Evening star., 1948-03-21
Labor Board Clarifies
Company Union Stotus
Policy Will Be to Consider Degree
of Employers Domination

tics sections Of the Wagner Act was handed
down last week in two cases dealing with the
status Of independent and unafhliated unions
under the new law. In one case, Hershey Metal
Products Co., the board found some evidence Of
| employer support but reversed trial examiner
who had recommended disestablishment, In
the other, the Carpenter Steel Co.. the board
| found an employe representation plan estab-
| lished by an employer 80 tainted with domina-
| ton that it ordered recognition be withheld
permanently.
In the opinions accompanying these cases the
board announced that Its policy under the
new act will be to order disestablishment where
charges of company domination Of the union
are sustained, irrespective Of whether or not the
union is afiliated with q national or interna.
tional federation. But II the employers inter.
ference falls short Of domination. the policy will
be to require that recognition bs withdrawn
until subsequent election, followed by certin.
cation If majority Of the employees vote for 1t.
In declaring that the board will hereafter apply
the same remedy upon similar facts to both
afhliated and unafhiliated labor organizations,
the five members Of the board have given full
effect to the intent Of Congress in dealing with
this sensitive area Of labor relations.
When the Senate Committee on Labor and
which seemed to be necessary to restore balance
to tae Wagner Act last year, a problem to
which considerable thought was given was the
extent to which independent unions had
real grievance under the current policies and
practices Of the board During the NFsA period
when the codes Of fair competition had given
great impetus to union organizing drives, many
employers, particularly in the unorganized
industries encouraged the formation OF COM
pany unions. It was believed that these organi-
cations would be reasonably docile and would
satisfy any need the workers felt for collec-
tive representation.
After the constitutionality Of the Wagner
Act was upheld however, many of these organi-
zations went over lock, stock and barrel to CIO
and AFL industrial unions. In other plants
they were reorganized so as to eliminate COM
pany interference and control
While many of these organizations did not
have sufficient vitality to command the conf
dence of the employees, q number OF them
managed to achieve real gains in the standards
| of wages and working conditions. The policy
| of the board in the formative period Of the
| Wagner Act, however, was to treat even these
successor organizations as dominated" II
their original illegalty was established in
| party the board would then order them COM
| pletely disestablshed.
It was the contention Of labor leaders outside
the framework of the two major federations
| that the board had one rule for independent
unions and another one for organizations af-
| filiated with these parent bodies. This meant
| that an organization affected by such an order,
| no matter how thoroughly its officers had been
| purged Of the taint Of employer domination or
interference, was never thereafter permitted
| recognition. In keeping with this policy, these
| organizations were not accorded place on the
ballot in a representation case even though
they might in fact be represented in the over
whelming choice Of the employees.
| During the same period the boards policy
| with respect to afnliated unions was much more
| lenient. Numerous cases on which the board
had to pass involved collusive contracts between
employers and unions representing none OF the
employees. There was also evidence in some
cases Of unions receiving subsidies from an
employer While the board treated such
transactions as unfair labor practices its rem
edy where afhliated unions were involved was
simply to direct the offending employer to
| break off relations until such time as the
| union had been selected by the employees and
certified as the bargaining representative by
the board If employers complied with these
! orders the affiliated organization was permitted
to file an election petition so days after compli-
| ance was reported
Offcials of the more aggressive unaffiliated
unions, including the National Federation OF
Telephone Workers the Mechanics Educational
Society, and the Independent Brotherhood OF
Packnghouse Workers. made several efforts to
have this policy changed contending that the
| Government was not only unfair to their
unions in this respect but also In limiting MEM
bership on the War Labor Board to AFL and
| CIO representatives.
| Most Of these protests were unavanlng but
in 1943 the Board in a case involving the
Heather Handkerchief Company, after fndlng
some elements of employer support IN the 1or"
nation Of an independent union, declined 10
nut it out of business completely. BY ls45.
however, the board was reverting to It's earlier
rules of decision and in the case of the Brown
Company of New Hampshire disestablished a
fiourishing independent union merely because
some foreman had joined it, although the rec
ord was lacking in evidence of any interference
by top management.
Chairman Paul M Herzog in testifying on
the labor bills last year conceded tnat tne
board did treat independent unions dlnerehtiy
from afilated unions. His defense OF the
practice was that unions chartered by one OF
the major declarations could not over an ex-
tended period be used as an instrument OF an
employer to deprive workers Of the free exercise
to concerted activity which the Wagner ACT
protected.
In commenting on his testimony, the COM
mittee came to the conclusion that while his
thesis might have been true as general prop
osition it was also possible from the very
nature of empoye organizational activities
that an unafhiated union which might have
received employer encouragement might ui-
timately free itself completely from suoserW-
ence. The view taken was that in any event
this was a justiciable issue which should be
decided In accordance with the facts Of each
case and not upon the basis Of a general
| 4l.. ri af tkaa hoard