Evening star., 1947-11-13
Southern Publishers
Seek Showdown With
ITU on New Labor Act

JCCN JilVVuVVu w I'LL
|TU on New Labor Act |
The Southern Newspaper Pub
fishers Association today headed for
a Federal Court showdown with the
Typographical Union
on the question of the closed shop
VS.. the Taft Hartley Labor Act.
In a complaint filed in Cincinnati
yesterday with the National Labor
Relations Board, the association,
go per cent of the daily
in Is Southern States,
brought five charges of unfair labor
practices against the ITU and 112I
subordinate locals and asked for in
junctive relief.
Under NLRB procedure, the board
will consider the complaint and if
it sees fit, seek an injunction against
the union in a Federal Court.
The charges were filed by the
Washington law firm of Thurman
Arnold, Abe Fortas and Paul A.
Porter, all former Government Off
cials.
UniIateral Conditions Cited.
The petition charged that since
the passage of the ft-Hartley law
the ITU and it's locals have been
attempting to enforce the closed
shop, outlawed by the new law, by
offering unilateral conditions of en-
ployment rather than written con-
tracts.
Despite this, so far as is known,
mot a single nonunion printer has
yet been employed in any newspaper
composing room" of an association
publisher who had closed shop be-.
fore passage of the Taft-Hartley
law, the petition said.
The complainants said that the
ITU was able to enforce closed shops
because under it's laws, foremen are
union members and only they are
permitted to hire and fire printers.
"Since August %, 1947, the ITU
and its local unions have continued
to enforce closed shop requirements
by refusing to consider any but a
closed shop basis. of employment and
by repeated threats of immediate
strikes against any who defy them,
the complainants added.
Charge Sham Contract Policy"
A shortage in printers almost in
variably means publication must
stop during strike with the result
that the newspaper loses circulation
which never can be regained and
loss in advertising revenues, it was
said.
Under the heading of THE Sham
Contract Policy" the petition &C
cused the ITU of refusal to bargain.
Following issuance of complaint by
the NLRB against the ITU and its
Baltimore local last month, the ITU
Executive Council announced a
change in strategy" from the uni
lateral conditions of employment"
demands, the petition said.
This change was designed to
carry out the same purpose, ie., to
require the operation of composing
rooms in conformity with union laws
and in violation of the requirements
of the Labor Management Relations
Act.
THE strategy consisted in going
through the form of offering pur-
ported proposal of bilateral con-
tract to the publisher, so that the
charge of refusal to bargain would
be more difficult to prove. The pur-
ported contract in fact contained
terms virtually identical with the So
called condition of employment first
formulated under the no contract
PLAN"
Accused of BoycOtts.
The complaint also accused the
union of encouraging jurisdictional
strikes and secondary boycotts to
compel publishers to assign work
to ITU printers rather than to give
it to employees of another union Or
ganization or to those in another
trade or craft.
Another clause charged the 1TU
with restraining and coercing sub
ordinate unions from exercising
their rights to bargain collectively.
The final charge accused the union
of exaction of payment "for bogus
work not done for the benefit of the
employer"
The work (featherbedding) con-
sists of setting up written material
in type, proof reading it, correcting
it and finally throwing it away. 1t
is performed for the purpose of ex-
acting payment for work that is not
a service but a detriment to the
composing room"
Temporary Relief Asked.
The complaint is similar to, but
stronger than one filed october by
the American Newspaper Publishers
Association against the unions no
contract" policy. That is still pend
ing with the NLRB, but an opinion
is expected next week.
In addition to the Federal injunc-
ton, the Southern publishers asked
for appropriate temporary relief"
They asked that the ITU and its
officers be restrained from threat
ening economic reprisals against
members of the SNPA" and from di-
recting or encouraging local unions
to engage in strikes and slowdowns.
They also requested that the ITU
be directed to inform local unions
that no strikes or slowdowns will be
sanctioned against the hiring of
nonunion foremen and printers.
Unless an injunction is obtained, y
the publishers said, many newspa-
pers, because they are so vulnerable
to strikes, may be forced to operate
under illegal closed shop conditions
and thus expose themselves to civil
and in some cases criminal pro-
ceedings for reasons beyond their