Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-07
Labor Legislation

In his March q column,
Gould Lincoln. in referring
to the legislative recommen-
dations of the Senate Select
Committee headed by Sena-
tor Mcclellan, observed that:
Apparently the labor leaders
want none Of these propos-
ais"
The committee made five
legislative recommendations.
Labor had urged adoption
of the first long before there
was a Mcclellan committee.
Last year labor Endorsed a
proposal that meets much of
the committees second rec
ommendation. Labor has
taken self-regulatory steps
to meet the third proposal.
The fourth proposal. labor
said. was actually window
dressing to protect employers
guilty of corrupt acts. The
fifth proposal was in an area
that had not been explored
by the committee in any
depth and actually touches
on a problem that labor has
brought before every Con-
gress since the enactment Of
Taft-Hartley.
Mr.. Lincoln seems to as
sumo that unless the ALL
CLIO is willing to buy the en-
tire package. without quail
fication. then it has rejected
everything. That is. indeed,
a strange concept Of the leg
islative process in a democ-
racy.
Let me repeat President
Meany's comments on the
Mcclellan committees FIVE
legislative recommendations.
Mr.. Meany said:
LAS to the five legislative
recommendations of tn e
committee, let the record
show:
al. The trade union move
ment long before the estab-
hshment of this committee
pleaded for enactment Of dis
closure legislation in the field
of pension and welfare plans.
The AFL-CIO urged both par
ties at. the 1856 conventions
to add this plank to their
platforms. Neither did. De-
spite the committees infer
ence that management gen.
orally is supporting this
measure, the fact is that this
legislation has been blocked
to date by the opposition OF
the employer groups and the
insurance lobby. and every
member of the committee Is
fully aware Of this opposi-
ton.
80. The trade union move
ment supported s. J. Res. "a.
which passed the Senate in
1857 and Is still pepding in
the House, to make public
union financial statements
now required under the Taft
Hartley Act.
"3. The AFL CLIO h a S
adopted codes Of ethical prac-
tees dealing with union de-
mocracy and ordered these
codes to become mandatory
as Of April Is. 1858. No SINH
lar action has been taken by
business or by the bar as
ISOLATION, despite the fact
that the committee exposed
the unethical practices Of
business in the labor-man-
agement field and the un-
ethical actions Of some law
yers working with business
and labor leaders against the
interest of workers. Yet. in
the committees first report,
the trade union movement is
singled out for a sensational
smear.
-. The committees con-
Germ with curbing the ac-
tivities of middle men is a
clear attempt to absolve en-
ployers who are bribe-givers.
Shefferman's clients knew
what he Was doing. They paid
for what they got. Yet the
committee has not investi-
gated his list of clients to see
how many. II any, have cam
celled their contracts after
his nefarious activities were
disclosed.
IS. The no mans land
section deserves no comment.
II is clearly not in the COM
mittee's Jurisdiction. No EVIL
dence on this point has been
put forward"
Obviously, the facts do not
hear out Mr.. Lincoln's obser-
walton.
Andrew Biemiller,
Director.
Department OF Legislation,
nj H1YN