Evening star., 1949-12-22
|NLRB Rules |TU Guilty
Of Unfair Practices in
1Case, Drops Another

Board today ruled in two cases
involving unfair labor practice
charges against the AFL Interna-
tional Typographical Union, find
ing the union guilty in one in
stance and dismissing the other
case.
In unanimous decision, the
board held local of the ITU had
violated the Taft-Hartley Act in
negotiations with job printers In
Baltimore, represented by the
Graphic Arts League. BY a vote
of 3 to / the board dismissed SINH
lar charges involving another
printers local and the Nassau
Review Star, a daily newspaper at
Rockville Center. N. Y.
The board in two decisions is
sued in October found that the
same union had violated the labor
law in dealing with newspapers
which are members Of the Amer
lean Newspaper Publishers Asso-
citation and with the newspaper
publishers of Chicago by insisting
on closed-shop conditions. The
closed shop, in which only union
members may be hired by an en-
ployer. is banned by Taft Hartley.
Resembles Earlier Decisions.
In the Baltimore case the board
ruled that the ITU and its local
violated the law by insisting upon
the closed shop in accordance
with the collective bargaining
policy" adopted by the union in
1947, after passage of the Taft
Hartley Act.
The boards ruling followed the
lines of its decisions in the ANPA
and Chicago cases. In those de-
cisions it described the TITUS
bargaining strategy" as "delib-
crate Illustration of the bargain
ing process. in that it reflects a
complete negation OF duty to bar
gain which the act imposes
upon statutory representatives OF
employees. (Furthermore) 1t
was deliberately designed and 1t
was adamantly insisted upon to
effect the exclusion of non-union
men, squarely in conflict with the
provisions of the act.
The board found the ITU in
Baltimore violated the law by:
/. Attempting to cause the en-
ployers to discriminate against
employees on the basis OF union
membership.
2. Coercing employers in the
choice Of their collective bargain
ing representatives by insisting
that employers hire only 1TU
as foremen in composing
rooms.
3. Refusing to bargain as re-
quired by aft-Hartley by refus-
ing to enter into any contract OF
duration.
The board issued cease and
desist" order in each instance.
Examiner Reversed.
BY dismissing the charges at
the Nassau-Review Star. the
board reversed the ruling Of one
Of its trial examiners.
The principal issue in the case
was the existence Of an oral agree
ment between the union and news
paper. The board agreed with
the trial examiner that an oral
agreement for a one-year closed
shop contract had been reached
before August ~, 1947. effective
date Of the Taft-Hartley ban, and
that the contract would have been
valid under the law for its full
term.
However, the trial examiner
held that the union, by q notice
to the employer, subsequently had
abandoned this legal contract,
and sought to enforce closed shop
conditions which were then ille-
gal. The board majority reversed
this finding, holding that the
union did not abandon the agree
ment.
The majority declared further
it was not proved that the union,
in its negotiations and strike, was
insisting upon illegal objectives
rather than merely attempting to
compel the newspaper to put into
effect the legal agreement reached
earlier. Board Member James j.
Reynolds, jr., dissented. He ar
gued that the union had aban-
doned the legal closed shop agree
ment.