Evening star., 1946-05-09
Builders Urge
Open Hearing in
|Featherbeddinq
Action Follows AFL
| Move to Revoke
| Council Charter
Rv Rnhavt l. aw;e
By Robert J. Lewis

DlStrlct INDUSTRY groups nave re.
quested that the AFL Building and
Construction Trades Department
hold an open, public hearing" in
stead Of q closed session on the
move to revoke the charter of the
Washington Building and Construc-
ton Trades Council, an organization
Of ~ local building trades unions.
it was learned today.
The hearing Is scheduled at 10
am. Monday at AFL headquarters,
Ninth street and Massachusetts, ave-
nue. NV, and will be closed pend
ing further action.
The national AFL department
says the revocation move is due to
participation of members of the
local building trades council in
operation Of labor industry COM
mittee known as the Joint Local
Jurisdictional Board. The board was
set up here 10 months ago to settle
jurisdictional disputes among. local
building trades.
"Featherbedding" Is Opposed.
However, local union and industry
members say the effort to revoke the
charter arose after the local building
council continued to oppose a "feath-
erbedding" decision issued by the
AFL department.
The decision, union and industry
spokesman said, meant that em-
ployers would have to employ an ex-
ira man in welding operations whose
only duty would be to start and stop
gasoline engine in the morning
and night.
The jurisdictional board decided
that instead of having to employ an
extra man, the men actually doing
the welding should be entitled to
operate the engine-generator sup
plying electricity for welding.
Decision Overruled by AFL.
This decision of the board to pre-
vent employment of an extra man
on welding job at Andrews Field
last November was later oyerruled
by the AFL building trades depart
ment.
L. B. Gruman, jr., executive secre-
tary of the District Heating, Piping
and Air Conditioning Contractors
Association, in letter May 2 asked
the AFL department to hold an open
hearing in the case and thus per-
nit representatives of the various
organizations interested in building
construction to appear and present
their views" He said today he had
received no answer.
Mr.. Gruman was joined in his re-
quest for permission to appear before
the hearing by the Washington
Master Builders Association, local
chapter of the Associated General
Contractors of America, it was
learned from Randall C. Wyant,
secretary of the builders group.
| Newsmen Fail to See Secretary.
Also supporting the right of the
local building trades council to
continue to participate in the Joint
Local Jurisdictional Board is the
Washington Building Congress. This
organization informed the national
AFL of its position in letter May
/, it was learned. This letter, like
wise, has received no answer, it was
said.
| Efforts by newspapermen to reach
Herbert Rivers, secretary of the AFL
Building and Construction Trades
Department, have been unsuccess-
full. A spokesman in Mr.. Rivers
Office said the department secretary
had no comment to make in ad-
vance of the closed hearing.
Members of the local building
trades council and employer groups
explain the local jurisdictional
board has prevented many jurisdic-
tional strikes, and should be, in
their opinion, sanctioned by the AFL
department.
1T is well-known fact that
prior to the inception Of this
board" said Mr.. Gruman in his
letter to the department, your
council was weeks and sometimes
months settling jurisdictional dis
putes, with the result that there
were long stoppages of work in a
great many instances.
I'VE feel that a local board, as
now constituted, is in a much better
position to obtain the facts and
quickly settle. without stoppage Of
work, jurisdictional disputes that
are arising from time to time, due
to the progress being made in the
development of new materials en-
tering into building construction g"