Evening star., 1949-08-21

Il AVN -NSA1AFky A&e akAASAAo AA~'S SSS~t
squeezed. raided, defeated and
weakened to the point where late
ly even extreme left-wing unions
have been falling into line. The
only major unions which haven't
complied are the United Mine
Workers, the AFL International
Typographical Union. and hand
full of CIO leftist unions.
Some Parts Infested
Some of the least explored sub
jects include:
!; The provision that bans union
from charging excessive initiation
fees. (Not a single case has
reached the NLRB and nobody
knows how high an excessive"
fee isl
The provision that requires
union or an employer to give
notice so days before ending or
changing a contract. (NLRB Of
cials are rather dismayed because
the provision contains apparent
contradictions and leaves some
vast questions unansweredD
The provision that bans "feath-
er-bedding."
Some provisions have been
greatly clarified. For example. the
question of mass picketing. The
NLRB has ruled that picketing
violates the act If it results in
physical obstruction" of a plant
entrance but that vile name-call-
ing on a picket line isn't in itself
a violation.
Closed.Shop Debate
The Taft Hartley act bans
mass picketing by banning re-
straint and coercion of employees.
It doesn't use the word picket
ing" at all.
The law doesn't contain the
term closed shop" either. but it
bans the closed shop by banning
discrimination against non-union
workers.
The biggest closed-shop case yet
to arise-and in most respects the
broadest case of any kind under
the acts the case (actually five
cases) involving the international
Typographical Union now pend
ing before the f1ve-man NLRB.
NLRB trial examiners differed
on some questions but all found
the ITU guilty Of violating the
act by causing employers to hire
only ITU members.
In the biggest union-shop case,
the NLRB ruled illegal the clause
in John L. Lewis contracts with
coal mines owned by steel COM
panies. This clause says all min
ers must become" members of
the United Mine Workers.
(The closed shop calls for
hiring only union members.
The union shop calls for work.
ers to join the union after be-
ing hired}
The board said Lewis had not
gone through the required pre-
liminaries toward getting union
shop contract. The Board also
said Lewis violated the act by
causing a strike over this issue
last summer.
Emergency Provision Used
The national emergency situa-
ton remains the same as last
fall. President Truman has in
voked the provision in seven cases,
all of them in 1948. Two were
in coal, two were in the maritime
industry and one each in the
atomic, meat and telephone in
dustries. In four cases 60-day
Iinjunctions were obtained-two
maritime, one coal. one atomic.
Another part Of the law author
ICES temporary injunctions during
the trial Of unfair labor practice
cases.
As Of last week. here is the two
year record on that kind Of in
junction, according to NLRB
officials:
NLRB General Counsel Robert
N. Denham has asked for So in
functions against unions which
he has charged with secondary
boycott "a union attempt to force
one company to stop doing busi-
ness with another company.
II Injunctions Issued
The law requires him to seek
an injunction every time he pros
ecutes q union on that charge.
The courts have granted ~ Of
these injunctions and denied nine,
and the 16 other cases were
either settled or are still pending.
Denham also has discretionary
authority to seek a temporary in
junction when prosecuting a union
or employer on any charge at all.
He has sought four of these in
functions against unions and two
against employers (none of them
in the past year,. The courts have
granted two against unions and
one against an employer.
Denham and the NLRB have
been locked in a fundamental dis
agreement over applying the Taft
Hartley law to small businesses.
Denham thinks it ought to be
applied to any company, no mat
ter how small, If it affects inter-
state commerce. The board has
ruled that 1t has q right to refuse
to consider the case if the effect
is remote and insubstantial."
The dispute really centers In q
further question.
i The Taft-Hartley Act gave the
! general counsel sole authority to
decide whether to prosecute an
unfair labor practice case. Den
ham saws that when he decides to