What’s Really Wrong
With The T-H Act
(Continued Frew Pift 1) .
tively new in the telephone in
dustry, and the telephone unions
do not have the strength of some
of our other great labor organi
zations. In their negotiations
they are confronted by the
world’s largest monopoly — the
world’s richest corporation.
The Beir Telephone System, of
course, is a great and wonderful
industrial and financial creation.
A11.,Americans (an well be proud
of its achievements. The man
agement of the Bell System con
sists of splendid gentlemen and
fine citizens. In some respcets
they have been most progressive
in their personnel policy. As
long ago as 191S the Bell com
panies established fc" pension sys
tem for all their employes: All
of the employes, -from the presi
dent of the A. T. A T. to the new
operator, are governed in their
pension rights by the same pro
visions. The same formula is
used to compute the annual pen
sion of $96,000 which goes to the
past president of A. T. & T. and
the $100 a month less social se
curity benefits, which goes to
the lowest paid employes.
Throughout the fall of 1949 all
of the telephone unions were ne
gotiating with this respective
managements, demanding in
creases in minimum pensions. The
management uniformly denied
the necessity for any increase.
Then suddenly, in November,
1949, without negotiating with
the unions, without conferring
with them about it, without even
intimating a willingness to agree
upon an increase, the Bell Sys
tem from top to bottom, from ■
the greatest to the smallest com- i
pany, unilaterally increased the
pensions.
Now, it so happens that the
Labor Board and the courts have
frequently said that a unilateral
increase in pensions is an unfair'
labor practice. Consequently,
practically all of the unions, af
filiated and unaffiliated, filed un
fair labor practice charges.
All of these unions are right
wing, anti-Communist unions, AH
of them have effective constitu
tional means of expelling Com
miunists from their ranks. None
of them has ever been accused
of having the slightest tinge of
pink. And yet this is wint hap
pened under the Taft-Hartley
Act:
The late general counsel de
cided that in order for a union
to be in compliance, every officer
in each bargaining unit must, on
''"’the day of the alleged unfair la
bor practices have on file a non
Communist affidavit. The unions
have testified that this kind of
unanimous compliance is. at least
in the telephone industry, physi
cally impossible. An election in
some local is held almost every
day in the year. Sometimes a
lineman is fifty miles from home
when he is elected president. The
act of compliance is a tedious
exercise in cutting through red
tape.
TO i%sult was, that In evary
single bargaining unit which had
filed an unfair labor practice, the
general counsel was able to ftnd
some officer not in compliance on
the date when the unilateral in
crease in pensions occurred. It
was either a local or a division
or a regional or an international
officer who had not yet found
tithe to file his affidavit, and the
general counsel ordered each and
every unfair labor charge dis
missed. and they were so dis
missed.
This seems to me a gross per
version of legislation designed to
curb communism. Here Is a sec
tion of an act which was intend
ed to discourage communism,
which is twisted oy technicalities
to frustrate completely the ef
forts of anti-Communist unions
to assert their rights under the
very same act. This is just bne
example out of many. Their rec
ords of our sub-committee are
full of such examples and they
emphatically point up the fact
that organised labor is crippled
and strait-jacketed by the act of
legislative hypocrisy known as
the Taft-Hartley Act
Our investigations into specif
ic cases will continue. Moreover,
t think it is vitally necessary
to take a careful look at|the ad
ministration of the act, not only
by the gbneral counsel’s offic<
but also by the Board. For soiw
time I have been concerned about
some of the policies the Board
has been following- which do not
seem to be required by the lan
guage of the Taft-Hartl- y Law
but which neverthless, appear to
be having a harmful effect on
the collective bargaining process
and the enforcement of the Taft
Hartley Act.
A few weeks ago I told tho
delegates at the I. T. U. conven*
tion in Washington that the sub
committee should “find out why
Denham and the Board refus*
to discuss the question of volun
tary compliance with the I. T. U.
when at the same time the Board
works out with employers settle
| ments short' of the court decree
! stage—even in the case of em
| ployers who in the past have
, been found guilty of repeated
violations of the law.”
“We've heard a lot about the
' mutuality” of the Taft-Hartley
'law” I said. “I think it would
be a good thing to check on
whether there is mutuality in
the enforcement of orders issued
under it.”
There are other aspects to this
problem of even-handed enforce
ment of the law which I am con
vinced our Labor-Management
Subcommittee should look into
The Board itself is ultimately re
sponsible for seeking proper en
forcement of its orders, and it is
disturbing to me to receive re
ports from responsible sources
that cast doubt on the Board’s
impartiality and fairness in this
respect. We ought to inquire
into the matter and either ex
pose any injustice or dissipate
the suspicion if it is unfounded.
