Evening star., 1947-05-16

dividuals can tie UP big plant by
-alling q sudden work stoppage IN q
key division or department and the
leaders are powerless to do much
about 1t. Under the proposed law,
individuals participating in wild
cat" strike can be fired and there
is no penalty against the employer
for so doing.
The proposed statute merely says.
that anyone who engages in q strike
prior to the expiration Of a contract
or prior to the expiration Of 60
day notice period could lose his
status as an employe and he can
regain 1t II and when the employer
chooses to re-employ him.
This means that "back pay"
sometimes granted when an unfair
labor practice" is found by the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board to
have occurred before strike. would
not be given to participants in
wildcat" strikes. It means also
that no union can call q strike
without giving go days notice II
there is no fixed period for ter
minating contract. This is not a
new provision but is similar to a
provision in the Labor Disputes Act
which expires on June 80.
60-Day Contract Notice.
Labor unions will not be. per-
mitted, under the new bill, to ter
inmate contracts before expiration
or before giving the so days notice
that they will consider given con-
tract to be terminated. An en-
ployer, too, would not be able to
terminate a contract suddenly but
must give so days notice and can
be sued, as can union, If an exist
ing contract is violated.
Thus both employer and unions
are made responsible to the public
for the exercise Of their economic
power. The right Of an individual
to quit work remains sacred and
untouched-in fact, the proposed
law says that nothing in the statute
shall affect the right of the in
dividual to quit at any time. But
any concerted action to persuade
or induce or coerce others to quit
without giving the go days notice
can lead to penalties.
Such provision cannot fail to aid
the unions, especially the large ones,
and reduce considerably the posi-
BILE chances of a suit. For, if indi-
viduals are disciplined for starting
wildcat strikes, it isn't likely that
suits would be filed for damages
against a union where the remedy
to dismiss has been available.
Another important provision In
the Senate bill is. one safeguarding
the right Of the individual to talk
freely to his employer about his own
individual grievances or problems.
Up to now it has been argued, under
National Labor Relations Board de-
cisions, that when a majority chose
q bargaining agent In given unit
of workers, the individual in the
minority was bound by what the
union committee did or said in his
behalf and that he could not speak
for himself.
Clears Up Vague Point
This has been vague point and a
subject of misunderstanding growing
out of language used in the April,
1887, opinion Of the Supreme Court
Of the United States when it origi-
nally upheld the Wagner Labor Re-
lations law. The Court said the ma
jority must speak for the minority,
too, but that an individual had the
right to present grievances"
Now the proposed bill says what
the Wagner Act failed to make clear
namely, that the union, when
chosen as the bargaining agent, be-
comes the exclusive agent of all the
employees on wages, hours Of en-
ployment or other working condi-
tions but that an individual can
present his case and make a settle
ment with the employer on "griev-
ances." The only condition is that
this settlement of grievance"
cannot be inconsistent with the terms
of the collective bargaining contract
already in effect.
1b 10 ctlpuldtSd AL tilC CCIAdtC baA1,
however, that the union must be
given an opportunity to have rep
resentative Of the union present as an
observer but not necessarily as a
participant in the conference be-
tween the individual and the en-
pioyer.
The value of the provision will
be greater in some types of busi-
ness than in others but 1t tends in
the direction of greater freedom for
the individual and In some instances
could mean negotiating for pay
higher than the minimum estab-
lished in collective bargaining con-
tract
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