Atlanta Daily World

NLRB Hearing Asked On Two National Cases

WASHINGTON, D. C.— A request that the National Labor Relations Board grant oral hearings in two cases, Larus and Brother, Company Inc., and General Motors Corp, was filed October 1 by Judge William H. Hastie in behalf of the National Lawyers Guild and the NAACP.

In the Larus case, involving tobacco workers in Richmond, Va., the NLRB has given joint certification to two racially segregated local unions, one composed of white workers and the other of Negro workers.

In the General Motors case there is a motion pending to rescind the certification of a racially segregated local. Judge Hastie's letter said:

CRITICAL STAGE

"These two cases bring to a critical stage the question of the status to be accorded labor organizations which seek the statutory benefits of the National Labor Relations Act and at the same time discriminate against workers because of race or color. This Board permitted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to file a brief and to be heard when one aspect of this nationally important controversy was before the Board in the Bethlehem Alameda Shipyard, Inc., Case No. R-5693.

The interest and concern of the Association has been expressed to the Board in subsequent cases. Moreover, with increasing demand for the amendment of the National Labor Relations Act, the Association is concerned that the effectiveness of the present act not be weakened by construction inconsistent with its purpose.

"The National Lawyers Guild was heard as a friend of the Board in an earlier stage of the LARUS case. Its interest and concern are even greater now than then because of the decision rendered by the Board in this case."