For Labor: A Compromise

President Eisenhower's recommendations on labor law, which went to Congress this week, were cut out of the same cloth as his State of the Union message. He recognized that the Wagner Act, passed "by bipartisan majorities" in 1935, was necessary to protect the workingman. He noted that the Taft-Hartley Act, passed "by bipartisan majorities"*i n 1947, was necessary to cope with the new power of unions. Taft-Hartley is sound legislation, Eisenhower said, but experience gained under it "indicates that changes can be made to reinforce its basic objectives."

The President's proposed amendments are a compromise between what labor and management want. They lean to labor's side, but not nearly enough to satisfy labor leaders. Among the recommendations:

P: Secondary boycotts (using economic pressure against one employer to win a dispute with another) are "indefensible." But the law's sweeping ban on secondary boycotts should be amended to permit union action against 1) an employer who is performing farmed-out work for a struck employer, and 2) any employer on a construction site where another employer with a contract on the same site is struck. Also, the National Labor Relations Board should merely be permitted, not required, to seek an injunction in secondary-boycott cases. P: The law's provisions against union busting should be strengthened. P: Neither union nor management should be permitted to open a contract for new negotiations during a contract's term unless the contract specifies that it can be reopened or unless both parties consent. P: In cases of strikes which create a national emergency, the President should be able to require that his fact-finding board make specific recommendations for settling the dispute.

P:In the construction, amusement and maritime industries, where employment is usually casual, temporary or intermittent, the law's ban on the closed shop should be relaxed. Employers and unions in these industries should be permitted to enter into agreements under which the union will be treated as the employees' representative, even before any employees are hired.

P:A union should not be held responsible for an act of an individual member solely because of his membership in the union. ,CJ The provision which requires union officials to sign non-Communist affidavits should be extended to employers. P: Congress should make clear that the right of free speech, as defined in the law, applies equally to labor and management. P: There should be a Government-supervised secret vote of the union members on whether they want to strike.

CJ An employee s authorization for a check-off of dues should be valid for the full life of the union-management contract, rather than for only one year.

In addition, the President looked forward to amendments on two other phases of the law: 1) he asked Congress to study methods of providing greater safeguards for the money paid into union welfare funds, and 2) he said the Administration is studying means of drawing a clear line between state and federal jurisdiction in labor disputes.

For the Wagner Act: in the Senate, 49 Democrats, twelve Republicans; in the House, an overwhelming voice vote. For Taft-Hartley: in the Senate, 47 Republicans. 21 Democrats; in the House, 215 Republicans, 93 Democrats.

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