Evening star., 1947-12-05
| New Labor Curbs Seen
As AFL Begins Farley
To Form Political Unit

llQlCaIlCIlS O1 luI tilCi iC5ioaoeArS
curbs on labor came from Con-
gress today as top officers of AFL
unions opened a. two-day session
to establish political organization
aimed at defeating the members OF
Congress who supported the Taft
Hartley Act.
Chairman Hartley of the House
Labor Committee, coauthor OF the
new labor relations law, declared
there is a public clamor" for addi-
tional restrictions on unions "and
it is the duty OF Congress to do
something about it."
He said his committee will begin
hearings early next month on ways
to curb industry wide strikes and
prevent so-called make work
practices.
Contributions May Be Urged.
It was understood that the AFL's
Executive Council will propose to-
the presidents and other officers OF
the various affiliated unions gath
cred here that they call on each OF
the federation's 100000 members
to contribute at least dollar to the
support Of "Labor's Educational and
Political League" which will lead
the fight in the 194s election cam
paigns.
The l5-man council met yesterday
in advance of the larger session OF
union officers. The AFL has los ma
tional unions, and their officers will
decide who will head the political
league as we'll as how it will be
financed.
Political funds raised voluntarily
will be kept separate from regular
AFL finances so as not to conflict
with the provision of the Taft
Hartley Act which prohibits unions
from dipping into their resources for
political purposes.
Green Doubts Taft's Strength.
AFL President William Green,
who refused to divulge the councils
recommendation for financing its
political efforts, told reporters he
believed that should Senator Taft,
co-author of the labor law, receive
the Republican presidential nomi-
nation "he could not carry even his
own State of Ohio" Mr.. Green also
said he believed Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower's hat is definitely in the
ring for the presidency, but he re-
fused to indorse him.
Representing Hartley, whose own
labor bill was greatly modified dur
ing the writing Of the compromise
Hartley Act last June, said he
still intended to halt industry-wide
strikes, such as walkout OF coal
miners, by declaring unions sub
ject to the antitrust laws.
In addition to public clamor," the
chairman said, some of the union
abuses to be outlined in forth
coming committee report make it
imperative that Congess act"
Will Deal With Petrillo Probe.
The report will deal with sub
committee investigation of James c.
Petrillos American Federation of
Musicians (AFL).
On the issue of make work
practices, Mr.. Hartley recalled that
Representative Gwinn, Republican,
of New York chairman of sub
committee investigating the building
trades, has reported that feather
bedding" or a reduction IN the daily
work output Of individual union en-
ployes, has been big factor in home
costs.
| Meanwhile. the Labor Department
reported that 7,407 national and 10
cal unions have filed financial and
organizational statements required
under the Taft-Hartley Act.
Failure to submit such informa-
ton, along with affidavits of union
officers that they are not Commu-
fnists, bars a union from using Ma
tional Labor Relation Board facili-
tiles. The non Communist afhdav1ts
must be filed with the NLRB.
The Labor Department, which re-
ceives the financial and other data
said 68 Of 105 AFL international
unions and 5,798 AFL locals have
filed the data.
Twelve of Al CIO international
unions and 321 CIO locals have
registered, the department said.
A total of AS independent unions
and 1853 locals affiliated with indie
pendent unions have submitted the
data