TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The last year of administration of the Wagner Act.. II. The National Labor Relations Act in practice: Representation III. The National Labor Relations Act in practice: Unfair labor prac- E. List of cases heard during the period July 1-August 21, 1947- F. List of cases in which the Board rendered decisions during the period 1. Number of cases received, closed, and pending during the fiscal year 1947, by identification of complainant or petitioner.. 2. Distribution of cases and workers involved in cases received during the fiscal year 1947, by month.. 3. Types of unfair labor practices alleged in charges received during 4. Distribution of cases received during the fiscal year 1947 and percent increase or decrease compared with the fiscal year 1946, by 5. Distribution of cases received during the fiscal year 1947, by 11. Types of elections and cross checks conducted during the fiscal year 12. Results of elections and cross checks conducted during the fiscal 72 15. Number of elections and cross checks, number eligible to vote, and number of votes cast for participating unions during the fiscal 16. Number of elections and cross checks and number eligible to vote, and valid votes cast, during the fiscal year 1947, by industry- 17. Number of elections and cross checks and number of votes cast for participating unions during the fiscal year 1947, by State- - - - Tables Appearing in Appendix B THE LAST YEAR OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE WAGNER ACT THE functioning of the National Labor Relations Board under the Wagner Act, which became effective on July 5, 1935, came to an end on midnight August 21, 1947. On the following day, the Board entered upon its vastly increased domain of activity under the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947. Thus, the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1947, became the last full year of operation under the Wagner Act. The past year was one of unprecedented activity for the Board: More cases were received than in any of the agency's preceding 11 years. More cases were handled to conclusion than in any similar period. The Board was called upon to express its views in writing and in oral testimony on many of the bills that were introduced in the Eightieth Congress. During the past year the Board performed its statutory functions to the best of its ability, but it was hampered by an unprecedently large case load and a limited appropriation. Unsettled labor-management relations growing out of the postwar reconversion period continued to form the basis for the perpetuation of a heavy work load. The Board continued to effectuate its dual tasks of (1) remedying and eliminating employers unfair labor practices which impeded collective bargaining, and (2) providing the means whereby controversies as to the choice of bargaining representative by employees could be resolved. The effects of the National Labor Relations Act were demonstrated by the relatively small number of organizational strikes that occurred in 1946. The act was designed specifically to reduce industrial strife arising from disputes concerning union organization and recognition; it was not framed to deal with disputes arising from differences as to the substantive content of labor agreements, such as wages, hours, and working conditions. Although 1946 was characterized by a heavy strike wave, mainly over wages, strife of the type that the Wagner Act was devised to mitigate constituted only a small proportion of total strike activity. Strikes falling within the purview of the Wagner Act accounted for less than 12 percent of the workers involved in all 1946 strikes and represented about 15 percent of the total time lost in work stoppages. Almost 15,000 new cases were filed with the National Labor Relations Board in the year ended June 30, 1947. This was an all-time high, even exceeding the previous record-breaking total of 12,260 cases filed in the prior fiscal year. In August 1946 the Board received more new cases than in any month in its 12-year history. After the peak of 1,662 new cases received in that month, the monthly case input declined somewhat and then leveled off for the rest of the fiscal year. The average number of new cases received in the period from January to June 1947 approximated 1,100 per month. Two kinds of cases arose under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, "representation cases" and "unfair labor practice" cases. Representation cases were instituted by petitions filed by unions or employers, requesting Board action to determine whether or not workers wished to select representatives to engage in collective bargaining. Unfair labor practice cases arose from charges filed by unions or employees alleging that employers had committed unfair labor practices. These included such charges as discrimination against an employee because of his union membership or activity, promotion of a "company union," refusal to recognize a union which represented a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. (See Ninth Annual Report, ch. II, for explanation of procedures in case handling.) Both types of cases handled by the Board were received in greater volume in the past fiscal year than in fiscal 1946. A total of 4,232 unfair labor practice cases were received or about 11 percent more than during the previous year (3,815). The number of representation cases rose to 