April 21, 1982

More than 3,000 left hands reached out to give money to James Denig yesterday during his 7 A.M.-to-3 P.M. shift at a Queens-Midtown Tunnel tollbooth and, for the first time in two years, he found he could do nothing by rote. That was because he was trying to memorize new toll rates for 10 categories of vehicles, handle coins as often as paper money and juggle a relatively small number of the new bronze-colored tokens. It was the second day of higher tolls at nine bridges and tunnels operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. When it was over, Mr. Denig, who was off Monday, the first day, had his usual low-back pain but also an occupational headache.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that the International Longshoremen's Association violated Federal labor law by refusing to handle Soviet cargo in American ports in protest against the Soviet Union's intervention in Afghani-stan. The decision leaves the longshoremen's union open to suits for damages by companies that suffered financial losses as a result of the boycott. It lasted for several months in 1980 and affected ports from Maine to Texas. Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell wrote the opinion, which affirmed a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston.

''PEOPLE said it would either be a hit or a real dog,'' Dan Daley said this week about ''Still in Saigon,'' the song he wrote last May about a Vietnam veteran's unbearably intense memories of combat. This year, the Charlie Daniels Band recorded the song, and four weeks ago it entered the singles charts at No. 75. This week, it is No. 33, with intense sales action and airplay reported.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, entrusted with regulating the nation's financial markets, is caught in a heated debate over what role it should play as an enforcement agency. And with the aid of the current chairman, John S.R. Shad, those who say that the commission has often gone too far in policing the business community have gained ascendancy. Since Mr. Shad's appointment last year, the agency has adopted a sweeping package of disclosure rules to simplify the filing of information, which all corporations must do to market new securities. The commission has also reduced the minimum net capital requirement that Wall Street firms must meet -an action, the agency's staff said, that could free $500 million in capital to expand the activities of Wall Street brokerage and investment houses. Decisions such as these have won praise from many on Wall Street, where the agency's disclosure requirements had been ritually condemned as a burden on companies, especially small ones, and a discouragement to capital formation.

President Reagan appealed to Argentina and Britain today to show restraint in their dispute over the Falkland Islands. He also urged the Organization of American States to delay any action on the crisis so long as the United States was engaged in trying to bring about a peaceful solution. The O.A.S. permanent council voted 18 to 0 today, with the United States and two other nations abstaining, to convene a special foreign ministers' meeting Monday to consider collective action against Britain. The American delegate, William Middendorf 2d, said such a meeting would inevitably cast the group ''in an unhelpful confrontational light'' instead of as a possible mediator.