Geraldine Mayhew (center) explains the textile workers in Hunts viUe, Ala. (Photo
problems of Charlotte textile workers to by Eileen Hanson)
Barbara Strong and Leatha Moore, both
Lreraldine Mayhew Attends
Workshop On Working
By Eileen Hanson
Special To The Post
When a black woman in
the South goes to work, she
can expect to earn only 30
cents for every dollar
earned by a white male.
White women fare only
sliglUjv JteeUftL, earning
40 cents to the average
white male’s dollar.
The problems of low
wages and lack of skills
brought together 20 women
from ll southern cities
June 27-29 in Huntsville,
Ala. for a workshop on
Southern Working Women.
Attending the workshop
from Charlotte was Gerald
ine Mayhew, member of
the Amalgamated Clothing
and Textile Workers Union
Local 2351, and the A.
Phillip Randolph Institute.
“The problems of work
ing women are low wages,
lack of day care, and not
knowing our rights and
benefits," she said. “I
learned from the other wo
men that some are even
worse off than we are in
Charlotte. Some have to
fight even for the chance to
vote,” referring to two
black women from Pickens
County, Ala. who had been
convicted of voter fraud
when they tried to register
black senior citizens to
vote.
Other conference partici
pants came from local
unions in Laurel, Miss.,
Huntsville and Mobile^ Ala.,
Other were leaders in the
Southern Christian Lead
ership Conference, Equal
Rights Councils or welfare
rights organizations.
The women’s workshop
was sponsored by the
Southern Educational Pro
ject of the Equal Rights
Congress and the Youth
Project, a funding agency
with offices in Atlanta.
After a weekend of
training in civil rights and
labor law, community or
ganization and leadership
skills, the women will re
turn to their own com
munities to share their
knowledge with other
women. Seminars and skill
development workshops in
13 southern cities will be
part of the on-going pro
gram of the Southern
Working Women’s Project.
“There are many laws,
such as the Equal Pay Act
and the Civil Rights Act
that women can use to
advance on the job, but
most women don’t know
what the laws are or how to
use them,” said project
coordinator Janie Self of
MobUe.
All the participants felt
they could improve their
pay and benefits by form
ing unions in their work
places.
“We can only get justice
by organizing people, by
organizing the South,” said
Gloria Jordan, leader in a
16-month old strike of poul
try workers in Laurel,
Miss.
The women learned
about the Taft-Hartley Act
of 1947, a series of amend
ments to the National La
bor Relations Act.
“Taft-Hartley is one of
the most reactionary labor
laws in the western world,”
said Rita Valenti of Bir
mingham who led the
session on labor rights and
laws.
“If we can abolish Taft
Hartley it would be easier
to get unions and better
jobs for women,” said Ms.
May hew._ •
For Small Farmers
t__
Hampton Hopes Her Alcohol
Will Ease The Energy Crunch
By Eileen Hanson
Special To The Post
Home brew may not
solve the nation's energy
crisis, but Yvonne Hamp
ton hopes her alcohol still
will ease the energy crunch
for the South’s small farm
ers.
As Director of the Small
Farm Energy Conserva
tion Project of the Federa
tion of Southern Coopera
tives, Mrs. Hampton
passed through Charlotte
recently accompanying her
“still” on its trip from
Vermont to Epes, Ala
bama.
Mrs. Hampton plans to
train small farmers in the
Black Belt to make then
own alcohol fuel. The por
table still, built by FSC
staff member A1 Ulmer,
will travel from farm to
farm demonstrating the
home brew technique.
“We fire the boiler with
locally grown wood, use
corn mash and an enzyme
to break down the starch
into sugar,” said Ulmer.
"From this beer we distill
200 proof alcohol that can
be used for fuel In tractors
and other small farm
equipment. The farmers
use the leftover corn mash
to feed his livestock.”
Each bushel of corn
yields about 2.S gallons of
uur memoers are most
ly black, but also some are
white and Mexican," said
Ms. Hampton. “We are
trying to save a place for
the small farmer in face of
growing agribusiness."
The Federation provides
training, loan funds, credit
unions, consumer co-ops,
health centers and wo
men’s opportunity pro
grams.
The project grew out of
the 1960’s civil rights move
ment when harassment,
evictions and mechaniza
tion of farms were used to
eliminate jobs for blacks
and poor whites in the rural
South who were beginning
to gain political power
through the vote. Local
co-ops were formed to help
these small farmers.
alcohol fuel, at a cost of
70-80 cents a gallon. This
depends on the farmer
growing his own wood and
corn, and using the mash
for cattle feed.
Ulmer said his still costs
about $2,000 made entirely
from recycled parts.
“This project won’t solve
the energy problem, but
it will allow small farmers
to be energy self-suffi
cient,” he said.
The Federation of South
ern Cooperatives services
100 co-ops in 14 southern
states.
In 1967 the Federation of
Southern Cooperatives
formed to share financial
and technical resources
and survival skills.
Today over 10,000 small
farmers are involved in
this grass roots movement
that is giving hope to thou
sands of blacks and low
income people across the
rural South. The Federa
tion’s main office is lo
cated in Epes, Alabama.
County Offices
W1 (lose For
Holiday Friday
All County agencies and
offices will be closed Fri
day, July 4, in observance
of Independence Day.
This includes all units of
the Health Department, the
Department-of Social Ser
vices, all branches of the
Public Library, the Re
gister of Deeds Office, and
the Tax Offices.
The two County landfills,
Harrisburg Park and Hol
brooks Rd., will remain
open, and all County emer
gency services, including
County Police and the am
bulance service, will
operate as usual. ~
MRS. YVONNE HAMPTON
-Poses in front of her alcohol
Kincaid Focus On Health Care
Randall Kincaid, the De
mocratic ninth district
Congressional candidate.
has been focusing on health
care issues this week in the
Charlotte community. This
is the second of ten "Issue
of the Week” programs he
is sponsoring.
Among his activities,
Kincaid has toured Char
lotte Rehabilitation Hospi
tal, visited the Community
Health Association screen
ing clinic and spoken be
fore the Mooresville Jay
cees. He visited the Heart
Association hypertension
screening clinic and visited
the Well Child Clinic at
Belmont Community
Center.
Kincaid will ride in the
Hickory-Grove Indejiplt
dence Day parade on Fri
day at 1:30 p.m.
Mall your social news to
Editor, Charlotte Post,
P.O. Box 30144, Charlotte.
VC. 28230.
Time has a way of sneaking up on us
and before we know it, it is D-Day. This
time D-Day is the U.S. census count
that will take place in 1980.
Somewhere, somehow, Black and
other minorities have acquired the
notion that we are “beating” the man
when we fail to tell the truth when
asked how many people reside in our -
house or apartment. I don’t know the
reasoning behind this conjecture, but I
am going to state some facts and then
let you decide who really loses when
we cheat the census count.
Fact 1. Population totals are used to
determine how many
representatives from each
state will go to Congress. (I
know that we are not satisfied
with only sixteen Black
Congressmen.)
Fact 2. Revenue sharing allocations
by the Federal Government
are apportioned annually on
the basis of the local and state
population. (This has a direct
bearing on food stamp
programs, work incentive
programs, CETA, child
nutrition act, etc.)
i-act 3. snouio you lose your otrtn
certificate and not have a way
to document your birth, the
age search branch of the U S.
Census Bureau can provide
?roof from your census record.
his document is accepted as
a substitute birth certificate by
all federal and state agencies.
Joe'Rhck
Vice President
The Greyhound Corporation
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