Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-08-25
Too Few Teeth
In Labor Law,
Hartley Says
Committee Chairman
To Press for Stricter
Clauses Next Year ]:
By the Associoisd Press

Chairman Hartley of the House
Labor Committee said today the
Taft-Hartley Act docs not have
enough teeth in it to give the
public real protection against
Nation wide strikes" f,'
The coauthor of the new labor
measure said he will try to have
Congress remedy the situation next
year,
Mr.. Hartley told reporters the
measure of necessity was a COM
promise document. adding that its
machinery to stop strikes does not
go far enough"
Under the act, the Government
Is authorized to obtain court injunc-
tions against Nationwide strikes
endangering health and safety.
AT the very best" Mr.. Hartley
said, this only stalls a strike of
for IS days. There may be some
means of extending the injunctions
for additional 85-day periods but
even this Is doubtful"
To Oppose Monopoly Strike"
The Labor Committee head said
he plans to press for enactment of
the monopolistic strike section Of
the original Hartley bill.
This provision failed to win Sem
ate approval and was discarded
from the final draft of the act. which
became law over President Tru-
mans veto.
1t defined as monopolistic strike
walkout resulting from ANY con-
certed plan of action between en-
ployes of competing employers"
where the employees are not repre-
sented by the same union.
Unions violating this section
could have been sued by the govern
ment under antitrust laws, sued
by employers for civil damages. and
could have been barred from making
use of the national labor relations
board.
Sees Passage Possible.
Mr.. Hartley conceded it may be
difficult to get this previously re-
jected provision through Congress
but said lit is altogether likely that
the pressure of events will force such
legislative action He did not elab-
crate. -...
The New Jersey Republican said
he also is studying the possibility
of writing q stronger ban against
mass picketing.
"All over the country" he said,
people are getting tired Of being
kept away from their work by
massed picket lines, usually stated
by outsiders. They want something
done to stop it"
Meanwhile, Harvey w. Brown.
president of the Internationl Asso-
citation of Machinists, protested that
it is a physical impossibility" for
his organization and other major
unions to meet requirements and
time limits set up by the NLRB un-
der the new law.
405 Dismissass Seen.
Mr.. Brown said In statement his
group cannot comply, no matter
how sincere it's intent or how dill
gently it tries to fulfill the require
ments.
The union president said the 90
day limit for filing "non-Commun-
list affdavits," fixed last Friday by
Robert N. Denham, NLRB general
counsel, means that the machiniSts
union faces having 405 of its NLRB
cases dismissed through no fault Of
its own" The cases involve collec-
tive bargaining and unfair labor
practices complaints.
The employers have to do moth
ing to qualify under the act to use
the NLRB machinery, while a
major labor union has little chance
to qualify in less than a month or
so of diligent effort" Mr.. Brown
said in a statement.
| He conceded that Mr.. Denhaln
had indicated" the 20-day limit
may be extended on application, be-
yond the September headline"