Evening star., 1949-01-31
Mr.. Truman Pays q Debt

The Presidents version of q new labor
law, drafted in consultation with union
lawyers, reveals distressing willingness
to bow to the demands of the labor bosses.
This bill makes mockery of any rights
which employers might be supposed to
have. Except in one tiny area, it gives
the green light to unions to take what
ever they can get by the use of economic
force: And finally, it does not protect
the public against strikes designed to
attain union objective by depriving the
Nation OF some essential commodity or
service. Small wonder that the administra-
ticn men in the Senate are trying to
railroad the bill through without adequate
hearings, for it is not a measure which
can meet the test of full and honest
scrutiny.
The Taft-Hartley Act, which has been
condemned in emotional terms because 1t
cannot be substantially discredited by any
factual, showing, tried to bring about some
balance between unions and industry. It
sought to equalize the one-sided relation
ship that grew out of the original Wagner
Act This new bill repeals the Taft
Hartley Act and revives the Wagner Act
in an amended form which promises to be
more unjust to industry than was the
original law. The Taft-Hartley Act as
sumed that employers and employees were
entitled to equality under the law. The
Presidents bill clearly repudiates that
assumption, and stands on the premise
that unions should have special and favored
treatment. AS ain illustration, the Presi-
dent would lift all restraints on political
spending by his union political allies But
the ban on political contributions by
corporations and banks would be continued
in effect.
The Presidents bill recognizes only two
improper union practices. These are GER
tain types of jurisdictional strikes and
secondary boycotts designed to maintain
prescribed jurisdictional strike And even
in this drastically limited area the remedies
proposed are so time consuming that. for
practical purposes, they are apt to prove
ineffective.
On the lafger issue of strikes which
threaten the life of the Nation, the Pres-
dents bill is deplorably inadequate. In
this respect the Taft-Hartley law offered
little enough-at best, an 80-day stay of a
crippling strike through resort to the in
junction process. The Presidents bill
knocks out any appeal to the courts. It
provides only that when dispute threatens
the national health or safety, the Presi-
dent may issue proclamation calling upon
the parties to stay on the job for 80 days
1t says that the parties Shall" observe
this proclamation, but there Is nothing
which requires them to do so. It is
further provided that the President ap-
point fact-finding board which would
Investigate the dispute and make recon-
mendations for settlement The bill does
not require either party to accept the
recommendations.
In practical effect this would mean that
the White House would be back in the
business of mediating major labor dis
putes. We have had unhappy experience
with that procedure In the past, and if
this bill becomes law we will have more i'm
happy experiences in the future. Pre-
sumably the Government could bring
enough pressure to bear to compel an
employer to accept a fact finding body's
recommendation. But it has been amply
demonstrated that the Government, with
out the aid of the Federal courts, cannot
similarly coerce a strong union. So as
practical matter what Mr. Truman pro-
poses is that the Government be disarmed
as the representative of all the people
when their welfare is threatened by a
strike
There are variety of other things
wrong with the Presidents bill. Among
these are the devices to return the Con-
ciliation Service to the Labor Department.,
to knock out State bans on the closed shop,
to cut down the general counsel of the
labor board and to lift the curbs on
Communist domination of unions. For
tunately, however, the bill cannot be fas-
tened on the country without Senate ap-
proval. AS it stands, it represents hand
some payment by the President of his
political debt to organized labor But the
members of the Senate are not under the
same political obligation. They are free
to examine all of the provisions of the
measure and to debate them fully Thi,
will be done, and that debate will be one
which the people of this country would
be we'll advised to follow with close atten-
ton
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