him to bring pressure against another employer, "hot cargo" agreements (that is, agreements not to handle the goods of another employer), excessive initiation fees and featherbedding. The catalog of unfair labor practices specifically permits primary boycotting. The Taft-Hartley Act created the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, as an independent Government agency, to assist the parties in settling a labor dispute. That law also provided procedures for the issuance of 80-day injunctions to delay strikes or lockouts which are considered by the President (and by the Federal court issuing the injunction) to "affect an entire industry or a substantial part thereof*** and (which), if permitted to continue, will imperil the national health or safety * **" (LMRA, sec. 208(a).) Section 14(b) of NLRA, as amended, serves, in effect, to prohibit the union shop or other union security arrangements permitted by LMRA, in States where State law imposes such a prohibition. Finally, and central to the current controversy, NLRA since its original enactment has contained a provision which provides that the term "employee" shall not include "any individual employed as an agricultural laborer." In addition to this exclusionary definition of the word "employee," the annual appropriation acts providing funding for the National Labor Relations Board contain a provision reading as follows: "Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be available to organize or assist in organizing agricultural laborers or used in connection with investigations, hearings, directives, or orders concerning bargaining units composed of agricultural laborers as referred to in section 2(3) of the Act of July 5, 1935 (29 U.S.C. 152), and as amended by the Labor-Management Relations Act, 1947, as amended, and as defined in section 3 (f) of the Act of June 25, 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203)." [Public Law 92-80.] The definition referred to in this statutory limitation is the definition of agriculture found in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which reads as follows: "(f) 'Agriculture' includes farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as agricultural commodities in section 1141j (g) of title 12), the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market." (29 U.S. Cade 203 (f)). B. PENDING LEGISLATION Of the seven different bills before the subcommittee, three cover all agricultural workers, and four cover employees of only the larger farms. Of the latter, three utilize the 500 man-days test already found in the Fair Labor Standards Act, while one (H.R. 3625) uses the "12 employee, or labor costs of $10,000 or more" test which the Committee on Education and Labor approved in 1968 when it last reported a bill to the House which would have brought agriculture under the NLRA. According to U.S. Department of Labor estimates, something like 495,000 farmworkers would be covered under the 500 man-day test. The H.R. 3625 test would cover 60 percent of the hired farmwork force, on slightly under 1 percent of the farms. Four bills would utilize the National Labor Relations Board. Three would set up new regulatory agencies in this area. Six of the seven bills permit the union shop where not prohibited by State law. One (H.R. 5010) permits the union shop in any State. H.R. 5010 is also the only one of the bills which would permit secondary boycotts and "hot cargo" agreements. One of the proposals (H.R. 1689) prohibits strikes or lockouts altogether, while two others provide for specific "cooling-off periods", invokable by one of the parties. The other four, by bringing farmworkers under LMRA, would make available the 80-day injunction in case of a national emergency strike in agriculture. SUMMARIES OF BILLS H.R. 1410, SPONSORED BY MR. LEGGETT, REFERRED JANUARY 22, 1971, TO HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR To amend the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, to amend the definition of "employee" to include certain agricultural employees, and to permit certain provisions in agreements between agricultural employers and employees. Identical bills (all referred to House Committee on Education and Labor): H.R. 1523, Mr. Reid of New York, January 22, 1971. Coverage: Laborers in agriculture affecting commerce. Provisions: Brings agricultural laborers under coverage of LMRA by striking the present exclusion of these employees in section 2(3) of NLRA. Adds a new section, section 8(g), to NLRA, providing that it shall be an unfair labor practice to make a prehire agreement in agriculture requiring union membership within 7 days of hiring and that priority in hiring may be given to those with seniority with the employer, in the industry or in the particular geographical area. This provision is similar to section 8(f) of the NLRA, covering the building and construction industry. (5) H.R. 1689, SPONSORED BY MR. TALCOTT, REFERRED ON JANUARY 22, 1971, TO THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR The Consumer Agricultural Food Protection Act of 1971. Coverage: An agricultural employee is defined as one who is employed by an agricultural employer, and has been so employed for at least 14 workdays during the preceding calendar month, and has been employed by that employer or another agricultural employer for at least 100 workdays during the preceding calendar year. Agricultural employees are considered such if the employer pays their wages and their work is performed for his benefit, even though there may be a crew leader middleman present. An agricultural employer is one who meets the FLSA 500 man-day test. Provisions: H.R. 1689 makes it unlawful to engage in any secondary boycott of agricultural products, to conduct a primary boycott or to induce an ultimate consumer to refrain from purchasing, consuming or using an agricultural commodity, except where the inducement is limited to the facts and specifically identifies the producer of each such commodity. Permissible inducement does not include publicity which identifies commodities by terms which may include the products of another producer. Also made unlawful is any strike or picketing, or threat to strike or picket where the strike or picketing would result in a cessation of operations necessary to prevent loss, spoilage or deterioration, or reduction in quality or marketability of the commodity or where a collective bargaining agreement is in effect. Organization picketing after a petition has been filed for an election is also made unlawful. Any aggrieved person may bring suit in any U.S. district court for an injunction against any of the above unlawful acts, and may sue for recovery of damages. A subsequent section makes unlawful arson, mass picketing, libel, slander, injury to person or damage to property, or other violent conduct where the object is to prevent the display for sale, selling or transportation of any agricultural commodity. Title II of H.R. 1689 creates a Farm Labor Relations Board, consisting of an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, who shall chair the Board, and two other members, appointed by the President, subject to confirmation, for staggered 10-year terms. There is created a General Counsel of the Board, with the same basic duties as the General Counsel of NLRB. The Board may delegate to regional offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture its duties regarding the determination of appropriate bargaining units, and the conduct of elections, duties which NLRB may delegate to its regional offices. H.R. 1689 list unfair labor practices, generally similar to those found in NLRA; union shop agreements requiring membership within 30 days, where not prohibited by State law, are permitted. The practices made unlawful earlier in the bill are also made unfair labor practices, and it is made an unfair labor practice for a union to fail (6) |