Evening star., 1947-03-02
Labor Leaders Offer
No Concrete Reforms

no N0nCrete keTOfmS
Capitol Gets Little Cooperation
in Shapps Legislation
By Gerard D. Reilly
Efforts Of the Senate and House Labor
Committees to induce the oficial
spokesmen Of organized labor to describe
the legislative changes needed to cure
the situation which confronts the
country have provided an irrelevant
but interesting bit Of by-play at the
current hearings. It Is sometimes
difncult to know whether the commit-
tee members most active In these efforts
are naive or sardonic.
Stated In its simplest terms, the
relief stems from the fact that hand
full of union leaders have acquired too
much power. As some of them have
demonstrated, this power can be used
to the detriment of our economy and
the real interests of the millions of
workers whose means Of livelihood they
dominate. But even the most fatuous
OF their admirers would hardly expect
them to recognize this situation as one
requiring correction. Still less would
they be expected to suggest to Congress
the most effective method OF cutting
fN ,9v.f stots i
restore the balance Of forces needed for
a healthy economy.
Nevertheless, persistent prodding
from the committees has elected a
minor concession or two. william
Green, for example. told the House
committee that the AFL would have
no objection to freedom OF speech for
employers or registration of labor
unions. Philip Murray was on the
point of admitting that unions, like
employers, were occasionally guilty Of
unfair labor practices OF which the
law might take some cognizance until
reminded by Senator Taft that the
analysis" Of the bills submitted by his
counsel Lee Pressman, had denounced
all such proposals. At that point Mr..
Murray, confirming the widely held
impression that his counsel is the really
dominant figure in the CIO machine
hastily explained that he agreed fully
with the statement submitted in his
behalf.
There was one aspect of Mr.. Murray's
testimony, however, which was prob
ably more than fieeting gesture to the
atmosphere of the moment This was
his denunciation of jurisdictional dis
putes. Although his comment on this
subject was not contained in his pre-
pared statement, he was not only
voluble on the point but also asked
the committee to urge Mr.. Green to
sit down with him and work out a plan.
While this suggestion accorded with
the strict punctilio Of union witnesses
against indorsing anything in the Ball
Taft-Smith bill, his plain implication
was that if Mr.. Green should fail to
snatch at this proposal-which Mr..
Murray anticipated Congress had no
other recourse in dealing with jurisdic-
tional disputes except legislation.
In terms of its rivalry with AFT.
unions, such development would be
one in which the CIO would stand
to gain much more than it would lose
So far as jurisdictional disputes in the
limited meaning of the term is con-
cerned, the CIO has had compare
lively few within its own framework.
1t is true that some of the charters
given to its big industrial unions have
been so loosely drawn that 1t is not
easy to say whether the operations in
particular plant properly fall within
the jurisdiction of the Auto Workers
Union, the United Electrical Workers
Union or the Steel Workers Union. In
such situations, however, the dispute
has generally been solved by National
Labor Relations Board election. Usually
the losing union has abided by the re-
suits of the poll.
With respect to the AFL, however
the very attempt to define the juris-
diction of the various crafts in precise
charters has produced continued rivalry,
particularly since in field like the con-
struction industry, where closed-shop
contracts prevail, the actual employment
OF many workers depends upon their
union being awarded jurisdiction. Be-
cause OF this delicate situation, the
AFL Council for some years was
successful in persuading the Labor
Board not to hold elections in such
cases. This situation, however-while
occasionally source OF embarrassment
tended to increase the prestige of the
council since its arbitration machinery
rather than the Government was the
sole means of resolving such conflicts.
Moreover, with respect to interunion
warfare between organizations of op-
posite affiliation, the defect in our
present laws which permits a losing
union to defy certification of the
National Labor Relations Board has
been more beneficial to the AFL than
the CIO.
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