Evening star., 1947-07-30

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rights cannot be bargained away.
The principal ruling in labor con-
troversy was that known as the
Schultz Case where employees and
employer agreed TO compromise to
certain overtime payments under
the wage-and-hour law, only to
have the court say that this could
not be lawfully compromised.
Way Open to Third Parties.
Congress recently took cognizance
OF this situation and in the portal
to-portal bill specifically permitted
compromises. No such provision ap-
pears in the Taft-Hartley law, so it
would seem that If, under duress,
the Ford Motor Co. signs a con-
tract agreeing not to avail itself
of its rights to sue for damages
when the contract is violated, this
would not prevent the National La
Dor Relations Board Of its own initi-
ative declaring either the union or
the employer, as the case may be,
guilty of an unfair labor practice.
This would open the way also to in
jured third parties to sue either the
union or the employer for damages
on the ground that they had no
right TO condone q violation of the
Law.
What seems to be overlooked by
some observers is that it Is a viola
ton of law for either the union or
the employer to engage in a strike
or lockout during the period Of the
contract, and that damages can be
collected by parties injured through
such work stoppages. Inasmuch as
there are some employees who are
not members of the union, they are
in a position to demand damages
from the union and the employer in
the form of pay lost for unauthorized
strikes or work stoppages in viola
tion of the law.
One explanation for the ma
neuver of the unions is that they
believe the Taft-Hartley law doesn't
take effect until August "a and they
are trying to get contracts signed
now which would overlap by at least
II months any possible operation
Of the law.
It is true that the "date of en-
actment" was June % last, but the
effective date" of certain provisions
ts August AZ. Contracts signed be-
fore August "a can probably include
any clauses that the parties wish,
but once the August % date has
been passed, 1t becomes an unfair
labor practice to call strike until
after the collective bargaining con-
tract has expired, which would be,
for instance, August, 1943. Even so,
notice must be given go days In ad-
vance Of expiration and certain
steps complied with in connection
with mediation.
Public Policy Question.
It Is possible as a matter OF con-
tract law for one party to relieve
the other of monetary obligations
or damages when there is a con-
sideration for such contract, and
presumably in labor-union matters
there would be reciprocal advan-
tages. The question of whether the
penalty Of damages can be entirely
removed depends on whether pri-
vate-contract law alone will prevail
or whether the courts will say that
there is matter Of public policy in
volved and that third parties may
be injured.
Clearly, If all that ever were need
ed to prevent lawsuits were an
agreement not to hold each other
liable, the problem would be simple,
but where Congress has legislated a
form Of discipline under its power to
regulate interstate commerce, It'll
seems probable that neither the
unions nor the employers will be
safe from suits just because they
agree not to sue each other. II any
other provision, for example, OF a
contract is vitiated, the employers
or union could contend that the
provision with respect to suits has
been nullified.
It probably makes good strategy
for the unions to demand mo pen
atty" clauses, because they will be,
in effect, initiating John L. Lewis
of the coal miners union, but
close reading of that contract shows
that published reports concerning
the alleged escape" from the pro-
visions of the Taft-Hartley law
were simply not correct.
There Is no lawful way by which
two parties can conspire to evade
the obligations of law OF Con-
gress. If a work stoppage occurs
in violation of the Taft-Hartley law,
1t can be punished under the unfair
labor practices clauses Of the law,
regardless OF whether or not the
employers and unions have pri-
vately agreed not to sue each other.
tRepreduction Rishts Reserved)