10,677 from the previous year's figure of 8,445, an increase of about 26 percent. Continuing a trend established in recent years, unfair labor practice cases constituted a decreasing proportion of total cases received. Only about 28 percent of the year's cases involved unfair labor practices, as compared with 31 percent for the previous year. The proportion of representation cases thus rose from 69 to about 72 percent. However, in absolute numbers, each year since 1945 has been characterized by an increase in the number of unfair labor practice cases. A continuation of the trend in the proportional relationship between the two kinds of cases resulted in the last 2 years from the substantially increasing volume of representation cases, rather than from the decline in the number of unfair labor practice cases that characterized the years from 1942 through 1945. Almost two-thirds of charges brought in the past fiscal year asserted that employers had committed some act of illegal discrimination against employees or applicants for employment. Alleged refusal to bargain was next in number, accounting for about 32 percent of the charges. Sponsorship of "company unions" or other illicit assistance to labor organizations was charged in only about 7 percent of cases, a lower proportion than in any prior year. More cases were closed in the past fiscal year than in any prior similar period; 14,456 cases were disposed of, as compared with the previous high of 11,741 in 1942. Over 83 percent of the cases were closed in the past fiscal year by informal means usually in the regional offices. Such informal settlements meant tremendous savings of time and money for management, labor, and the Government, and also made for improved future labor relations through avoidance of protracted litigation. The Board closed 4,014 unfair labor practice cases in the past year, disposing of 3,722, or almost 93 percent of the total, by informal means. About 74 percent of the unfair labor practice cases were closed in the past year through withdrawal of the charge by the charging party or dismissal by the Board. Of a total of 10,442 representation cases closed during the same period, 8,331, or almost 80 percent, were adjusted without formal proceedings. During the past year 1,030 unfair labor practice cases were closed through adjustment or compliance with formal recommendations or directives. Compliance actions taken by employers in these cases included the reinstatement of over 4,000 illegally discharged workers, as well as of 964 individuals who participated in strikes found to have been caused by employers' unfair labor practices. Employers also distributed $1,104,660 in back pay to 2,656 workers against whom illegal discrimination had been practiced. In 658 cases, notices were posted by employers advising their employees that they would refrain from committing certain unfair labor practices and would take the affirmative action ordered by the Board. Employers disestablished unions found to be company-dominated in 36 cases. The Board conducted 6,920 elections in order to determine whether and by whom employees desired to be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining. Several types of elections and cross checks were employed by the Board. (See Ninth Annual Report, ch. II, and Eleventh Annual Report, pp. 6-8, for description of the various kinds of elections and cross checks conducted by the Board.) Of the 6,920 elections, 5,400 or 78 percent, were based on the full agreement of the parties, the remaining 22 percent were ordered by the Board and its agents in prehearing election cases. Of the 934,553 persons eligible to vote in Board elections in the past year, 805,474 or 86 percent of those eligible, cast valid ballots. Of the latter number, 621,732, or about 77 percent, cast their votes for a labor organization; 183,742 workers, or about 23 percent, voted against being represented by a collective bargaining agent. Of the 6,920 elections conducted by the Board, 5,194, or 75 percent, resulted in the election of a collective bargaining representative. No union was designated in 1,726, or 25 percent, of the elections. Approximately 79 percent of the elections in the past year involved a choice for or against a single union as bargaining representative; 1,406, or about 20 percent, involved two unions, while only 1 percent involved 3 or more competing labor organizations. By means of the prehearing election procedure, introduced in December 1945 (see Eleventh Annual Report, pp. 6-7), the Board was able to effectuate a reduction in the number of representation case hearings and Board-ordered elections.1 Of 626 prehearing election cases closed in the past fiscal year, only 172 required subsequent hearings; thus, hearings were entirely avoided in 454 cases. After the introduction of the prehearing procedure, the number of Board-ordered elections declined both absolutely and relatively. In the fiscal years 1944 and 1945, Board-ordered elections were necessary in over 1,500 cases in each year and accounted for about 32 percent of all elections. In fiscal 1946, the first year that prehearing elections were used, the number of Board-ordered elections declined to 1,163, or about 21 percent of the total. In 1947, the first full year of the new procedure, the 1 Sec. 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act as amended bars the Board from using prehearing elections (or any cross check) in the future. |