Evening star., 1953-05-12
Labor Act Continues
To Be Thorny Problem
Plan Seeks to Amend Law
On the Less Disputed Points
The Political Mil

Plan Seeks to Amend Law
On the Less Disputed Points
BY Gould Lincoln
Amending the Taft-Hartley Labor Act
is turning out to be almost as tough
a problem under the Eisenhower adj
ministration as its repeal was under
the Truman administration. There was
no repeal. IF there is any amendment
Of the law-which even its authors ad-
NIT is advisable-it will probably be
in line with procedure recommended
by Senator Smith of New Jersey, chair
man Of the Committee on Labor and
Public Welfare. The New Jersey SEN
ator's proposal has been from the be-
ginning to ascertain first the SUBJ
jectS on which agreement may be had,
and then to work on those in the field
Of disagreement. His present plan
looks to reporting out q bill proposing
amendments in the first category-and
get 1t through at this session Of Con-
gress. or certainly in the proposed
October session.
In other words. Chairman Smith is
proposing a continuing operation, with
subjects not dealt with at the present
session to be taken up at later date
but to get some things done now. His
committee has concluded its public
hearings-and so has the House Com
mittee on Education and Labor, Of which
Representative Mcconnell of Pennsyl-
vania is chairman. Chairman McCon.
nell expects his committee to meet in
executive session next week and tackle
the job of writing bill. Senator Smith
will ask the Senate committee to start
drafting legislation, too.
Views Are Outspoken.
A danger-and it is not minimized
by some members of the House COM
mittee-lies in the strong pro and con
views of some of the committee mem.
bers over such subjects as a ban on
industry-wide bargaining by labor and
the abolition of the union shop, thereby
extending the ban already placed on
the closed shop by the Taft-Hartley
Act. There are drastic proposals, too.
In regard to the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, which some members Of
the committee insist has been a bad
operator" and biased in favor Of labor
in a large percentage of the cases
NAOA0AV NCAOAC ~. "A N1Ad1 &c 10 I1uuO
that the board, as an organization, iS
still permeated with New Dealers. pref
udiced in favor of the unions even be.
fore case is considered.
Various proposals are under conSid.
GRAFTON regarding the board. Among
them is one to increase the membership
of the board from five to nine, thereby
making it possible to change the ma
inVifu offif1Y(o II; %
board. Another Is to limit the opera
ton Of the board to administration
such as conducting elections in plants
when demanded. The idea would be
to throw major disputes into the courts
for determination, instead of leaving
them to be handled by the Labor Rela-
tions Board. A less drastic approach
would be to leave the board with semi
judicial powers, but to separate from
it the prosecuting officers.
On the Senate side, Chairman Smith
has proposed to turn back to the States
the handling Of all labor management
disputes arising in public utilities and
in the building trades, on the theory
that public utilities and building trades
operations are almost entirely intra-
State, not interstate. and strikes or
lockouts involving them should be
dealt with by the States. under State
laws. His proposal has raised immedi.
ate protest from labor, which leads to
the comment that the Taft-Hartley Act
is not, after all, "slave labor act" as
charged by its critics. Also the belief
is expressed that the States, rather
than the Federal Government. should
deal with picketing, and see that 1t is
peaceful. e..
Senator Ives. Republican, Of New
York has stirred the already boiling
cauldron to white heat by proposing
an anti-discrimination amendment to
the labor law, striking at diScrimina.
ton because Of race, color, religion,
national origin or ancestry in hiring
and upgrading employees 1t is regarded
as new approach to a Federal FEPC
law. If a serious effort is made to at
tach the Ives amendment to a labor
bill, the result will be a prolonged fill
buster in the Senate by Democrats from
the South.
Union Shop Ban Sought.
Strong feeling in support of ban
on the union shop exists among some
members of the House committee-so
strong that it may make any legislation
dif6cult-and also in support of ban
on industry wide bargaining by labor
unions. 1ndustry-wide bargaining was
banned by the House itself, when it
passed the Hartley bill originally-and
the ban went out in conference with
the Senate.
The administration has still to dis
close its attitude on many of the pro.
posed amendments to the Taft-Hartley
Act. Secretary of Labor Durkin, him
self labor union leader before his ap-
pointment to the cabinet has conferred
with the committee chairmen and
members Of the committee, but he has
not appeared as witness at the hear
ingS.
Notwithstanding the gloom with
which some members Of Congress view
the situation, the effort to bring out
and pass legislation amending the Taft
Hartley Act will continue.