NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

XI. DIVISION OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 249
Procedure in current case work.—As in previous years, the Division's
work on current cases occurred at varying stages of the
proceedings
(1) In some cases, the Division made preliminary investigations of
the respondent's business before the issuance of the complaint, and
advised on whether there appeared to be jurisdiction.
(2) The Division assisted in the drafting of a number of complaints,
particularly on the paragraphs relating to ownership, corporate organization,
and description of properties and operations.
(3) Work of the Division at the hearing stage was of five kinds :
(a) Preparation of background material. Memoranda were prepared
and supplied to the trial attorney giving general background
information for use in the conduct of the hearing. This included
suggested fields of questioning which might elicit from witnesses
information believed to be true but not completely established by the
Division's research. For example, the information that other shipbuilding
companies subjected their new ships, before delivery, to a
trial run along coastal waters of many states and into the high seas,
suggested questioning of the respondent's officers which revealed a
similar practice in the manufacture of respondent's ships.
(b) The preparation of exhibits to be introduced in evidence,
usually, on jurisdiction, but often on problems of labor relations.
Such exhibits might include : a chart of the respondent's corporate
set-up ; extracts from official sources or authoritative writings on the
economics of respondent's industry or operations; extracts from authoritative
writings in the field of labor economics, on a general
question of labor relations, such as the significance of union recognition
in collective bargaining; authenticated copies of governmental
reports on an aspect of respondent's labor relations.
(c) The preparation of stipulations of fact for the record. Staff
members prepared suggestions of material to be included in stipulations
of fact between counsel and were consulted by trial attorneys
with regard to the accuracy and completeness of such stipulations. In
one case, a staff member participated in the conferences with respondent's
attorneys that led to the formulation of a stipulation on the
description of respondent's operations and the history of its labor
relations.
(d) Assistance to trial attorney at the hearing. In a number of
cases a staff member attended the hearings and assisted the trial
attorney in the handling of economic and statistical material. This
included assistance in the presentation of the data, suggestions for
questioning and cross-examining, and preparation during the hearing
of additional material made necessary by new points raised, or in
rebuttal. In one case, staff members also collaborated with the trial
attorney in the summarization of the evidence in a brief to the trial
examiner.2
(e) In a number of hearings, the Chief Economist gave expert testimony
based upon his research and upon studies conducted by the
Division under his direction. His testimony covered problems of
labor relations, such as written agreements, independent unions, employer
labor policies and activities, and the history of the respondent's
2 In the Matter of Western Union Telegraph Co., Case No. C-344, Brief in Support of
Megatons in the Complaint, August 11, 1938.