Evening star., 1953-12-04
New Labor Law
|PIan Is Readied
Administration Has
Three-Port Program
Of Major Revisions
By jones Y. Newton

BY jones 7. Newton
The administration is shaping
a three-part labor legislation pro-
gram for submission to Congress
in January which would provide
for rather extensive revision of
the Taft-Hartley Act and liberal
ization of the wage-hour and un-
employment insurance laws.
While agreement among vari-
Gus Executive Branch officials has
not, by any means, been obtained
on all details of the program,
enough is known of the ad-
ministration thinking to give a
definite idea of what the program
will include.
President Eisenhower will out
line the program in his early
January State of the Union
message to Congress. But, be-
cause of the space and time re-
quired to detail the program, par
ticularly the part concerning
Taft Hartley, there probably will
be a follow-up special labor
message.
Will Talk to Leaders.
Administration views in gen.
eral on labor legislation will be
made known to Republican con-
gressional leaders when the
President meets with them to go
over the entire legislative pro-
gram week after next. But
whether the labor program will
be complete in detail by that
time was very much in doubt.
On Taft-Hartley revision, the
administration program will not
go so far toward satisfying the
wishes of organized labor as the
controversial 19-point working
paper" drawn up by the White
House last summer. But most
of the 19 points, with some not
able exceptions. likely will be in
corporated in the recommended
tions to Congress. In couple
of respects, the program may go
beyond the 19-point paper. For
example, the administration may
ask that the Governments dis
pute-handling agency, the Me-
diation and Cancellation Service.
be returned to the Labor Depart
ment from its present inde-
pendent status.
On the wage-hour law, if pres
ent plans are carried through,
the President will ask for an in
crease of the present 75-cents-
an-hour minimum wage and
considerably broader coverage of
the wage-4O- hour week law. The
effort will be made to raise the
minimum wage to 90 cents, and
to extend coverage to that many
more millions of workers may be
brought under the law. Some
what more than 20 million of the
63 million employed people of
the country are now covered.
Secretary of Labor Mitchell indl-
Gated recently that another 18
million were exempt because Of
the general language of the law
or because specific language ex-
empted the industries or work
places where they were en-
! ployed.
Insurance Liberalization Seen.
The administration will make
a strong effort to have the un-
employment insurance program
liberalized. The part of the pro-
gram, as we'll as the changes to
be sought in the wage-hour law,
are looked upon as hedges
against any serious economic de-
f1ation and depression.
The amount and duration OF
unemployment payments are set
/ by the various States. But in
most cases the present maxi
NUNS as to size and time are
regarded as inadequate when
judged by present-day stand
ards, Maximum payments now
vary from SIG a week in several
States, to a high of $35 in
Alaska MAXIMUM duration of
benefits run from 261a weeks in
Wisconsin down to 16 weeks in
a number of States.
A strong appeal will be made,
particularly to the "laggard'
States, to bring their programs
up to par. Under present plans
this will be part of the Presi-
dents message.
The Federal law does set GER
! (See LABOR, Page A-30