* • *
I am confident the great
patriotic record that Amreican
labor made in World Wars I and
II will be repeated, with even
greater glory to itself, for the
duration of the crisis which now
confronts us. Organised labor
in our country is one of the great
citadels of democratic processes.
It is one of the grent strengths
of self-government. It is chal
lengd today to place the national
interest above its immediate sel
fish interests, and the proceedings
of this great conventh n are clear
proof that American labor will
meet that challenge again, as it
always has, when the national
Hterest has called for a united
front in defense of the democrat
ic way o life.
I have said these things not to
please you, not to offend you, btfl
from a deep-seated conviction
that they need to be said. I
have said them not to ask you
to agree with me. because I nev
er ask for agreement. I ask only
that my fellow citizens think
with me about the great prob
lems that confront the Congress
and the duties that rest upon the
men who are elected to carry out
our system of representative gov
ernment.
I intend to go forward with
the political experiment which I
have been carrying on the ex
periment as to whether or .not in
the Republican Party
survive, jppd egefowi
independence of judgment on the
merits of issues in accordance
with the facts as he finds them.
ATOM AND TV EXPLAINED
PITTSBURGH. (ATLA8) —
The strange mysteries of atomic
energy, jet propulsion, televisior
that a 12-year old can understand
and what not is all explained sc
in a comic book just relei
Westinghouse Electiic
the cartooned
the 16-page publication
entitled, “How Does It Work’
v as prepared by the Weating
house school service department
for use as a teaching aid in jun
ior at.d senior high schools.
JOIN "“MARCH Of DIMES
Green Calb For
i Aid In Polio Drive
• •
William Green, president of
the American Federation of La
bor today urged the organisa
tion's multi-million members to
support the 1951 March of Dimes
in January and declared ^hat"'the
American public cannot afford to
relax its vigil against the dread
ful toll, of this disease.’*
In a message to Basil O'Con
nor, president of the National
Foundation for Infantile Paraly
sis, Mr. Green asserted that the
membership of the AFL is keen
ly aware of the havoc wrought
by the 1950 polio epidemic.sec
ond wont in the nation’s history.
“We appreciate the excellent
services at the Labor Service Di
vision and the local chapters of
the National Foundation," he
wrote. “Our members and their
families stricken with polio are
the chief beneficiaries of your
program."
In his appeal to AFL com
ponents, Mr. Green referred to
the recent announcement by Mr.
O’Connor that tlje 1981 March of
Dimes must raise at least $50,-,
000,000 to meet the current stag
gering costs of polio patient care
—the result of three consecutive,
years of record-breaking polio'
eepidemlcs.
During these three years, Mr.
Green recalled, more than 100,000
Declare fear independence by
knw4tiw TiulanaM^dAM
buying umpenoMr* jhhhu.
Don't rank* a bonilr* out of your
«o* ju«t to aeaia away a ayookl
6 \
..
DIMES
JANUARY 11*11
FPtDEMKNO
EDUCATION
ttSEAfiCH
RALEIGH - DURHAM
SMIJHFIELD
H6GLY WI66LY STORES
"FOR BETTER FOODS"
Now- a*painle$$* wajjfcr^oo-fasave money!
V S»
$4,999—cash—in your name! Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
You can have It, juat ae surely as you’re reading this page, if
youetart this simple 3-*tep plan and stick with it.
1. Deckle today to pvt saving Art#—before you even
•each year pay.
2. Decide to save lydometfcoiy—a definite small sum
deducted every week. System is the secret! • /
9. Decide to save eMomatroagy. Sign up today at your
apmpeny’s payroll eMee in the Payroll Savings Plan.
Have the amount you cheese saved weekly and In
vested for you In U. $. Savings tends. Then stop worry
leg about saving—H’s all token care of!
If you can set aside just |7.50 from your pay each week, in 5
years your and interest will be worth $2,009.02 in cash;
in 10 years you’ll have $4,329.02!
Bonds or* like cosh —only better
U. S. Savings Bonds are just like money. Because any Series E
Bond you’ve had for 60 or more days can be cashed like cashing
a check—at any bank or other authorised paying agency.
U.<S. Savings Bonds are better than money. Becauee if you leas
cash, it’s gone. But if a bond is lost or destroyed, the Treasury
will replace it for you free of charge—and you haven’t lost a cent!
Mali* the money you work for rooNy work for you
try’f too, SAV* lMoS *OHOS
, your country * $
^.. security, «nd y porcho*e of «
** yoWr trough refl»*'ar yU .
©
tfrlWG COM*A*Vc
. . «*tw
Hi ^ 3t-,h Cattins Co,ds
L1H10 bo* si*‘ T°