Panel Backs Bill on Replacing Striking Workers : Labor: House GOP measure would nullify an executive order issued earlier this year by President Clinton.

WASHINGTON — A Republican bill that would make it easier for employers to permanently replace striking workers was approved by a House committee Wednesday over the objections of united Democrats.

The legislation would nullify President Clinton’s executive order barring federal contracts to companies that permanently replace striking workers.

The 22-16 party-line vote by the Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee followed partisan debate, with Republicans arguing that the order is illegal and Democrats citing previous presidential orders as precedents. The vote sends the bill to the House floor for action.

Legislation that would have denied government funds to enforce the presidential order failed in the Senate earlier this year, when Republicans were unable to block a Democratic filibuster.

Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-N.J.) said Clinton will veto any new legislation and said Congress would be unable to muster the two-thirds majority necessary to override the veto.

Clinton signed the order last March after failing in 1994 to get through legislation to blackball companies that hire striker replacements. The order affected contracts worth more than $100,000.

But committee Chairman Bill Goodling (R-Pa.) said Wednesday that the order “sidesteps the legislative process and runs counter to the clearly expressed legislative intent to permit employers to maintain business operations during an economic strike by hiring permanent replacement workers.”

Goodling also suggested that the order would result in higher wages and thus higher costs to the government for the goods and services produced by firms unable to hire replacements.

And, he said, it threatens the nation’s system of collective bargaining.

“The right of employees to withhold their labor and the corollary right of management to continue business operations during a strike by hiring permanent replacement workers are the foundation of our system of collective bargaining,” he said.

Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, said there are precedents for Clinton’s action, noting that Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush both issued orders affecting labor relations.

Clay also argued that Clinton’s order is within the scope of presidential procurement authority.

“He is responsible for assuring that the taxpayers get their money’s worth in terms of quality goods and services procured from federal contractors,” Clay said.

Opponents of striker replacements contend that the substitute employees often do not have the skills and experience needed to maintain quality.

Clay also said it is the responsibility of the courts, not Congress, to determine the lawfulness of Clinton’s action.

Last year, the Democrats, who then controlled the Senate, mustered 57 votes for a bill to prohibit employers from hiring permanent replacement workers, but the measure fell short of the 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.