Evening star., 1947-08-31
Discounts Union Attacks
On Affidavit Requirement
Purpose of Non.Communist Clause
Should Not Be Misconstrued
By Gerard d. Reilly

BY JefQfa IL. heWy ~
In view of the independence which John @.
Lynch, the president of the Patternmakers
League, AFL, has exhibited in the past, his
joust with the new regulations Of the National
Labor Relations Board is not lacking in signif-
canoe, despite its ponderously comic overtones
The Patternmakers' League enjoys a national
monopoly of the $4,000 workers who are pro-
icient in this highly skilled trade. 1t has
attained this status under Lynch without use
of the closed-shop device. In fact Lynch's
opposition to any form of compulsory unionism
has made him unpopular with several of his
brethren in the AFL hierarchy. particularly
when he carried his convictions on one
occasion in the War Labor Board to the point
of voting with industry and public members
against the United Mine Workers Moreover.
this union. one OF the few which has adhered
consistently to the craft principle, is probably
as free from theological or racketeering faint
as any in this country. 81
When the problem therefore confronted the
Patternmakers' League of availing itself of the
facilities Of the board under the Taft-Hartley
Act, the provisions requiring unions to file an
account OF their receipts and disbursements
presented no difficulty. For several years the
union has furnished such statements to its
members. The stumbling block in Lynch's
eyes was the subsection forbidding the board
to entertain any charges or petitions filed by
unions which failed to give the board affdavits
stating that none of their officers belongs to
or is affiliated with the Communist Party.
In lieu Of having himself and fellow officers
of the league execute the forms provided by
the board, Lynch submitted affidavts which
he claimed set forth that the deponents were
rot members of, or in sympathy with, commun-
ism, NaziiSm, fascism or any other form Of
dictatorship. These substitutes were rejected
by r. N. Denham, the general counsel as no.
conforming to the language of the statute
Lynch rejoined by contending that the statu-
tory language employed "totalitarian" tech
nique which could be used to destroy basic
freedoms through fear. He asked for specific ,
Identification of the organizations and activities
which union leaders must avoid.
If Lynch is really serious about having the
fears he processes, his attitude is additional
evidence of the success of certain radical union
lawyers in distorting the legal effect of the
statute for their own purposes. Far from
using general language which would be a trap
to non Communist union officials, Congress in
this portion of the law used language which
already has a precise and narrow meaning.
"(h) No investigation shall be made by the
board of any question affecting commerce
concerning the representation of employees,
raised by labor organization, no petit
ton '** shall be entertained, and no complaint
shall be issued pursuant to charge made by
labor organization )" unless there is on file
with the board an affidavit executed contem-
poraneously or within the preceding twelve
month period by each officer of such labor Or
ganization and the officers of any national or
international labor organization of which it Is
an affiliate or constituent unit that he is not
a member of the Communist Party or affiliated
with such party, and that he does not believe
in. and is not member of or supports any or
ganization that believes in or teaches, the over
throw of the United States Government by
force by any illegal Or unconstitutional
methods. The provisions of section 35-A of the
Criminal Code shall be applicable in respect
to such afidavits."
1t will be noted that the board has no
duties in connection with the truth Or falsity
of the affidavits Once these have been filed
any subsequent question of Misrepresentation
would arise under the Criminal Code which
means that the Interpretation of this section
would be made by the courts and not by an
administrative agency.
X
In an attempt to discredit this section with
union men while the bill was pending in Con-
gress the CIO counsel, Lee Pressman, published
a memorandum predicting that because Of the
excesses of the House Committee on Un-Ameri-
can Activities almost any one who expressed
unpopular sentiments or who Joined liberal
organization, could be deemed affiliated with"
the Communist Party.
The phrase affiliated with" however, Is not
a vague and indefinite term. 1t was borrowed
from the immigration Act of 1918, as amended.
and has frequently been construed by the
courts in deportation proceedings. This fact
was ignored in the Pressman memorandum, al
though its author, being one of counsel of record
in the Harry Bridges deportation case was pre-
sumably aware of it.
In serving a deportation warrant upon
Bridges, the Department of Justice accused him ,
not only of membership in the Communist Party &
but also of affiliation with that organization.
These were alternative counts. After reviewing
the case, the Supreme Court reversed the At
torney Generals holding that the record was
lacking in evidence to support finding Oh
either ground. In doing so the court approved
certain decisions of the United States Circuit
Courts of Appeals in other deportation cases
which held that "affiliation" did not mean SYM
pathy or approval of the aims of the Communist
Party, but rather relationship of mutual de-
pendence and support, which might fall short Of
actual membership in the party
well-established principle of statutory con-
struction is that when legislative body adopts
language in statute which has already been
interpreted by the courts it thereby intends that
portion of the new act to have the meaning
which the courts have given it in a different
context. Consequently the danger of prosecu
ton to any trade union official who is not an
overt or secret member of the Communist Party
or who is not committed to act in concert with
it. is remote indeed unless he is an actual pc-t
lever in the overthrow Of the Government by
force.
The immigration Threot