TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT - National Labor Relations Board

Operations in Fiscal Year 1961 5
of unnecessary litigation and giving it more time to do better the
remaining part of the job"
After 26 yea' s the Board continues to have pressing problems
This was noted in a statement by Chairman McCulloch befoie the
United States Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and
Procedute concerning S 1734 (to amend sections 7 and 8 of the Administrative
Procedure Act) when the Chairman stated
The notorious and chronic pioblem of delay is the source of greatest aggravation
to the Board It is by all odds the ground for most of the criticism
and complaints against the Boaid
As a result of the inevitable delay resulting from the constantly increasing
caseload (unfair labor practice case filings more than doubled in the last 5
years—from 5,506 in fiscal 1957 to 12,132 in fiscal 1961) it is not surprising that
the backlog of contested cases at the Board has also mounted by leaps and
bounds The figures for unfair labor practice cases at the Board level undecided
at the end of the last 8 fiscal years make this point quite clearly
Unfair Labor Practice Oases on. Hand End of Ftecal Year
Year
Oasee
1959 196
1960 312
1961 443
In the latter part of fiscal 1961, Hon Roman C Pucinski, of Illinois,
was named Chairman of the Ad Hoc Subcommittee, Committee on
Education and Labor, House of Representatives, to study the operations,
practices, and procedures of the National Labor Relations
Board Hearings were conducted at intervals during a period of 8
weeks
On August 27, 1960, the National Labor Relations Board observed
the 25th anniveisary of its establishment An anniversary dinner
was attended by moie than 800 persons
During 1961, President John F Kennedy submitted to Congress
Reorganization Plan No 5, which had unanimous Board support
The purpose of Plan No 5 NI, as to piovide speediet processing of unfair
labor practice cases by delegating decisional functions to the
Board's trial examiners, subject to the provisions of section 7(a) of the
Administrative Procedure Act However, Plan No 5 reserved to
the Board the right to ieview any such delegated action or decision
upon the motion of two or moi e Board Members, either on their own
initiative or in iesponse to a request for review by a party or intervenor
Plan No 5 was rejected by a House vote
2. Highlights of Agency Activities
Fiscal 1961 brought an expansion in NLRB activities in many areas
of operation The agency was able to process a greater volume of
cases on an acc,elei ated schedule