Evening star., 1939-09-30
A. FL. Faces Action
On Printers and
Brewery Workers
Problems vitoIIy Affect
Federution's Power
Over Two Athletes
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
CINCINNATI, Sept. 30.--A. r. l..
union leaders, finished with the crea-
tion of new judicial machinery to
settle rivalries among building trades,
faced set Of constitutional problems
today vitally affecting the Fedora
tons power over two of its Oldest
affiliates.
One involved the status Of the M
ternational Typographical Union,
which faces suspension for non-
payment of a special assessment
levied in 1887 to finance an expanded
organization campaign to offset the
upsurge of the C. I. o.
The other affects the Brewery
Workers Union, which has instituted
Federal Court injunction action in
Washington. D. c., to restrain the
A. F. L. officers from enforcing a
convention decision giving to the
teamsters' union the beer truck
drivers organized by the B. w. U.
Union officers here for the A. F. L.
Convention, opening next week. FORE
cast some convention consideration
of the situation created by the brew
cry workers court suit, but were un-
certain what action the Federation
leadership might recommend.
Possibility Of Suspension.
Some quarters discussed the posi-
bility an effort might be made to
suspend or revoke the unions affilia-
ton for resorting to litigation to try
to overthrow a convention decision.
The I. T. U. is some $4,000 in
arrears on the special assessment
and advance reports indicate its
delegates will be denied convention
seats next week and the organiza.
tion-one of the A. F. L. founders
will be suspended.
High officers of the typesetters'
union said the organization turned
down the assessment by referendum
and has refused to change its stand
on the grounds the A. F. L., even in
convention. has no constitutional
authority to impose such a levy.
Like the I. T. u. the brewery
workers also have challenged the
basic authority of the Federation to
enforce any convention mandate
which alters the organizing jurisdic-
ton they claim has been theirs for
years.
The A. F. L. already has taken an
intermediate step leading toward
suspension of the I. T. U. The Or
ganization's last per capita tax check
was returned in accordance with
executive council orders.
Strange Twist to Case.
A strange twist to the case. how
ever. was disclosed yesterday when
I. T. U. delegates to the A. F. L.
Union Label Trades Department
Convention we're seated without
question. The I. T. U. also pays a
per capita tax to the label trades.
and typographical leaders said it
had not been returned.
Suspension of the union, it was
said. also raises a question as to
whether I. T. U. representatives will
be permitted to sit in State and
local labor bodies affiliated with the
A. F. L. and over which the Fedora
ton claims to exercise direct control.
AS a step toward eliminating as
far as possible the long trouble
some problem of jurisdictional strike
stoppages in the construction in
dustry, the building trades conven-
tion yesterday approved plan for
outlawing such strikes pending in
tervention of an impartial referee
to decide the dispute. .
Refinements written into the plan
after several days of conference
provided for speeding up the judicial
processes. To broaden the appli-
cation of jurisdictional rulings, the
building trades department presi-
dent was authorized to refer de-
cisions made by him only on a par
ticular job to referee for the
purpose of obtaining decision that
would be effective on all future WORK
on the particular item on which the
decision was rendered"