Labor Makes Startling Offer to Congress : Bargaining: The AFL-CIO says it would accept limits on strikes in order to get legislation banning permanent replacement of union members in a walkout.

Organized labor Wednesday offered to limit its ability to strike if Congress would restrict the use of permanent replacement workers by employers in contract disputes.

The AFL-CIO proposal represents the first time that labor has agreed to restrict its ability to strike since passage of the National Labor Relations Act more than half a century ago.

The compromise reflects the degree of labor’s desperation as it struggles to win congressional support for protection against the use of permanent replacements for striking union members. The threat has escalated since President Reagan replaced striking air traffic controllers in August, 1981.

Caterpillar Inc. recently used the threat of permanent replacements to force the United Auto Workers to end a five-month strike and return to work without a contract settlement.

Under the proposal introduced by Sen. Robert Packwood (R-Ore.), employers and unions would be asked to submit unresolved issues in contract disputes to a fact-finding panel appointed by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

If the employer accepted and the union rejected the panel’s recommendations, the employer would be free to hire permanent replacement workers in the event of a strike. However, if the union agreed to the mediator’s recommendations, the employer would be barred from hiring permanent replacements should a strike occur.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Donahue called the proposal “a change in our historic position” toward collective bargaining. But many businesses are unlikely to embrace a proposal that would restrict their legal rights because they believe that they have the upper hand.

At the same time, the proposal could bring about a measure of labor peace at a time when U.S. companies are facing increasing global competition.

The House approved a simple ban on the use of permanent striker replacements last July by a vote of 247 to 182. But the bill has been kept off the Senate floor for most of this year by the threat of a Republican filibuster. Supporters of the legislation need 60 votes to force it to the floor.

The compromise amendment, with the union’s strike-limiting offer, was worked out late Monday at a meeting of top union leaders and AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland in an effort to gather enough votes to block a GOP filibuster. “It’s no secret we’re working for 60 votes for cloture,” Donahue said.

The Senate Democratic leadership had told labor that it would not schedule a vote on the measure until it was persuaded that there was enough votes to prevent a filibuster. The leadership Wednesday scheduled a vote for today.