Evening star., 1948-03-31
|TU Prepares Orders
To Local Unions on
Fun-Year Contracts
BY the Associoted Press


The international Typographical
Union has officially reversed its bar
gaining policy to obey a Federal
court order.
New instructions to ITU local
unions were completed last night.
They are expected to be mailed from
the unions Indianapolis headquar-
ters today or tomorrow.
The $50 local unions are told to
offer full-year contracts to the
Nations newspaper publishers and
print shops.
These contracts would allow the
hiring of nonunion printers who
pass competency" tests.
Government lawyers discussed the
new instructions with a union law
yer, Henry Kaiser, for three and
a half hours here last night and
finally pronounced them in compli-
ance with the injunction.
Federal Judge Luther M. Swygert
had issued this decree Saturday at
Hammond, Ind.
Judge Found Probability.
He found probability" that the
1TU was violating the Taft Hartley
Act. He ordered the union to stop
trying to cause newspaper publish
ers to discriminate against non
union men in hirings
The judge also ordered the union
to stop fostering the policy under
which it advised local unions not to
sign any contract unless it could be
Cancelled on so days notice.
Mr.. Kaiser did not make public
the text of the TITUS instructions,
but said the documents follows the
outline of an agreement made Mon
day at Hammond, between union
and Government attorneys concern
ing compliance with the injunction.
That agreement included one-year
contracts, competency tests" and
other provisions.
Instructions Are Approved.
David P. Finding and Winthrop
Johns, officials in the Office of the
general counsel of the National La
Dor Relations Board, approved the
instructions from one viewpoint
only-that of compliance with the
injunction.
The Government attorneys said
they will hold up any court action
to stop newspaper strikes at Chi
cago and elsewhere until they see
how the unions new policy works
out.
In that connection, the NLRB
has postponed until April 6 a hear
ing on charges that AFL printers
union locals In seven cities are
guilty of unfair labor practices in
refusing to bargain for new con-
tracts.
The hearing had been scheduled
for today in New York.
The NLRB charges against the
1TU and seven of its locals arose
from employer complaints in New
York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadel-
phla, Pittsburgh, st. Louis and
Newark, N. j.
The contract covering $500 print
ers employed on New Yorks IA ma
jor daily newspapers expires at mid
night tonight. but negotiations for
new agreement are continuing,
with no threat of a work stoppage.
Sioux City TU Official
Denies Refusal of Contract
CHICAGO, Mar 81 R). The
president Of an AFL printers union
local in Sioux City, Iowa, told a
Labor Board examiner yesterday his
group had never refused to sign a
contract"
Merle M. Morrison, president of
1TU Local 180, said, however, that
union negotiators have been unable
so far to agree on a contract with
the Journal-Tribune Publishing Co.
in Sioux City.
MIR. Morrison said the negotia-
tors for his local had offered vari-
GUS contract forms to the publisher.
He told Trial Examiner Arthur Left
that the local was reluctant to en-
ter into a contract for a full year
Earlier, the employers side of
the Sioux City negotiations was told
by Eugene F. Kelly, vice president
Of the newspaper.
Mr.. Kelly told the examiner that
the union insisted on a 6O-day can
COLLATION. clause in proposed con-
tracts which did not give us the
stability required for successful op-
eration."