Evening star., 1947-06-02

Just why PreSi- #
dent Truman
should now hesi- 11| llA2
tate to sign such ,.
a mi1k.and- David Lawrence.
water version of labor legislation is
unexplainable unless he merely
wants to placate the labor union
chieftains who do not want to see
any legislation whatever enacted.
The sabotaging of the Senate bill
which certainly cannot be blamed
on the House conferees-will not
lose any votes for it in the Senate.
A presidential veto, If 1t comes, will
be easily overridden now in both
Houses.
The fact remains, however, that
with the exception Of few abuses
that now are corrected, the new
labor bill is just as ambiguous, II
not more so, than the original Wag-
ner Act, and gives the present
National Labor Relations Board far
more power over employers than 1t
ever had before and some innocuous
powers over labor unions to which
any reasonable labor leader ought
not to object-for these clauses are
easily circumvented by legal devices
provided in the new bill itself.
Union Shop Strengthened.
Thus, for example, there has been
much i1ullabaloo about outlawing
the CLOSED shop" A certain form
of CLOSED shop" has been prohibited
but another form of CLOSED shop"
known as the union shop" has
been given added strength.
An employer, under the new bill.
can be compelled by successful
strike to sign a contract which pro-
vides that he must fire any worker
who has not Joined the union after
80 days Of employment. This 30
day provision has been hailed as
restoring the employers right to
hire whom he pleases. But, In a.
separate section of the new bill, the
unions are granted the right to
make whatever terms or rules of
admission to membership they
please. This means that, II unions
say man must serve as an ap-i
prentice for three years or measure
up to any other tests prescribed by
the union before he is permitted to
join, he can be barred. The only
requirement is that all applicants
must be treated alike, which is easy
to comply with. The employers
right to hire, therefore, Is subject
to ratification after all under the
union shop" clause.
The important provision Of the
Senate bill, moreover, making it an
unfair practice" to violate a col
lective bargaining contract, has been
omitted from the conference bill
and. instead, such violations can
only be the subject of civil suits toI
get redress. Experience under the
Smith Connally law shows how re-
luctant employers are to file damage
suits because unions can stay out
on strike until an employer agrees
to withdraw his suit. This problem
should have been left to the labor
board to handle, as the Senate bill
provided.
free Speech" Clause Meaningless.
The so-called free speech" clause
IN the conference bill is meaning
less and merely confirms the
whimsical and arbitrary interpre-
tations made by the present labor
board in q variety of cases. The
new language says 1t is not an "un-
fair labor practice" to express an |
opinion-and express" means not
only orally but in writing. There
must however be no threat" or |
promise Of benefit" An employer,
now as before, cannot discuss his
problems freely with his own work
ers individually or in group with
out risking lawsuit to find out
what is meant by benefit" or "re-
prlsals." sThe present labor board
majority must be chuckling at how
this wass put over on both the
Senate and House conferees.
There are number of provisions
In the new bill which were not in
the original Wagner Act. But the
Key to their significance is in the
penalties which are in most in
stances ineffective. Even the hue
and cry about injunctions vanishes
when 1t is apparent that. under the |
new Dill. 1nJunctions must be termi-
mated in so days and neither side
lis required to agree to any proposal
or concession or arbitration. The
so-caned injunction clause for ma
tional emergencies might act as a
cooling of" device, but the chances
are 1t will operate as did the same
type OF clause in the Smith-Con-
nauy law-merely to postpone by
oo days the effective date of the
strike and Nationwide paralysis of
industry.
Since some Republican Senators
nave played politics to placate GER
tam elements of the labor vote, DOS
s1hly there will be less criticism now
or President Truman for doing the |
same thing if he vetoes the bill.
Expediency is the watchword of
the politicians nowadays. Expedi-
ency has caused abandonment of
principle and has postponed in
definitely the showdown in America
between collectivism in the form of
q supergovernment by labor unions
and the right of the individual to .
work and keep his job without be-
ing compelled to join labor union.
In this respect the conference bill
Is the biggest victory the labor union
lobbyists have won since the Was-
ner Act was passed in 1885. They |