NATIONAL AND EMERGENCY LABOR DISPUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1952 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE, The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:10 a. m., in the Old Supreme Court room, the Capitol, Senator James E. Murray (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Murray, Neely, Douglas, Humphrey, Lehman, Aiken, and Morse. Also present: William H. Coburn, clerk, full committee; Tom Shroyer, staff, full committee; Jack Barbash, staff director, subcommittee; and Merton C. Bernstein, counsel, subcommittee. The CHAIRMAN. The hearing will come to order. I have an opening statement here which I would like to make. The purpose of this hearing is to consider a bill, S. 2999, introduced by Senator Morse, which amends the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 so as to provide an effective means of coping with labor disputes affecting the public interest and sets out a formal procedure to be followed before seizure by the Government of the business enterprise or enterprises involved in the dispute may be made. The committee will also consider the message of the President of the United States concerning the temporary operation of the steel mills by the Government, which was referred to the committee on April 9. It is not within the scope of this inquiry to make a determination of the legality of the seizure of the steel mills because that is a legal issue and is now before the Federal courts for judicial determination. As a result of these hearings we will be able to furnish the Congress and the public generally with complete and factual information on the background of the steel dispute and of the circumstances which led to the President's order of seizure. These are serious problems and these are serious times. We must seek the facts upon which a correct solution may be based. We must do this without political bias or hysteria. At the commencement of the record, I would like to have inserted the bill, S. 2999, introduced by Senator Morse to amend the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947; the Executive order of the President directing the Secretary of Commerce to take possession of and operate the plants and facilities of certain steel companies; and the President's message to the Congress. 1 (The material referred to is as follows:) [S. 2999, 82d Cong., 2d sess.] 1 A BILL To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, so as to provide a more effective method of dealing with labor disputes in vital industries which affect the public interest Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 206 and 207 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, are amended to read as follows: "SEC. 206. Whenever the President finds that a national emergency is threatened or exists because a stoppage of work has resulted or threatens to result from a labor dispute (including the expiration of a collective-bargaining agreement) in a vital industry which affects the public interest, he shall issue a proclamation to that effect and call upon the parties to the dispute to refrain from a stoppage of work, or if such stoppage has occurred, to resume work and operations in the public interest. "EMERGENCY BOARDS "SEC. 207. (a) After issuing such a proclamation, the President shall promptly appoint a board to be known as an ‘emergency board'. "(b) Any emergency board appointed under this section shall promptly investigate the dispute, shall seek to induce the parties to reach a settlement of the dispute, and in any event shall, within a period of time to be determined by the President but not more than thirty days after the appointment of the board, make a report to the President, unless the time is extended by agreement of the parties, with the approval of the board. Such report shall include the findings and recommendations of the board and shall be transmitted to the parties and be made public. The Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service shall provide for the board such stenographic, clerical, and other assistance and such facilities and services as may be necessary for the discharge of its functions. "(c) An emergency board shall be composed of a chairman and such other members as the President shall determine, and shall have power to sit and act in any place within the United States and to conduct such hearings, either in public or in private, as it may deem necessary or proper, to ascertain the facts with respect to the causes and circumstances of the dispute. "(d) Members of an emergency board shall receive compensation at the rate of $75 for each day actually spent by them in the work of the board, together with necessary travel and subsistence expenses. "(e) For the purpose of any hearing or inquiry conducted by any board appointed under this title, the provisions of sections 9 and 10 (relating to the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents) of the Federal Trade Commission Act of September 16, 1914, as amended (U. S. C. 19, title 15, secs. 49 and 50, as amended), are hereby made applicable to the powers and duties of such board. "(f) Each emergency board shall continue in existence after making its report for such time as the national emergency continues for the purpose of mediating the dispute, should the parties request its services. When a board appointed under this section has been dissolved, its records shall be transferred to the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. "(g) A separate emergency board shall be appointed for each dispute. No member of an emergency board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of employees or in any employer involved in the dispute." SEC. 2. Sections 208, 209, and 210 of such Act are amended to read as follows: "PROCEDURE FOLLOWING PROCLAMATION "SEC. 208 (a) At any time after issuing a proclamation pursuant to section 206 the President may submit to the Congress for consideration and appropriate action a full statement of the case together with such recommendations as he may see fit to make. "(b) In any case in which a strike or lock-out occurs or continues after the issuance of the proclamation pursuant to section 206 the President shall submit 1 This is the bill as introduced. As reported, the bill contained material changes. immediately to the Congress for consideration and appropriate action a full statement of the case, including the report of the emergency board if such report has been made, and such recommendations as he may see fit to make, including a recommendation that the United States take possession of and operate the business enterprise or enterprises involved in the dispute. If the President recommends that the United States shall take possession of and operate such enterprise or enterprises, the President shall have authority to take such action unless the Congress by concurrent resolution within five days after the submission of such recommendation to the Congress determines that such action should not be taken or enacts legislation designed to resolve the dispute and terminate the national emergency if Congres finds such an emergency exists: Provided, That during the period in which the United States shall have taken possession, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the emergency board shall continue to encourage the settlement of the dispute by the parties concerned, and the agency or department of the United States designated to operate such enterprise or enterprises shall have no authority to enter into negotiations with the employer or with any labor organization for a collectivebargaining contract or to alter the wages, hours, or the conditions of employment existing in such industry prior to the dispute, except in conformity