Slichter Demands Many Changes in Taft-Hartley Law

Summer H. Slichter, Lamont University Professor, lashed out at many provisions of the present Taft-Hartley Act and called for a new labor law in an article appearing in the current issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

In a critical analysis of the Taft-Hartley Act, Slichter branded as un-workable and unadvisable prohibition of the closed shop, the requirement of union shop elections, and the present method of dealing with disputes imperiling national health and safety.

Slichter urged that safeguards of the right of workers to obtain or retain union membership be written into the new law. This would not abolish the closed shop, he said, but would protect it against abuses. "The closed shop cannot be prohibited without gravely disturbing employer-union relations in many industries."