The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1947-09-25
DENHAM IN RETREAT
ON ANTI-COMMUNIST
AFFIDAVIT RULING

Washington-UPA)-In a face
saving retreat from a hole in which
they would be isolated from the
great bulk Of the American labor
movement, the NLRB and it's gen.
eral counsel, Robert Denham, last
week extended the deadline for the
filing of anti-Communst affidavits
under the Taft Hartley law to
Oct. 81.
The announcement was made
jointly BY Denham and the Board,
but it was Denham who had put the
Board in the hole and several
Board members were known to dis
agree with Denham's freakish in
terpretation of the law. The gen.
eral counsel last month ruled that
no AFL or CIO affiliates could use
NLRB facilities unless top AFL
and CIO officials had already
signed the anti-Communist affi-
davits.
Denham's retreat saved him from
the embarrassing necessity of full
filling his own threat to kick out
5000 pending NLRB cases by Sept.
80 unless AFL and CIO chiefs
came to. heel and signed the affi-
davits. The cases were in process
on Aug. % when the Taft Hartley
law became effective. When both
groups refused, Denham found
that he had Unanswered the huge
new NLRB, with its expanded staff
and enlarged appropriation, into a
position where it would be doing
business with only a handful of
independent unions.
Significantly, Denham = under
fire for his ruling not only from
labor but also from Congressmen-
set the date back far enough so
that both the AFL and CIO con-
ventions would be completed. It
was obvious that he hoped that the
conventions would reverse the posi-
tions taken by the AFL Council and
CIO Executive Board.
In both cases there was consid-
erable evidence to believe that Dem
hams desperate hopes were futile.
Almost no likelihood was seen that
President John L. Lewis of the
United Mine Workers-AFL, would
abandon his truculent opposition to
the affiGavits and it was virtual
ly beyond possibility that the AFL
convention would remove Lewis
from his 18th vice-presidency in
order to obtain a supposed unani-
nifty on the executive council. Sim
ilarly, there was little reason to
believe that the CIO convention
will acquiesce in Denham's notion
of what the law says.
Lawyers for both AFL and CIO
emphasize the practical wisdom of
this because there are currently
five or more test cases Of the Den
ham ruling in the making. How
ever, despite the fact that AFL
General Counsel Joseph Padway
has formally asked the board to
overrule Denham there was no as
surance that the Board would take
action one way or another before
the new Oct. 81 deadline.
Probably the deadliest blows to
Denham's ruling came from two
Senator's, George Ak
en-, of Vermont, and Robert Taft,
of Ohio. Aiken characterized Den
hams ruling as SILLY" and per-
haps unconstitutional. In addition
he indicated that he favored an
which would either re-
peal or clarity the section. Taft,
on his west coast tour, declared
that there was no Legislative his
tory" to justify Denham's rule.
One of the first test cases that
may bring the entire issue to a
head was filed by the Int'l Broth
srhood of Electrical Workers-AFL
which asked the NLRB to reverse
is Baltimore regional director
Who had refused to certify the
.BEW as representative for work.
rs at an Arlington, Va, radio sta
ion.
In this case both the local and
he IBEW's national officers had
lied the required" affidavits but
he certification was refused be-