Evening star., 1947-09-14
The Law and the Lewises

Although only lew Gays ago PreSldent
William Green indicated that it would
comply, the 15-man Executive Council of
the American Federation of Labor has now
decided not to file the Communist
af1davits required of each of its members
under the Taft-Kartley Act.
The council has done this because John
L. Lewis-who is anything but Com
munist and whose United Mine Workers
specifically ban Communist leaders-has
so insisted, in a typically abovethe-law
mood as a matter of principle" What
the action means is that more than 10000
AFL-aff1liated local unions, with mem
bership of about 100000, will be disqual-
Temporarily at least-from protect
ing their interests through the National
Labor Relations Board in collective bar
gaining elections and in cases involving
charges of unfair employer practices.
This sweeping disqualification is in ac-
cord with the recent ruling by Robert N.
Denham, the NLRB's general counsel, that
no local union can avail itself of the boards
services unless all the officers of that union
and all the officers of it's parent body
such as the AFL-have filed with the board
affidavitS that they are not Communists
or believers in the overthrow of the
Government by force or unconstitutional
means. Thus, even if Mr.. Lewis were the
lone holdout on the AFL Executive Coun-
Gil, every one of the affiliated organiza-
tions would still be disqualified.
What the current situation therefore
boils down to is this: With the AFL coun-
Gil refusing to comply, and with the CIO
leadership apparently bent on the same
course, the huge body of organized Amer
lean labor-except for independents like
the complying machinists-are cut off from
any recourse to the NLRB because hand
full of bosses like Mr.. Lewis resent the law
and choose to defy it. This situation OBJ
tains, moreover, despite the fact that an
estimated IS per cent of the AFL afflliates
(no comparable CIO estimates are avail
able) previously had decided to abide by
the anti-Communist provisions of the Taft
Hartley Act as interpreted by Mr.. Denham.
In some quarters that Interpretation has
been regarded as too drastic. Only last
week, however, a Federal district court in
Texas upheld it, and certainly the language
VI tAlC nv SCCuio W lcllu lull
support to it. For the law-which Con-
gress passed with the intent of pressing
labor to rid itself of subversive leaders
plainly states that no union can enjoy the
services of the NLRB unless the anti
Communist affidavits are on file "by each
officer of such labor organization and the
officers OF any national or international
labor organization of Uhich it is an affiliate
or constituent unit" Gtalics supphed)
1t may be, of course, that this provision
of the law Is still challengeable in the
courts on constitutional grounds. But the
Executive Council of the AFL, by knuckling
down to Mr.. Lewis, has in effect rejected
the idea of orderly legal tests and has
decided instead to f1irt with the danger of
forcing chaotic labor situation on Amer
ica-a danger that may grow acute If the
CIO makes up its mind, as expected, to
show the same kind of defiance.
This danger could be minimized quickly
enough if Mr.. Denham reinterpreted the
law in milder terms, or If the NLRB-
assuming it has the power to do so, which
is an open question-decided to overrule
him. But obviously, wholly apart from
running counter to the intent of Congress,
any such course would place the Govern
ment in the intolerable position of bowling
to the will of few defiant union bosses.