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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hostetter.
DELEGATE HOSTETTER: Several
questions have already been asked with
respect to this provision and all of them
have been answered in this manner, that
they could be handled legislatively. Could
not this particular proposal be handled in
the same manner, by the legislature?
DELEGATE BOTHE: Oh, yes, there is
no question but that the legislature with
its plenary powers could both grant this
right and implement it as I hope it will by
statute.
The question, however, is that such
things have not happened. We have not had
a new constitution in one hundred years.
In the interim, a great many states who
have rewritten their constitutions to meet
new and emerging needs and situations
have felt it advisable to accord this right
through the constitution. And there is no
right which we have adopted in this Com-
mittee which could not, as well, be assured
by statute.
However, there are certain ones which
we feel are of such significance that they
ought to be expressed in the constitution
and the minority contend that this is one
of them.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hostetter?
DELEGATE HOSTETTER: Has not
this particular amendment and proposal
already been set forth as the policy of the
State through court rulings?
DELEGATE BOTHE: The policy of the
State set forth as you mention I think only
occurs in one place, in Article 100 of the
Code which is an anti-labor injunction
statute passed in 1939.
There is a statement of state policy but,
of course, it has no effect and it is only
a right in terms of the court's being pre-
cluded from enjoining labor activity.
I would not say that the broad scope has
been accepted in any laws or court de-
cisions.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hostetter.
DELEGATE HOSTETTER: Has there
been any denial in the State by law of the
right to organize? In other words, has a
specific law ever been passed in the State
denying the right to organize and bargain
collectively?
DELEGATE BOTHE: Of course not.
I might say, I thought you were going to
ask me a slightly different question, which
I would like to answer.
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(Laughter.)
As for the right being denied by absence
of law, it occurs all the time. The most
recent situation, involved the employees at
the Church-Home Hospital in Baltimore
who struck because they could get no rec-
ognition from the management of that
institution, could not even get to talk, so
they went out on strike and had to come
crawling back because there was no re-
dress.
I might say that it is my understanding
that their strike was not over wages but
over grievance procedure.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weide-
meyer.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Delegate
Bothe, is it not true that the word "em-
ployees" in line 8 of your amendment is
all-inclusive so if it were placed in the
constitution, it would prohibit the legisla-
ture from making any regulatory statutes
regarding state employees, municipal em-
ployees, employees of institutions of the
State, et cetera.
DELEGATE BOTHE: You mean that
the State would not be able to pass any
laws or make any regulations or statutes?
I am sure you are a better lawyer than
to be asking that seriously.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weide-
meyer.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: My ques-
tion was, is it not true that the word "em-
ployees" in line 8 is so all-inclusive with-
out qualification that if placed in the
constitution it would prohibit the state
legislature from making any regulatory
legislation regarding municipal and state
employees and employees of state institu-
tions or quasi-state institutions.
DELEGATE BOTHE: I cannot see
where that would follow at all. Of course,
the state subdivisions would continue to
pass laws and make regulations and con-
trol the terms and conditions.
As a matter of fact, all this proposal
would say is that where the employees of
the State wanted in some respects to par-
ticipate or discuss these terms, they would
have an avenue to do it in, but as for the
ultimate determination of the amount of
wages, the conditions of work and the vari-
ous other regulatory matters effecting the
State and its employees, this would con-
tinue as it always has.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Bothe, I
think Delegate Weidemeyer's question is
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