Role of Taft-Hartley on unions overlooked
Re “Labor’s movement,” Opinion, Dec. 11
The authors overlooked the role of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act in the demise of unions, which, among other things, allowed the president to intervene in labor disputes deemed a threat to national security.
President Bush invoked the act three years ago in the Pacific Maritime Assn.’s lockout of the West Coast longshoremen. It gave management a near-insurmountable edge during organizing campaigns, and it encouraged states to enact their own legislation banning the “union shop.”
In the 12-year period between the passage of the Wagner Act and Taft-Hartley, union membership burgeoned from just under 4 million to about 15 million.
While there are a number of reasons for the decline of the labor movement, the Taft-Hartley Act certainly ranks high among them.
STEVE VARALYAY
Torrance
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