Evening star., 1939-07-12

Other Changes Made
Designed to CiberoIize
Its Procedure
By the Associated Press.
Announcing that 1t sought "a more
effective administration" of the
Wagner Act, the National Labor Re-
lations Board has revised some of
its rules Of procedure.
Chief interest Of both employer
and labor groups in the changes
ordered yesterday centered on a
regulation permitting employees to
petition for Wagner Act elections
where two or more unions claim the
exclusive right to speak for the
workers, but have not asked the
board to intervene.
Some employers complained at
congressional hearings that they
were caught frequently in the middle
OF union representation disputes.
The National Association Of Man.
ufacturers declined comment on the
new rule until attorneys have had
time to study it.
The board said the other changes
were designed to liberalize the pro-
cedure under which it administers
the act. The revisions will become
effective tomorrow.
Congress Studies Proposals.
For several months, Congress has
been studying series of amend
ments to the Wagner Act sponsored
by the American Federation of
Labor and business interests. Board
members have insisted that the law
should not be changed, contending
many Of the criticisms could be met
in the acts administration.
Yesterdays revisions followed an
nouncements made recently by board
representatives that the rules would
be changed to permit employers to
petition for elections.
while the framework of the
board procedure remains essentially
the same" the board said, "the new
series contains several important
changes designed either to embody
IN the rules what has already be-
come board practice, or, in other in
stances, to liberalize the rues of the
interest OF a more effective admin
istration of the act"
The procedure permitting en-
ployers to petition for elections con-
tanned what board officials described
as safeguards to prevent abuse of
the rules or the piling up of admin
istrative problems.
These provide that the board
shall not investigate labor repre-
sentation disputes described in en-
ployer petitions unless it appears
to the board that two or more labor
organizations have presented to the
employer conflicting claims that
each represents a majority of the
employees in the bargaining unit or
units claimed to be appropriate"
An employer seeking to get his
case before the board must state
his name, nature of his business,
number Of employees, names Of the
contesting unions and a brief dec
laration that the dispute is a con-
troversy affecting commerce.
On June 80, the General Motors
Corp. filed an employer petition,
the first Of its kind, seeking a clari-
fication of the A. F. L.-C. I. o. split
in the United Auto Workers Union.
Although the petition was filed
prior to the effective date of the
new rules, the board declined to
receive it.
Revised Regulations.
The revised regulations also pro-
vide that:
A minimum period of 10 days, in
stead of five, shall intervene between
issuance Of complaint and a hear
ing.
When union is named in a COM
plant as a company dominated
union" it shall be notified and given
an opportunity to be heard.
Other labor unions which are par
ties to a contract allegedly made in
violation of the act must be made
parties to any proceedings affecting
the contract.
Other changes in the rules in
clude:
Objections to the conduct of board
elections shall be investigated and
made part of the record.
Filing of written statements at the
conclusion of hearings shall be made
a matter of right instead of being
left to the discretion of trial exam
iners.
Power Of regional directors to ap-
point trial examiners for hearings
is withdrawn and vested in the
board and chief trial examiner.
: Meanwhile, Labor Committees of
the Senate and House. heard testi-
mony opposing changes in the Wag-
ner Act.
The Rev. William B. Spofford,
Middletown, NJ j., told both COM
mlttees that employers were trying
to destroy the effectiveness of the
law. He became engaged in a run
ming dispute with Senator Holt.
Democrat, of West Virginia, when
he informed the Senate committee
that he represented the Church
League for Industrial Democracy,
an Episcopal organization which in
cludes "a bishops.
When Senator Holt questioned