1. It would permit the delegation of authority granted by Congress to a fiveman, deliberative, and quasi-judicial body to any employee of that body and the resulting decisions of such individual, if not requested or permitted review, would have all the force and effect of a decision of the full Board.

2. Trial or hearing examiners who would be or could be given arbitrary power under the plan have not always demonstrated judiciousness or fairness. For example, in NLRB v. Cosco Products Co. (280 F. 2d 905), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, speaking through Judge Hutcheson, described a trial examiner and part of his conduct of a hearing as follows:

"While the hearing dragged out to an inordinate length, due, in part, to the examiner's apparent misunderstanding of his independent function as an impartial trier, his active and partisan participation in the hearing, therefore, as an examiner and cross-examiner of witnesses, in part **" [Italic added for emphasis.]

**

There are many other specific instances of arbitrary and improper action on the part of trial examiners to be found in reported court decisions.

However, the President's plan goes beyond this. It would authorize the Board to delegate all of its powers to an "employee or employee board." Some Board employees, particularly at the regional level, are young and inexperienced. Some are opinionated; some do not have legal training. It would be injudicious and improper to delegate to such an individual authority intended by Congress to be exercised only by the Board.

3. A careful study of section (c) of the plan should suffice to warn Congress of the seriousness of this threat to the legislative process. We refer specifically to the procedure proposed for review of actions by individuals delegated or the refusal of such review by the Board. In those instances, section (c) sets out that ** then the action of any such division of the Board, individual Board member, hearing examiner, employee or employee board, shall, for all purposes, including appeal or review thereof, be deemed to be the action of the Board." [Italic added for emphasis.]

66

4. One of the reasons given for the proposed plan is to solve the workload of the National Labor Relations Board. However, there has been no clear and convincing proof that a delegation of authority will solve this problem. It is suggested that a study should be made to determine whether the proposed plan is the best solution to solve the tremendous backlog of cases that now exists or whether a better solution might be found.

5. The Board, through a subcommittee created some time ago, conducted a lengthy and thorough study of the caseload, rules, and procedures of the Board and made a report to the Board with recommendations, some of which were placed into effect with a resultant improvement in procedures and speeding up of case handling at the regional, as well as at the national, level.

This would seem to be by far the soundest method of approach to produce fair and substantial improvement. Such machinery could be continued or set up anew if it has been discontinued by the new Board, thereby retaining the responsibility in the administrative body created by Congress under the law.

For these and for many other reasons, which in the interest of brevity are not being covered here, we respectfully urge and recommend that the President's Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1961 in its present form be rejected.

The committee has also received letters from the following individuals and organizations setting forth their opposition to Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1961. Due to the limited time for the printing of this record, the chairman has directed that these letters be incorporated into the record by reference only, and placed in the committee files.

Donald W. Acer, Acer & Whedon, Inc., Medina, N.Y.

M. E. Alexander, executive vice president, Terminal Transport Co., Inc., 180 Harriet Street SE., Atlanta, Ga.

Charles P. Blackley, chairman, Governmental Affairs Committee, Staunton, Augusta County, Chamber of Commerce, 112 North Augusta Street, Staunton, Va. G. P. Bonner, the Throop-Martin Co., 130 East Chestnut Street, Columbus, Ohio. J. Bonnett, United Tile Co., 501 South Good-Latimer, Dallas, Tex.

John E. Branch, chairman, Governmental Affairs Department, Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta, Ga.

Charles A. Britton, Jr., the Methodist Publishing House, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, Tenn.

E. W. Brown, Jr., Orange, Tex.

Lewis T. Briggs, president, Erie Plating Co., 656 West 12th Street, Erie, Pa. J. Duncan Brown, president, Iron City Sash & Door Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.

M. K. Brown, vice president, Penn Metal Co., Inc., 40 Central Street, Boston, Mass.

Homer Bryce, general manager, Henderson Clay Products, Inc., Henderson, Tex.

Howard L. Burns, president, State Chamber of Commerce, Columbia, S.C. Morris S. Burton, vice president, Gulf States Telephone Co., Post Office Box 2016, Tyler, Tex.

C. A. Cannon, president, Cannon Mills Co., Kannapolis, N.C.

Leo Center, Center Bros., Savannah, Ga.

John S. Coxe, president, Alabama Metal Lath Co., Inc., Birmingham, Ala.
L. F. Dagenais, controller, The LFM Manufacturing Co., Inc., Atchison, Kans.
Charles E. Daniel, Daniel Construction Co., Greenville, S.C.

Rufus M. Darby, Darby Printing Co., Atlanta, Ga.

Paul A. Davis, president, Davis-Fetch & Co., Inc., 236 Scajaquada Street, Buffalo, N.Y.

James S. Dudley, Jr., manager Home Life Insurance Co. of New York, 33 Ponce De Leon Avenue NE., Atlanta, Ga.

John R. Dunaway, Dunaway Supply Co., Post Office Box 5848, Longview, Tex. J. E. Eschbach, president, Endicott Church Furniture, Warsaw, Ind.

