Evening star., 1947-05-28
lConierees Expected
10 Reach Final Accord
I)n Labor Bill Today
By ii. A.soeioi.d Press

Senate and House conferees
drafting compromise labor legis-
lation designed TO curb strikes
and many union practices head
ed into the home stretch today.
Senator Taft, Republican. Of Ohio.
told reporters that substantial diff
ferences between the separate House
and Senate bills still had to be
ironed out, but he expressed conf
dence that final agreement could
be reached by nightfall.
Senator Taft, chief of the Senate
,conferees, announced after a long
meeting of the committee yester-
day afternoon that the 10 members
voted unanimously to hold no more
news conferences until the final
version is completed. And each
conferee agreed to make no separate
statement.
Seeks to Avoid Confusion.
The ohioan said the purpose Of
the gag rule is to avoid confusion"
Other conferees said privately that
some members of the committee had
protested that certain of their coll
leagues were talking too much" in
advance of finalsdecisions.
In announcing the ban on official
statements, Senator Taft reported
that the conferees had made Sub
stantial progress" and were half
way through a tentative final draft.
One committee member said the
progress included settlement of sew
eral major issues. Asked whether
these included the three on which
Representative Hartley, Republican,
Iof New Jersey said yesterday the
House would yield to the Senate,
the conferee said some OF those diff
ferences now are reeonciled."
Mr.. Hartley said the House group
had agreed informally to abandon
provisions in their bill which would
outlaw nearly all industry wide bar
gaining, authorize private employers
to obtain injunctions against some
strikes and boycotts, and prohibit
mass picketing and violence in pick
citing.
One Issue Unsettled.
One issue understood to be still
unsettled is whether food professors
should be excluded from coverage
by the Wagner Collective Bargain
ing Act. The House bill does ex-
clude them. The Senate cenferees
have refused to go along.
Senator Aiken. Republican, of
Vermont, member of the Senate
Labor Committee but not con-
feree, contended that inclusion of
this provision in the final draft
could wreck chances for overriding
a possible presidential veto.
Patrick McDonough, Oakland
(Calif.) steel plant owner said in a
broadcast last night he doubts that
the Taft Hartley bill can do any
one any good except the minority
Of stubborn and diehard employers
who refuse to deal with unions
come Hitler or higher water"
| AFL Sponsors Broadcast.
"And I can testify from exper-
fence that this group contains most
| Of the rugged individualists who 60
in for cut-throat competition by
chiseling on wages" he said In a
broadcast sponsored by the Amer
ican Federation of Labor.
| Mr.. McDonough asserted that he
was denied an opportunity to testify
against the proposed legislation at
congressional public hearings.
| Il offered to go to Washington
lat my own expense to prove to the
Senate and House committees that
the National Association Of Manu-
facturers. which is plugging for
antilabor legislation, does not speak
for all American employers. The
committee said they had no time
! to hear me-"