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Closed Shop Ruling Puts He asserted, further-that decision conflicts with'the Wag ner Act in that, by requesting em- ployers to make sure that unions Confusion in Labor Picture do not restrict membership in a closed shop, the employers are violating the "unfair practices Labor and indystrial attorneysj I the closed shop contract and then |provision of the labor law.. denied membership to 43 of the According to several attorneys [cision of the U.s. Supreme Court] other union. fect of the new decision is one of will necessitate revision or tote 'In accordance with the con- "comfusion and chaos." Hitherto,! Wagner Act's provisions for tract,. the company was. then lawyers ior both management and 'closed shop" contractsbetween| forced to discharge these 43 em- unions have believed that once an employers' agd ynlont* ployees who were not admitted election has been held, a union Termed "one of the most per- to .union membership. The com- recognized as a bargaining agent, plexing and unsettled decisions in the history of labor legislation," pany protested the discharge on and a closed shop contract signed, the ruling said, in effect, that an the grounds that the loss of such then the company's responsibility a large number of experienced ends insofar as union member- employer may not sign a closed workers would hamper produc- ship is concerned. tion, but the union was adamant. Motives' Under Scratiny. thereby'to 'exclude certain em- Discharges Ruled Out. But, in light of this decision, it ployees from membership in the The Supreme Court then de- is presumed that the employer union because of their prior op- cided that the discharges were il- must examine the "motives"'of position to the union. Iegal, despite the closed shop con- the union before agreeing to a The decision was handed down tract, and ordered the company closed shop provision in the con- Dec. 18 in a 5-4 split. Justice [to reinstate the discharged work- tract, and that he may refuse to Jackson, in dissenting, expressed Ilers and pay, them for the time. beliet that the majority opinion, lost. It also, in essence, abrogated if carried out, "denies the right the closed shop contract, 'in the membership. of each union to control its own eyes of most labor attorneys. Because of this ambiguity of admissions to membership." and Francis. Heisler, counse! for interpretation, labor relations ex- permits the employer to "police'" several C.I.O. unions, declared to- perts agree that the next move is the internal affairs of the union. day that the majority opinion "is up to Congress, which must amend Must Open Roster. not a body blow to labor or to or clarify the National Labor Re- the closed shop, as some attor- lations Act in conformity with Black said, in effect, that an em- the decision. Most unions, Heisler explained, "As things stand now," one at- ployer must see that the union do not restrict their membership Tis in the middle. It he interferes to bargain, after an election had oniy to those who were members and tells the union he won't sign for admission into that certified a contract for a closed shop un- union of all employees, including a contract has been signed, re-! der the law he is guilty of unfair the union's former enemies and gardless of their prior antagonism 1abor practices. rivals. "Contrariwise, if he does not The case arose after an election to the union. compel the union to broaden its Jat the Wallace plant, in which an Called Club on Labor. independent union was the victor eligibility to membership, he is On the other hand, Daniel Car-[ guilty of an unfair labor practice. [over a C.i.o. union in a plant] I mell, counsel for the ilinois and ] under the Supreme Court decision. election. Prior to the election, the company contracted to accep. Toed the majority opinion as Twnat he is to do about the closed ' won the election. After winning. the" independent union executed I shop in their plants. CHICAGO DAILY REWS .D FEB 8 1945 R 55 FEB 10 1945