1 - American Memory

MO
There is no question tliat Hawaii suflFered economic catastrophe dur-
ingc the 1971-72 dock strike.
We have a number of witnesses who have come all the way from
Hawaii to make this point. Under the Taft-Hartlej' Act, you know,
the President is authorized to seek a court injunction to keep the ships
moving under the circumstances and the injunction is authorized under
current law to last for 80 days.
In the 1971-72 strike President Nixon delayed for 100 days before he
utilized this existing authority under Taft-Hartley. This was a radical
departure from the consistent practice of all former Presidents under
the act since its inception in 1949.
Former President Eisenhower delayed only 5 days in the 1953 ship-
ping strike, 6 days only in the 1956 strike, 5 days in the 1959 strike.
President Kennedy invoked an injunction after 10 days in 1961, 22
days in 1962 and 1 day in the 1962 strike. President Johnson invoked
the act 1 day before the strike in 1964 and 1968.
I am including a summary of this data in more comprehensive form
at the end of my testimony, which I ask be included in the record, Mr.
Chairman [see p. 192].
Only President Nixon, you will note from the compilation which I
prepared, waited for 100 days to end our suffering. This in mj' view
demonstrated a weakness in the existing law. that the President could
be given such wide discretion. We cannot afford to take the chance in
another President doing the same in the future and I mean no ill re-
gard to the current President. It is simply a reflection upon past his-
tory. Therefore, we must, I believe, place into the law the kind of
provision which this pending bill, H.R. 7189, provides as protection
for Hawaii, Guam, Samoa and the Trust Territory.
In recognition of the enormous damage which Hawaii suffered in
the 1971-72 strike, you will recall that the House Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor approved legislation to provide this kind of statutory
relief. On February 7. 1972. the Special Subcommittee on Labor
headed by the Honorable Frank Thompson, Jr., reported out House
Joint Resolution 1056, which provided at my behest an exemption for
Hawaii from that strike which was in effect at that time.
The measure was approved by the full Committee of Education and
Labor on the following day of February 8,1972.
The legislation approved by the Education and Labor Committee in
1972, of which I am a member, set the legislative precedent for finding
that Hawaii's unique geographical situation justifies special considera-
tion in the case of a west coast strike. So that we are not asking this
committee to set a legislative first. This was already done in the resolu-
tion which was approved by the Education and Labor Committee in
1972. That legislation authorized the President to seek a court injunc-
tion of "such portion of a strike or lockout concerning shipments ex-
clusively to and from Hawaii." from the west coast, for up to 60 days.
LTnfortunately House Joint Resolution 1056 was not taken up in
the House because the Rules Committee preempted it by discharging
House Joint Resolution 1025, which dealt with settlement of the strike
itself. The Rules Committee thought the issue of simply granting an
exemption to Hawaii was not the central issue and the House, as you
know, passed House Joint Resolution 1025 on February 9 and enacted