The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-04-14
BENSON: UNIONS DON'T REQUIRE
 NLRB APPROVAL
Territorial Labor Commis. sioner Gives Personal
 Opinion to Labor Head

Harry A. BenScr, Territorial Commissioner of Labor, today told Erwin H. Hill, President of the Juneau Central Labor Council, that | labor unlons do not have to be certified by the National Labor Relations Beard in order to qualify i for collective bargaining rights with employers.
 ! Benson. a Territorial official, in- 1 terpreted the Federal Taft-Hartley Act and Wagner Labor Relations Act, by stating Hack Of certifica- ton through failure to file the necessary affidavits and financial 1 statements, removes the benefit i of NRLB processes, but doesn't dis qualify the union from acting as the bargaining representative and does not bar the employer from enteling into collective bargain ! ing agreement with such union ?
 "The Wagner Act" stated Ben son, "as amended by the Taft Hartley Law, does not prohibit em- ployers from bargaining with and contracting with a union repre- senting the majority of its em- plcyees even though that union has not been certified
 
 Benson further declared:
 Examination of the legislative history of the Taft Hartley Law through the Senate and House Committee Reports reveals no Con- gressional intent to disturb or in terfere with the fundamental na- tional policy. The Act itself de- clares the national policy of the United States to be that of en- ccuraging the practice or procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by work CTS of full freedom of association, sell organization and designation of representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of nego- tiating the terms and conditions Of their employment or other mu- tual aid or protection. It is true that the Tatt-Hartley Law requires the filing Of -Communistic af- tidavits and financial statements if the union wishes to have avail able the protective procedures of the National Labor Relations Board and further, in the interests of the people, make certain limita- ticns and qualifications upon the subject matter of collective bar gaining agreements. There is, how ever, nothing in the Act which i interferes with the right of uR' ions to continue traditional and legitimate trade union activities without resort to the procedures and remedies provided through the Board And similarly, there is nothing in the Act which prevents an employer, if he so desires, from 1 bargaining with an otherwise quail ] fled union since the filing of affi- i davits and organizational and fi- i nancial data it condition prece- dent to resort by unions to the Board and not to the practice of free collective bargaining by unions and employers.
 Ut was well established under the Wagner Act that an employ CTS obligation to bargain with a union representing a majority of his employees did not depend on certification of the union by the N.L.R.B., and employers who re- fused to bargain with such a un- l. ion were held to violate the Act. The Taft-Hartley Law has not al- tered or modified this obligation, and the General Counsel of the Beard has stated, The Act does not prevent Remington Rand Gan employer from entering into any contract they may desire with the U. E. Gan uncertified union) , Nothing in the Wagner Act re- stricted the right of employers to bargain voluntarily and contract with union with respect to wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment of those whom the union legally represented; nor does the Taft-Hartley Law affect this right in any way, except with re- spect to these subjects of collec- tive bargaining which are specifi- cally limited or prohibited by the Act"