Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

CONGRESS MOVING TO CURB LABOR House Passes Drastic Bill as Senate Debates One; Closed Shop Banned Washington Bureau A sweeping union-control measure, outlawing the closed shop, industry-wide bargaining, jurisdictional strikes and other practices, was passed by the House last week. A similar bill, milder than the House-approved measure, was introduced in the Senate this week and indications are that it stands a better than even chance of winning. First reaction from the entertainment field came early this week when 700 members of AF of L unions in the motion picture and allied fields met at the 46th Street theatre in New York and condemned what it called "the destructive and punitive nature of the legislation pending in Congress." Turn Down Taft Bill The meeting was ordered by the legislative committee of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America, a parent union of 13 constituent organizations in the amusement industries.1 A similar meeting took place at the Selwyn theatre in Chicago where 300 AAAA members met to protest legislative efforts "to crush labor." In the Senate, a coalition of four Democrats and three Republicans turned down the measure introduced by Senate Labor Committee Chairman Taft, but all indications are that the GOP leadership will fight to stiffen the bill on the Senate floor. In any event. Congress will pass a bill considerably tougher than the Case Bill which Mr. Truman vetoed last year. Passage of such a measure will place the President on the horns of this dilemma: If he approves the measure, he estranges his vital union support; if he vetoes it and labor troubles follow, he will probably lose the support of everyone else. Suits Are Permitted Both the approved and the proposed bills have the following provision in common : They ban the closed shop, permit union shops only if approved by 501 per cent of the unit's workers voting by secret ballot; give the Attorney General power to obtain injunctions to halt strikes or lockouts affecting the public welfare ; reorganize the Federal conciliation service and the National Labor Relations Board, and provide for suits against unions for breach of contract and for union registration and reporting under the Secretary of Labor. The House bill, sponsored by Representative Hartley, also includes bans on industry-wide bargaining (bargaining between one union and competing employees for a common contract) and employer contributions to health and welfare funds. These two sections were deleted by the Senate committee from the original Taft version. Both bills would make jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts unfair labor practices, but the Hartley version allows either private employers or the Government to sue unions engaging in such practices, while the Senate bill allows such suits only by the Government. Among other provisions of the Hartley bill are : anti-trust penalties for unions engaging in combinations to fix prices, to allocate customers, or otherwise to restrict production ; a ban on mass picketing, and a ban on Communists or ex-Communists holding union office. NLRB sanction would be withheld from unions with such officers. Special provisions in the Senate committee's bill would bar the NLRB from certifying a union which includes professional employes unless a majority of such workers vote in favor of certification. They also would permit employers to petition for NLRB elections and create a joint HouseSenate committee to study labor-management problems. Ask Truman Veto The New York protest meeting called on President Truman to veto legislation aimed at outlawing industry-wide and nationwide bargaining or the closed shop. At the same time the group passed a resolution welcoming "any attempts to remedy inequities and abuses which may have developed under present legislation," but stating that it would vigorously oppose any attempt to enact new legislation which will make impossible the legitimate functioning of labor unions. Among the speakers 'at the rally were Lawrence Tibbett, chairman of the meeting and president of the American Guild of Musical Artists ; Paul Dullzell, president of the Four A's and representing Actor's Equity; Senator Glen H. Taylor of Idaho, and Henry Jaffe, eastern legal representative of the Screen Actors Guild and counsel for the American Federation of Radio Artists. MPA Members Now Will Receive Two Votes Two votes each for member companies of the Motion Picture Association will be given them at the next board meeting May 8 in New York. Company presidents now hold one vote. Vice-presidents will be given the other votes, it is understood. Such vice-presidents are John J. O'Connor, Universal; Austin Keough, Paramount; Ned E. Depinet, RKO Radio; J. Robert Rubin. Loew's ; Robert Perkins, Warners ; W. C. Michel, 20th Fox; Jack Cohn, Columbia. Green Will Call Meeting to End Hollywood Strike The outlook for an early settlement of the long-standing jurisdictional strike in Hollywood brightened this week when William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, announced he would call a conference of all unions involved in the dispute "in the very near future." Mr. Green said the executive council had instructed him to call the meeting at wmich the unions would be asked to work out means to end the dispute, and set up machinery to prevent future similar strikes. The AF of L head disclosed that, on order of the executive council, he had polled all 12 unions involved in the dispute last February and had found all of them in favor of attending such a conference. Further bright spots appeared in the Hollywood picture last week. Most important was an invitation from Charles Boren, the producers' labor contact, to Joseph V. Cambiano, international representative of the Painters' Union, asking him to meet with the producers' labor committee April 21. Later the meeting was postponed one day. Also on the coast last week, joint committees of the Associated Motion Picture Producers, the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers and the Independent Motion Picture Producers Association met with the Screen Actors Guild. Purpose of the talks was to map procedure for the month-long series of conferences on a new Guild contract to replace the 10-year pact which will expire May 15. Terrytoons, producers of animated cartoons, locked cartoonists out of its New Rochelle, N. Y., plant this week, according to the Screen Cartoonists Local No. 1461. AF of L. The union said negotiations had been going on for two years. There was no comment from the company. In Hollywood, Superior Judge Byron Walters last week sentenced four ringleaders of the mass picketing of the Columbia studio last year to a year in jail. Other penalties ranged from six months in jail to fines from $300 up. The strikers were found guilty of violating a city ordinance and disturbing the peace. Publishes Book on Labor Edward T. Cheyfitz, assistant to Eric A. Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association, has written "Constructive Collective Bargaining," a book on labor and management, which has been published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company. Kellogg SOPEG Vice-President Paul Kellogg, an accountant with RKO Service Corporation, was elected vice-president of the Screen Office and Professional Employees Guild, Local 109, at a New York election April 14. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 26, 1947