Rigid Bill To Control U.S. Trade Unions

Northern Advocate, 19 April 1947, Page 7

Rigid Bill To Control U.S. Trade Unions

WASHINGTON, April 17. In spite of threats of a presidential veto, the House of Representatives today passed the most rigid trade union, control bill in American labour history. The bill was passed by 308 votes to 107. The measure outlaws closed shop contracts and industry-wide bargaining, which are two of the cardinal precepts of American labour doctrine, and is the fruition of a Republican campaign pledge. The measure raises a major political issue for the 1948 presidential campaign. The House rejected many amendments designed to soften the bill, but accepted several bolstering it. One amendment adopted prohibits Federal employees from striking • or encouraging a strike under penalty of losing their jobs and all civil service rights. COMMUNISTS BARRED Another penalises a trade union having an officer who is or ever has been a Communist or Communist sympathiser. “National paralysis” strikes, of which the current telephone strike is an example, are prohibited during a mediation period lasting about 75 days in the first instance and then capable of being further delayed by injunction. Opponents claimed that it would destroy labour and the American standard of living and guarantee industrial .slavery. The measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate where a majority is expected to insist on more moderate legislation. The House of Representatives majority was more than the two-thirds required to override a presidential veto.