Nancy Kassebaum: “First, you implied this Executive order would not affect very many companies, that it will only touch on a few Federal…”

“First, you implied this Executive order would not affect very many companies, that it will only touch on a few Federal contractors. I notice there is some confusion about this that maybe you can clarify. There has been some question as to whether it would or would not affect the Bridgestone/Firestone strike for which, of course, there have been permanent replacement workers. For all intents and purposes, it has been thought that this Executive order was only proactive, not reactive. It states: The provisions of section 3 of this order shall only apply to situations in which contractors have permanently replaced lawfully striking employees after the effective date of this order. In section 3, there is some confusion. It says: When the Secretary determines that a contractor has permanently replaced lawfully striking employees, the Secretary may debar the contractor, thereby making the contractor ineligible to receive Government contracts. So I think it could be read that the Secretary of Labor could, as a matter of fact, go back and say that if there were permanent replacement workers, then the contractor could be debarred from Federal contracts. This places us, of course, right in the middle of a major management/labor dispute. One which, of course, is taking a real toll. I would like to ask the Senator from Wisconsin, who has the floor, if he knows what the clarification may be? I think this could cause real confusion.”