The union times., 1948-04-24
Local Projects
 Not Covered By Slave Labor Act
But NLRB Is Sure To Appeal Decision To
 Highest Court

Washington (LPA) Two important developments high lighted the building trades front this week.
 One was the disclosure that a Federal judge in Denver had is- sued a far-reaching decision, hold ing that local construction prof ects are not covered by the Taft Hartley act.
 Another was an announcement by the Building Trades Dept of the AFL that the newly-created machinery for settlement of iuris- dlctional disputes is now ready to function.
 TO ACT AS CURB
 The Denver decision, handed down by Federal Judge I. Foster Symes, was hailed by President Dan W. Tracy of the IntI Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-AFL as a vic. tory for ''the established principles Of the United States Constitution'' and as ''curb on the extravagant legal interpretations of admins trative officers of Federal labor agencies"
 What happened in the case was that the Denver Building & Construction Trades Council placed a non-union electrical sub-contracting firm. Gould & Preisner, on the unfair list" Fol lowing that, union craftsmen at Den yer construction project on which Gould x Preisner did electrical sub contracting refused to work with non unlonlstS employed by that firm. The union men walked off the job and picketed the site.
 UNFAIR CHARGE"
 The Gold & Preisner firm then filed an unfair labor charge" against the Building Trades Council and its afili- ateS with the regional office of the Nat1 Labor Relations Board. On instructions from Robert N. Denham, NLRB general counsel, a complaint was issued and in addition, Denham's representatives petitioned the Federal court for an injunction against the unions, which were accused of violating the "anti-boycott" sections of the Taft-Hartley Act.
 In a precedent-making ruling, Judge Symes denied the injunction. He held that the Taft-Hartley Acts injunction provisions could not be applied because the firm was not engaged in interstate commerce, even though it purchased some electrical materials from outside the state.
 ''The matter is purely one of To- cal concern and its effect on inter- state commerce is indirect, if it af- fleets such commerce at alI," he said.
 Furthermore, it seems to me-" the decision continued, ''that if the contentious of the government are sustained, then the whole distinc- tiOn between interstate and intra- state commerce would be wiped out and that there would be no limit upon the power of the Federal gov ernment to regulate the economy of the country in the most far-reach- ing details-sOmething that the courts can't lend themselves to.''
 Another important feature of the ruling was that the posting of an "un- fair list" IS entirely lawful, and pro- tected even by the free speech" section of the Taft-Hartley Act.
 Should the decision be sustained in higher courts, the ultimate effect, union leaders said, might be to take a large part, if not all of the build ing industry, completely out of the jurisdiction of the Taft-Hartley Act.
 Meanwhile, President Richard J. Gray of the AFL Building Trades Dept and James D. Marshall, assist ant managing director of the Associ- ated General Contractors of America, jointly announced that machinery for settlement of jurisdictional disputes in the building industry, previously agreed upon by the unions and contractors, would start functioning May l. It will cover nearly 100000 workers.