Republic and Relief

To the great annoyance of the National Labor Relations Board, Manhattan Lawyer Frederick Hill Wood last April convinced the U. S. Supreme Court that defendants haled before quasi-judicial Federal agencies have a right to study and answer preliminary findings before final decisions are issued. Having followed an earlier Supreme Court opinion and withheld this right from such Wagner Act defendants as Ford Motor Co., Inland Steel Co., Republic Steel Corp., NLRB hastily patched its procedure by vacating the erroneous orders. Last week NLRB completed its patchwork on the Republic case by issuing a new decision.

This order, paralleling the original findings, accused Republic and its Chairman Tom Girdler of suppressing unionism, violently combating the violent Little Steel strikes of 1937, otherwise violating the Wagner Act (TIME, April 18). But for good measure the board fished one new point out of its bag of barbs.

As in the first order, NLRB commanded Republic to rehire or offer reinstatement to about 5,000 strikers (if necessary, replacing workers hired since the strikes ended). Some must receive accrued back wages. Some must be paid a full wage if they are not rehired or placed on a preferential re-employment list within five days after applying for jobs. In this underwritten host are many who have found other jobs, worked part time, been on relief. NLRB, following its custom, permitted Republic to deduct from back-wage payments any amounts earned from other sources. But NLRB made a new ruling: if the money came from relief, Republic may not keep it.

Said NLRB: "To hold that the losses accruing from the respondent's [Republic's] unfair labor practices must be borne by the government or governments financing the work-relief projects would not effectuate the purposes of the [Wagner] Act. . . ."

In its prompt appeal to the Third U. S. Circuit Court in Philadelphia, Republic said it could not see what this had to do with enforcing the Wagner Act.

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