Evening star., 1947-10-17

Both May Act Like Any
Citizens Committee in
Raising, Spending Funds
By Dapid Laurence
The American Federation Of Labor
and the CIO are free to 60 ahead
and engage directly In politics under
the recent ruling Of the National
Labor Relations Board which said
that neither organization Is q labor
organization" within the meaning of
the Hartley law.
The ruling which General Counsel
Denham made in connection with
the requirement that labor organi-
cations must file anti Communist
af1davits before they can use the
facilities Of the board was reversed
by the board itself, and the reversal
was accepted by Mr.. Denham. That
action was tantamount to saying
that only those labor organizations
which engage in collective bargain
ing or participate in labor r-manage-
ment relations concerning actual
disputes are really covered by the
restrictive features of the law.
This means that both the AFL and
the C1O can themselves act as po-
littcal committees like any Repub-
lican or Democratic Party commit
tee Of citizens. The two groups
AFI and CIO-would have to reg
tster their list of expenditures and
contributions with the clerk of the
House Of Representatives as Is re-
quired for any political committee.
but there would be no ban on rails
ing money or spending it for any
political purpose.
Definition Under Act.
The Taft Hartley laws provision
regarding political activities pro-
hibits both expenditures and con-
tributons by any corporation and
any labor organization" Then
comes this definition:
For the purposes Of this section
labor organization means any or
ganization of any kind. or any
agency or employe representation
committee or plan, In which en-
ployes participate and which exists
for the purpose. in whole or in part,
Of dealing with employers concern
ing grievances, labor disputes, wages,
rates of pay, hours of employment,
or conditions Of work"
The kFL deals with employers
only In an incidental way, and that
Is in connection with certain Gov
ernment employees. For the most
part the AFL is a federation of
unions which acts as a co-ordinator
of unions generally on matters of
policy as between each other. The
AFL and the CIO do not engage
directly in employer -employe nego-
tiations.
1t was this distinction which un-
doubtedly Influenced the Judgment
of the National Labor Relations
Board when It ruled that the two
top, units In the American labor
movement do not have to sign anti
Communist affldavits. But this same
Interpretation Is spelled out in
specific terms In the section of the
Taft-Hartley law relating to politi-
cal activities. Since the ruling has
now been made on much less am
biguous language with respect to
ore section of the law. 1t may be
faHn1 fA,. fhaf $h4
approach will be confirmed with
regard to the political-ban section.
The truth is Congress was not try
Ing to taboo political activity by
labor in America but merely to re-
strict the use of union funds so that
no citizen would be compelled to pay
tribute to political party to which
he did not belong and which he did
not favor.
Senator Taft Quoted.
Senator Taft has been quoted In
the dispatches this week as saying
the AFL fund of $3,0O0,000 for
political education would be illegal
only If 1t was obtained By the as
sessment method and was not the
result of voluntary action.
There Is nothing to prevent the
individual unions from raising po-
litical funds by the voluntary meth
Cd and turning the proceeds over
either to the AFL or the CIO for
expenditure by them now that both
the AFL and CIO are held not to
be labor organization" within the
meaning of the law.
This will be regarded by some
members of Congress as a loophole
which can be corrected by amend
ing the law, but 1t seems doubtful
that such an amendment would be
adopted since the AFL and the CIO
could contend that they do not differ
from other political committees
which do not participate in en-
ployer-employe negotiations but
exist primarily for educational pur-
poses or even for coordination of
occupat tional endeavors.
If, of course. the new definition
permits national organizations like
the AFL and CIO to spend money
. in political campaigns, it must
mean that unincorporated trade as
sociations, on national and State
and city scale, can engage similarly
in politics and can adopt the. same
means of circumvention Thus,
stockholders or off1ceholders of corp
ora tions can contribute as individ-
uals to political committees or to
such national trade associations as
are not incorporated.
Real Objective of Law.
The real objective of the law is
to prevent misuse of union or corp
grafton funds. What individuals do
with their own money is their own
concern. The point is that the col
lection Of political funds must not
have in it any element of coercion
and must remain voluntary In every
sense. Any labor union worker who
threatens another worker with some
punishment If he does not contribute
can run afoul of the law. Also there
Is considerable risk for the AFL and
CTO If thev Use the personnel of the