Evening star., 1948-08-15
|TUFound Guilty
Of I|lega|Fight
For Closed Shop
But NLRB Examiner
AbsoIves Union in
'Feotherbeddine' Cose
NLRB RULING TYPIFrES, Taft
Act Confusion, ITU Says. Page AS

NLRB RULING TYpIFrEs, Taft
Act Confusion, ITU Says. Page As
BY The Asseeio,sd Press
A trial examiner for the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board
last night found the Inter-
national typographical Union
guilty of violating the Taft
Hartley Act by insisting on
closed-shop conditions in the
newspaper industry.
In a case begun nine months ago
by the American Newspaper Pub
fishers Association. Examiner Ar
thur Left recommended that the
five-man NLRB order the big AFL
union Of printers to stop insisting
that publishers hire only ITU mem
bers.
But he recommended dismissal
Of certain other charges against the
union.
He recommends dismissal Of q
charge that the Union violated the
Taft Hartley provision against
"featherbedding is, exacting
payments for services not per-
formed.
Cleared on Other Counts.
Mr.. Left also found no violation
of the law in connection with the
unions demands concerning the
handling of work from nonunion or
struck plants, the crossing of picket
lines, union jurisdiction over newly
invented printing equipment. and
joint examining boards to deter
mine the competency of job appli-
cants.
And he recommended dismissal
of charge that "slow-do]ns' al
legedly engaged in by union printers
at Detroit and Chicago violated the
labor Law.
1t will be up to the board to decide
whether Mr.. Leffs recommended
tions in this important Nationwide
case will be enforced or thrown out.
Even after the board acts, the case
can be carried into the Federal
Courts and may eventually reach
the Supreme Court.
Examiner Left issued separate
recommendations in a companion
case against the I. T. U. and its
Local 16 at Chicago.
Both Found Guilty.
In that case he found both Local
16 and the national union guilty Of:
l. Refusing to bargain in good
faith with the Chicago Newspaper
Publishers Association.
q Insisting on closed shops in the
composing rooms Of five Chicago
daily newspapers, where strike has
been In progress since last Novem-
Der "a.
The actions by Mr.. Left mean
that trial examiners now have found
the I. T. U. has violated the Taft
Hartley Act in Ave different cases.
In none of these cases has the Ave
man board made a decision or held
any hearings.
There was no immediate comment
from Cranston williams, general
manager of the. American News
paper Publishers Association.
On March q. in connection with
the Nationwide case. Federal
Judge Luther M Swygert issued 4
temporary injunction at Indiana
polls, ordering the ITU to change
its policies pending an NLRB deci-
sion in the case.
This injunction now remains in
effect. because Mr.. Leff's report does
not constitute q decision by the
board
Whether Judge Swygert will
change the terms Of the injunction
in the light Of Mr. Leff's findings
was not known last night. A mem
orandum will be sent to him by
the Government, summarizing Mr..
Leff's recommendations.
Mr.. Left discussed charges that
the ITU has violated the Taft-Hart-
ley Act in new ways even after the
injunction was issued-particularly
with regard to the unions demands
that printers be hired on the basis
OF competency-but he said the rec
ord of the case is insufficient" to
support charge Of illegality.
Violation Of Writ Charged.
For two months or more, the
NLRB has been investigating COM
plants by publishers that the ITU
has violated the injunction and
should be prosecuted for contempt
of court. Government lawyers said