with the recommendations of the emergency board or a concurrent resolution of the Congress. If the Congress or either House thereof shall have adjourned sine die or for a period longer than three days, the President shall convene the Congress, or such House for the purpose of consideration of an appropriate action pursuant to such statement and recommendations: Provided further, That the Act entitled "An Act to amend the Judicial Code and to define and limit the jurisdiction of courts sitting in Equity, and for other purposes" (NorrisLaGuardia Act), approved March 24, 1932 (U. S. C., title 29, secs. 101-115), shall be applicable to the United States acting under the provisions of this title unless Congress by concurrent resolution provides otherwise in the particular case. "SEC. 209. (a) In the event that the Government shall take possession of and operate any business enterprise or enterprises involved in a given dispute, the President shall designate the agency or department of Government which shall take possession of any business enterprise or enterprises including the properties thereof involved in the dispute and all other assets of the enterprise or enterprises necessary to such continued operation thereof as will protect the national health or safety. "(b) Any enterprise or properties of which possession has been taken under this title shall be returned to the owners thereof as soon as (1) such owners have reached an agreement with the representatives of the employees in such enterprise settling the issues in dispute between them, or (2) the President finds that the continued possession and operation of such enterprise by the United States is no longer necessary under the terms of the proclamation provided for in section 206: Provided, That possession by the United States shall be terminated not later than sixty days after the issuance of the report of the emergency board unless the period of possession is extended by concurrent resolution of the Congress. "(c) During the period in which possession of any enterprise has been taken under this title, the United States shall hold all income received from the operation thereof in trust for the payment of general operating expenses, just compensation to the owners as hereinafter provided in this subsection, and reimbursement to the United States for expenses incurred by the United States in the operation of the enterprise. Any income remaining shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. In determining just compensation to the owners of the enterprise, due consideration shall be given to the fact that the United States took possession of such enterprise when its operation had been interrupted by a work stoppage or that a work stoppage was imminent; to the fact that the owners or the labor organization, as the case may be, have failed or refused to comply with the recommendations of the emergency board or the conditions determined by the Congress to constitute a just settlement of the dispute; to the fact that the United States would have returned such enterprise to its owners at any time when an agreement was reached settling the issues involved in such work stoppage; and to the value the use of such enterprise would have had to its owners in the light of the labor dispute prevailing, had they remained in possession during the period of Government operation. "(d) Whenever any enterprise is in the possession of the United States under this section, it shall be the duty of any labor organization of which any employees who have been employed in the operation of such enterprise are members, and of the officers of such labor organization, to seek in good faith to induce such employees to refrain from a stoppage of work and not to engage in any strike, slow-down, or other concerted refusal to work, or stoppage of work, and if such stoppage of work has occurred, to seek in good faith to induce such employees to return to work and not to engage in any strike, slow-down, or other concerted refusal to work or stoppage of work while such enterprise is in the possession of the United States. “(e) During the period in which possession of any enterprise has been taken by the United States under this section, the employer or employees or their duly designated representatives and the representatives of the employees in such enterprise shall be obligated to continue collective bargaining for the purpose of settling the issues in the dispute between them. "(f) (1) The President may appoint a compensation board to determine the amount to be paid as just compensation under this section to the owner of any enterprise of which possession is taken. For the purpose of any hearing or inquiry conducted by any such board the provisions relating to the conduct of hearings or inquiries by emergency boards as provided in section 207 of this title are hereby made applicable to any such hearing or inquiry. The members of compensation boards shall be appointed and compensated in accordance with the provisions of section 207 of this title. "(2) Upon appointing such compensation board the President shall make provision as may be necessary for stenographic, clerical, and other assistance and such facilities, services, and supplies as may be necessary to enable the compensation board to perform its functions. "(3) The award of the compensation board shall be final and binding upon the parties, unless within thirty days after the issuance of said award, either party moves to have the said award set aside or modified in the United States Court of Claims in accordance with the rules of said court. "SEC. 210. When a dispute arising under this title has been finally settled, the President shall submit to the Congress a full and comprehensive report of all the proceedings, together with such recommendations as he may see fit to make." SEC. 3. (a) The amendment made by the first section of this Act shall not apply with respect to any dispute existing on the date of enactment of this Act. (b) The amendment made by section 2 of this Act shall apply with respect to any dispute existing on the date of enactment of this Act, and, for such purposes (1) any reference in such amendment to an emergency board shall be deemed to refer to any existing board of inquiry appointed pursuant to section 206 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, and (2) a proclamation authorized to be issued pursuant to section 206 of such Act, as amended by this Act, shall be deemed to have been issued in any case in which any such board of inquiry has been appointed. SEC. 4. The provisions of this Act shall not be applicable with respect to any matter which is subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended from time to time. Immediate Release. APRIL 8, 1952. EXECUTIVE ORDER DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE TO TAKE POSSESSION OF AND OPERATE THE PLANTS AND FACILITIES OF CERTAIN STEEL COMPANIES Whereas on December 16, 1950, I proclaimed the existence of a national emergency which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible to the end that we may be able to repel any and all threats against our national security and to fulfill our responsibilities in the efforts being made throughout the United Nations and otherwise to bring about a lasting peace; and Whereas American fighting men and fighting men of other nations of the United Nations are now engaged in deadly combat with the forces of aggression in Korea, and forces of the United States are stationed elsewhere overseas for the purpose of participating in the defense of the Atlantic Community against aggression; and Whereas the weapons and other materials needed by our armed forces and by those joined with us in the defense of the free world are produced to a |