is given the Board in interpreting the labor act. As Dean Dinwoodey, Washington authority, points out the Labor Board is acting under statute which directs generally the of its activities and decisions, but the Wagner Act, however provides only framework upon which the board is building. The law leaves to the Board the task of applying it's general terms and provisions to specific situations"
 Commenting further, Mir Dnwoodey gives some of the for the Boards harassed position:
 That the role of the board by the Wagner act is an authoritative one has been made apparent to many employers by the boards rulings and the courts decisions sustaining them The board, for instance, determines the labor organization with which em ployer must bargain and the conduct of bargaining negotiations the workers whom must rehre because of discriminatory discharges and his liability to mburse even strikers for wages lost once they have applied for reinsta tement
 "The importance of the boards place in labor re- lations is evidenced also by it's decisions determin-
 
 lectve bargaining. It has ruled. for example that signing of agreements whose terms agreed upon is requisite of that process and that employer does not bargain collectively when in advance of ne- gotiations which he is willing to undertake with union and whether not the union is responsible organization he tells the union that he will not place his name to contract
 The Wagner act guarantees to workers the right of collective bargaining but does not define it. "As it has been applied by the labor board the term collective bargaining places upon an employer three principal duties CD To meet with the union representing majority of his employees at its quest (2) to endeavor in good faith to adjust diff ferences and reach understanding; and t3) to embody understandings reached in signed binding agreement for definite term
 Under the Wagner act. the employer need bar gain only with representative designated by peril in refusing to negotiate with union whose 1ority claim he suspects but cannot dsprove or in entering into agreements with any rival organization not known to represent the majority Often too. he may be held to violate the law in refusing to bargain with union whose majority representation at the time of its request to bargain is found to have been dssipated by the employers unfair labor practices
 "The employer must negotiate, the board has ruled with whatever agent agency majority of his employees have selected He may not refuse to bargain with union which engages in violent sit down strike tactics is he privileged to deny col lectye bargaining to representative merely because he views the representative irresponsible strike does not relieve employer of the statutory ob ligauon.. s s
 @It k not sufficient, according to the Labor Boards decisions merely to issue bulletins acknowedg ing acceptance of the demands of union or agree