Evening star., 1939-04-26

people say Con-
gress had a David Lawrence.
constitutional right to delegate such
discretionary power to anybody?
Yet at the current hearings be-
fore the Senate Committee on Labor
1t appears that the National Labor
Relations Board has received from
Congress power to postpone an elec-
ton among employees whenever in
the Judgment of the board it thinks
the atmosphere of the community in
which the election is to be held is
not to the liking of the board.
Out in Westwood, Calf, the
employees of lumber company are
concededly in favor of the A. F. of
l.. and representatives of the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board ad-
NIT it as likely to be the outcome
OF the election, but they decline to
hold the election. The law says the
labor board may" order an elec-
ton. 1t does not use the word
SHALL" and Congress is now being
asked to amend a law which it wrote
carelessly, a law which gives the
board the widest latitude and which
1t IS interpreting according to its
Judgment and not by any legislative
standards laid down by Congress.
The facts are recited by Charles
j. Janigian, legal adviser to the
California State Federation of
Labor, who says in formal COM
munication concerning the delay of
several months with respect to the
holding of an election among the
employees:
Toward the end of January of
this year, when I again appealed to
one of the attorneys for the board
that he do something to speed up
the election, was astounded TO hear
him say that I might as well know
the truth and that there would be
no election until the company had
fulfilled its promise. of building the
c. I. o. an Office and for sufficient
time to elapse to permit the c. I.
o. to become established in West
wood. 1t was plain to see from this
statement of the board attorney,
and the dilatory tactics of the board,
that they had no intention of hold
ing an election"
Feeling Against C. I. O.
Chairman Madden, in comment
ing on this situation before the
Senate committee, spoke of the feel
ing in the community of WestWood
against the C. I. o. and he declared
the board took this into considera-
ton in postponing the election. Here
Is an extract from the committee
hearing:
Senator Holt of West Virginia:
You made statement that you
sometimes hold elections of until
the community cooled of.
Chairman Madden: Yes.
Senator Holt: Are all Of those
cooling off processes a question Of
community pressure against a par
ticular union or not?
Chairman Madden: Nearly al
ways they are.
Senator Holt: Have you any in
stance where you have withheld
election until the community cooled
off-and on a campaign of organiz-
ing?
'Mr. Madden: No, not al all. - .
Senator Holt: In order that I
might have the facts clear, can you
recall any particular elections that
were withheld until the community
cooled of?
"Mr. Madden: Yes, there is one
which is just now being withheld
for the purpose, the case of the Red
River Lumber Co. in Westwood,
Calf.
Senator Holt: Because the COM
munity has an anti-union attitude,
Is that correct? -"
''Mr. Madden: I only know what
reports we get from our agents out
there about recent events, but my
understanding from the reports is
that the company's conduct in recent
months has been proper, but the
community and the one faction Of
labor have not made it possible yet
to hold what we regard as fair
election"
Broad Delegation of Power.
Other testimony showed that the
OAAC 4dStAOAA OA AobOA 10 VIC "A. + .
of L. and that the community and
the dominant labor group-the one
which has a substantial majority
of the employes-are opposed to the
c. I. O., but the labor board con-
siders itself well within the rights
given 1t by Congress when it post
pones the election until such time
as in the judgment of the board
there can be fair election"
Labor leaders have often compared
collective bargaining and economic
democracy to political democracy
and congressional or presidential
elections, but it is apparent that a
governmental board created by act
of Congress has the power to deny
an expression of the will of the ma
pority, and has the authority to
permit indefinite electioneering
until such time as the governmental
board thinks conditions or member
ship or public sentiment equalizes
the relative disadvantages of one
side or the other as the case may be.
When Congress delegates power
so broadly, the board, like any other