Evening star., 1949-01-23
Committees 10 Start
Work on New Labor
Measures This Week
By james Y. Newton

The House Labor Committee will
60 into high gear this week on new
labor legislation and it is under
stood that members already have
given consideration to solution of
two of the more perplexing prob
lems-prevention of economy-crip-
pling strikes and the routing of
Communists from union leadership.
Chairman Lesinski summoned
Democratic members of his COM
mittee to meeting tomorrow, and
called a session of the full COM
mittee for Wednesday.
The Senate Labor Committee
scheduled an important meeting for
8 pm. tomorrow. 1t was expected
that the committee will work out
its procedures for handling repeal
of the Taft Hartley Act and new
legislation at the session.
Minimum Pay Hearing Set.
The House committee expects to
complete brief hearings by the end
of the week on measure to raise
the statutory minimum wage from
20 cents to rs cents an hour. Hear
ings probably will be completed in
one day, after which the bill will
be reported to the House floor
In writing the draft Of bill to
replace the Taft-Hartley Act, COM
mittee members are finding ways Of
handling so-called national emer-
gency labor disputes, like one at
the coal mines, the most difficult
task.
Majority sentiment seems to favor
doing away with the use of Federal
Court injunctions. so distasteful to
organized labor. which is the main
weapon of the Taft-Hartley Act in
big strikes. In place of the injunc-
ton approach to the problem. the
committee was believed ready to
call for restoration of the Presi-.
dents powers to seize and operate
plants and mines where strikes
would imperil the national health
and safety.
Seizure Solution Unpopular.
The use of seizure as solution
10 the problem is not popular in
the committee, but so far no better
approach, one that would satisfy
both labor and management, has
been found.
Consideration also is being given
to handling the problem of Com
munists in union Offices in way
different from that called for in
the Taft Hartley Act. The present
law requires union officers to file
aff1davits disavowing Communism if
their unions are to receive protec-
ton of Federal law and use facili-
ties of the National Labor Relations
Board
A new approach which is said to
have committee support would put
the handling of Communist inflltra-
ton on a complaint basis. Either a
union or a management would be
given the right to complain to the
NLRB where they believed that an
officer Of a union or company was
q communist. The NLRB would in
vestigate the charge. If it was SUBJ
stantiated, protection Of the new
law and NLRB facilities would be
denied the offending party.
Other Provisions Outlined.
The House Committee minimum
wage measure would empower in
dustry committees to raise the mini
mum as high as 81 an hour, Other
major provisions are:
l. The wage-hour administrator
would have the authority to sue for
back pay due worker. In the
present wage-hour act only an in
dividual may sue.
z. Change the present statute OF
limitation on wage claims to four
years from the present two years.
Congress shortened the period to
two years In the law enacted by the
S0th Congress designed to head off
unfair claims of portal-to-portal
pay.
3. Increase the authority of the
Secretary of Labor over the wage
hour division and its administrator.
4. Elimination of the areas Of
production exemption afforded in
the present law with regard to the
40-hour week to such industries as
fresh fruit and vegetable process
sors. The measure substitutes a
maximum period of IA weeks when
such industries would work en-
ployes more than the legal 40 hours