The Potters Herald

Industry Bucking
Union Drives All
Out, Report Show

Washington (FP) Employer resistance to unions exercising their right to bargain collectively under the Wagner act took a sharp turn upward during October, and NLRB report of its activities for the month showed.

Released Dec. 9, the report revealed the terrific work-load borne by an economy-slashed NLRB staff, in the face of union organizing drives countered by determined industry resistance to unionization.

The report calls attention to these facts:

1. More charges of unfair labor practices were filed than in any one month in the last eight and a half years.

2. Charges of employer refusal to bargain increased 100 per cent over the number of such charges in September.

3. The number of collective bargaining elections conducted, 726, was the highest in the NLRB's 11-year history.

4. The number of cases filed was of record proportion, surpassed only by the number filed in August, 1946.

5. By the end of October, 5,552 cases were awaiting action at various procedural levels. This backlog represents an increase of 54 per cent over the number of cases pending one year ago.

Of 1,628 cases filed during the month, 65 per cent were petitions for election, and the rest were charges of unfair labor practices.

Most frequent unfair labor practice charge was discrimination against workers for union activity or membership, which made up 65 per cent of the total. Failure to bargain charges were another 25 per cent.

American workers cast almost 54,000 ballots in favor of representation by some labor organization, 74 per cent of all ballots cast in 726 NLRB polls. AFL affiliates won 273.