L. J. Faneuf, Jr., general superintendent, the Ruberoid Co., Erie, Pa.

E. B. Germany, president, Lone Star Steel Co., Dallas Tex.

R. H. Ginn, the Bob Ginn Co., 3006 Napier Avenue, Macon, Ga.

C. V. Griggs, president, Griggs Equipment, Inc., Belton, Tex.

Eugene Gunby, Esq., judge, Court of Ordinary of Fulton County, Atlanta, Ga.

K. C. Hampel, president, R. Conrader Co., Inc., Erie Pa.

Rex M. Harlow, executive director, Kansas for the Right to Work, Box 3038, Southeast Station, Wichita, Kans.

George S. Hastings, chairman, labor relations committee, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, 310 Union Street, Nashville, Tenn.

Robert H. Herbst, II, Ponderosa Pine Woodwork, 39 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill.

Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Holmann, Archer Drug Co., Little Rock, Ark.

F. P. Horton, 211 East Galloway Drive, Memphis, Tenn.

Glenn Irvin, executive secretary, Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, 121 Linden Avenue, Long Beach, Calif.

Thacher Jenney, president, Pitcher & Co., Inc., 167 Albany Street, Cambridge, Mass.

W. Dudley Jewell, executive vice president, the Greater Erie Chamber of Commerce, 134 West 10th Street, Erie, Pa.

R. L. Johnson, offices of Reitz & Johnson, Pittsburg, Tex.

A. J. Jordan, Jr., Jordan Millwork Co., Sioux Falls, S. Dak.

James B. Judge, Mineola, Tex.

John R. Jury, Southwest Grease & Oil Co., Inc., Wichita, Kans.

Robert G. Kelly, Post Office Box 553, Charleston, W. Va.

A. M. Kite, chairman, the Erie Tool Works, 735 West 12th Street, Erie, Pa. Chester A. Kuebler, president, Uniflow Manufacturing Co., Erie, Pa.

R. Kugel, secretary, Organ Supply Corp., 540-550 East Second Street, Erie,

Pa.

Kenneth W. Lineberry, president, Black, Sivalls & Bryson, Inc., Kansas City,

Mo.

W. W. Marett, Famous Foods Inc., 1121 Pryor Street SW., Atlanta, Ga.
Eugene R. Martini, 175 Peachtree Street NE., Atlanta, Ga.

Frank C. McAlister, Indiana State Chamber of Commerce, Indianapolis, Ind. T. W. McMullen, personnel director, Angelina County Lumber Co., Keltys, Tex. Keith E. Meade, assistant manager, Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City, Kans.

James S. Metcalfe, 315 Fourth Avenue North, Nashville, Tenn.

Paul V. Minnaugh, president, Erie Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 2325 Broad Street, Erie, Pa.

Gordon Mitchell, manager, industrial relations division, employee relations department, Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del.

Wm. H. Muchinic, president, the LFM Manufacturing Co., Inc., Atchison, Kans. James D. Novinger, president, Novinger's Inc., 125 Shell Street, Harrisburg, Pa.

L. M. Olson, member, board of directors, Kansas State Chamber of Commerce, Topeka, Kans.

J. J. Oswald, personnel manager, A. O. Smith Corp., 1602 Wagner Avenue, Erie, Pa.

J. L. Padgett, Thompson & Street Co., Atlanta, Ga.

L. G. Porter, 200 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

W. A. Plumpton, president, Plumpton Buick, Inc., 118-124 East 12th Street, Erie, Pa.

John Prince, 6211 West Lake, Erie, Pa.

William G. Read, Porter-Hadlem Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.

George F. Richardson, George F. Richardson Co., 188 14th Street NW., Atlanta, Ga.

James L. Rooney, president, Niagara Plastics Co., Post Office Box 3264, Erie, Pa.

G. A. Sagendorph, president, Penn Metal Co., Inc., 40 Central Street, Boston, Mass.

Norman W. Seip, 3945 Sassafras Street, Erie, Pa.

M. B. Seltzer, president, Southeast Wholesale Furniture Co., 100 Spring Street SW., Atlanta, Ga.

J. D. Shields, president, Shields, Inc., 1525 North Liberty Street, WinstonSalem, N.C.

Donald G. Slawson, president, Grand Rapids Gypsum Co., Post Office Box 74, Grand Rapids, Mich.

E. Smith Smallwood, president, D'Arcy Electric Co., 543 Plum Street NW., Atlanta, Ga.

M. Powell Snipes, vice president, Sands & Col, Inc., Post Office Box 19537, Station N, Atlanta, Ga.

Fred E. Stevens, Jr., Atlanta Service Warehouse, 565 Western Avenue NW., Atlanta, Ga.

Charles H. Sunderland, 1325 Straka Street, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Arthur E. Swanson, president, New England Insulation Co., 839-845 Albany Street, Boston, Mass.

M. W. Swint, 3557 Crestridge Drive, Nashville, Tenn.

Charles H. Taylor, Virginia Manufacturing Association, Inc., 300 West Main Street, Richmond, Va.

C. H. Thomas, Standard Oil Division, American Oil Co., Kansas City, Mo. John R. Thompson, executive vice president, Missouri State Chamber of Commerce, Post Office Box 149, Jefferson City, Mo.