Evening star., 1948-05-30
Labor Case Settlements
Slowed by NLRB Buckloo
Suggestions Offered for Shortening
Laws Delay" in Dispues
By Gerard D. Reilly

ouSS$ouOHS ouSISA 1oI
Laws Delay" in Dispues
By Gerard d. Reilly
As the hearings on proposed amendments to
the Taft-Hartley Act move into the second
week, it is becoming apparent that . subject
Of major concern to both union and employer
witnesses, ss well as practitioners Of labor
law, is the increasing backlog Of undecided
cases before the National Labor Relations
Board.
OF course, the laws delay" has been q stand.
ing complaint against the courts since Eliza
bethan times. But it has been generally as.
sumed that in the field of administrative law
this condition had been corrected by the
relative speed with which administrative
agencies dispose Of their business.
The current docket of the Labor Board does
not justify this assumption. Time is Of the
essence tn the determination of issues in q
labor dispute. Yet, according to q report Of
the Attorney Generals Committee on Admin
istrative Procedure, 1t now takes the Board
about year and half to dispose Of an unfair
labor practice case. As of the end Of last
month, nearly 1850 unfair labor practice cases
were pending Since the beginning Of the year
the number of new cases fled each month has
run between 5000 and 5000.
More than 80 per cent of the recent filings
are petitions for union shop elections-or to
be more precise, the secret ballot referenda
now required under one of the amendments to
the National Labor Relations Act to authorize
q union to negotiate for a compulsory MEM
bershp clause in collective bargaining agree
ment. For this reason union officials and
several Of the employer representatives who
have testified. including James Marshall Of
Associated General Contractors and Ola A.
Cool of the Labor Relations Institute expressed
sentiment for the Ives-Landis bill which would
obviate the need of these elections as a con-
dition precedent to the signing Of a nion-shop
or maintenance membership contract.
A more elaborate analysis Of the problem
made by Raymond S. Smethurst, counsel for
the National Association of Manufacturers,
indicates that this would be only a partial
solution to the problem. The statute does not
require any hearing in union-shop referenda
Almost the whole routine of these elections is
handled in the regional Offices. Hence their
conduct should not consume any Of the time
which the board members should give to their
judicial duties. In certain seasonal industries
like construction and canning, the mechanics
Of these elections present difficult questions.
This is matter which must be solved by the
general counsel, however, rather than the board.
If the union shop election cases are elm
mated, the board is receiving only slightly
higher number Of new cases than in former
years. The increase Is about Q per cent above
the figure for the year prior to the passage Of
the Taft-Hartley Act, even though this statute
added several new and important types Of cases
to the Wagner Act, including not only unfair
labor practice complaints against unions but
also representation matters which could be
initiated by employer or employee decertifica-
ton petitions.
The vast majority Of the representation and,
unfair labor practice cases are settled In the
field prior to or during hearing. Nevertheless.
q considerable volume of contested cases Is still
carried to the board for ultimate decision. The
number Of final orders issued a month by the
board, however, amounted only to an average
of 159 during the first three months of 1948-
q ~ per cent decrease from the average :.
monthly record for the year preceding July !.
1s47 This is somewhat surprising, as the new
act increased the membership of the board
from three to five and gave the board authority
to sit in panels Of three. Moreover, for the first
time in many years the board has had adequate
appropriations. Responsibility for the backlog
in prior years was due in large measure to the
false economies Of the House Appropriations
Committee in dealing with the agency.
Mr. smethurst offered suggestions to Sen
ator Balls committee for reducing the backlog.
While several Of his recommendations are
sound, including the proposal that the Board
should sunmariy dismiss all cases filed by
unions which have not qualified and avoid
multiplicity Of hearings by applying the same
free speech rule" to representation proceed
ir1gs which Congress has prescribed In COM
plant cases, he also took more controversial
ground.
One of his recommendations was that the
policy of deferring elections when unfair labor
practice charges are pending should be aban-
doned. It Is true that with some unions the
filing Of charges Is a dilatory tactic to prevent
rival organization from securing prompt
election. Both employers and labor organiza-
tions, however, can greatly affect the results OF
an election by engaging in coercive tactics
Therefore 1t would appear unwise to go for
ward with elections In such an atmosphere.
Dilatory motions could be discouraged, If re-
gional directors would dismiss all charges
within three or four days unless the filing party
has come forward with substantiating evidence.
Another suggestion was that private parties
should be permitted the alternative Of prose-
cutting complaint cases in the United States
district courts or before special masters ap-
pointed by such courts. That there Is consider
able support for this plan was indicated several
weeks ago when Committee Counsel Thomas E.
Shroyer pointed out in an address In Chicago
that Congress would find little justification for
administrative agencies If their processes
were slower than the courts
Various members Of the joint committee have
also commented upon the contrast between the
two weeks in which United States Judge Luther
NJ Swygert rendered his decision after the
hearing for an injunction in the international
Typographical Union case as compared with
the six months period required by board trial
examiner who had heard substantially similar
issues with regard to the same union IN the
Ra1tinnore (5rannc Arts case