Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Sept. 16, 1937, edition 1 / Page 1
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The ONLY REALLY INDEPENDENT WEEKLY Vtoa Week!?. Ha it Um LARGEST BUYING POWER fa Charlotte Official Orcaa Ceatral Labor Uaion; itudiit for tbe A. F. of L. Che Charlotte labor Journal PMroaiao oar Adrer ■ake YOU* by their w opera tioa. They Make YOUb Finaftle r . . , . „ , Endorsed by the N. C. State F, Truthful, Honest, Impartuu tioa of Labor AND D1 FARM NEWS Endeavoring to Serve the Masses Vol. VII.—No. 19 CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1937 •* $2.00 Per Year LT.U.CONVENTION ON AT LOUISVILLE; GREEN, A. F. L, AND MURRAY, C.I.O, MAKE TALKS TO THIS ORGANIZATION LOUISVILLE, KY.—Calling for “free and open discussion of differences without imputation of motives,” Charles P. How ard, president of the International Typographical union, last Sat urday opened that organizationos annual convention here. How ard’s address stressed the traditional tolerance of printers. His remarks were viewed by some as a prelude to heated conflict the union over the A. F. of L.-C. I. O. affiliation issue. Howard secretary of the C. I. O. The I. T. U. has long been a member of the American Federation of Labor. .E .2 GREEN MAKES CHALLENGE TO THE I. T. U. TO TAKE A DEFINITE STAND AS TO C. I. O. LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 13.—A direct challenge to the International Typographical Union to take a defi nite stand on the question of affilia tion with the Committee for Indus trial Organization was made today by William Green, president of the Am erican Federation of Labor, in a speech before the printers’ conven tion. Green, in a vigorous attack on CIO policies, waved a photographic copy of a CIO charter recently granted a northwestern lumber union and sign ed by Charles P. Howard, ITU presi dent and a secretary of the CIO. “The ITU is still in the Federation, yet its president is the secretary of a dual organization, signing charters for unions taken away from the AFL,” Green declared. “It is difficult for me to under stand how the Typographical Union can reconcile its affiliation with the A merican Federation and such ac tk ns of one of its officers. I can’t believe the rank and file of your union would approve, if the question were submitted by a referendum vote.” Green declared surrender to the CIO “unthinkable” and called specially on the printers to indicate what they would do. “The AFL wants to know,” he shouted. The ITU is one of the first mem bers of the AFL and labor leaders say its standing on the AFL-CIO question .will have an important bear ing on the future of the rival organ izations. Green’s speech was interrupted fre quently by violent handclapping and shouting by the 2,000-odd convention delegates and visitors. Whether the ITU would take a definite stand on the question at this meeting was considered doubtful as in the past it has been the policy of printers to delay final action on im portant questions brought before a convention until the following year. PHILLIP MURRAY ANSWERS WM. GREEN’S ATTACK ON THE C. I. O. ORGANIZATION LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 14.— The “other side” of America’s trade Employes Highland Park Mill No. 3 Quit Work—Management Denies “Stretchout” Highland Park Mill No. 3 was the object of peaceful picketing Tuesday night after a walkout of the 750 em ployes yesterday morning, when it was learned that 10 employes had been discharged by the management, according to strike leaders. The employes asserted that this was the beginning of a “stretchout.” The management, through one of its executives, who expressed the wish that he be quoted as such rather than by name, said the 10 were extra workers and denied that there was any “stretchout.” Afterward it was agreed that the mill would be kept closed and no ef fort would be made to resume oper ations until the return to Charlotte of Paul Christopher, textile technical expert of the T. W. O. C. The mill executive declared that no “stretchout” has been started and that the mill was only meeting the competition of other mills. “I do not know what result will come from the conferences,” he said. “We want to do what other mills are doing in order to meet the competi tion, and they do not want us to do that.” None of the 10 discharged men were weavers. Four were inspectors; two were smash hands; two were rail wipers, and two were sweepers. The workers asserted that their work would fall upon others and would be a “stretchout,” and “would be only the start” of other forms of the “stretchout.” They also claim other grievances, one of which is that the mill has failed to sign a contract with T. W. O. C.—Observer Wednes day. union controversy—that of the Com mittee for Industrial Organization— was related today to delegates attend ing the 81st convention of the Inter national Typographical Union by Phillip Murray, silver-thatched lieu tenant of John L. Lewis’ organiza tion. Murray’s address followed by a day the speech of William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, foe of the C. I. 0. Interposing arguments of points stressed by Green into his story of accomplishments of the C. I. O., its purposes, and the “why and where fore” of its being, Murray, chairman of the C. I. O.’s powerful Steel Workers Organizing committee, de clared } “Is there anything alien in legiti mate constructive American labor unions?” There were cries of “no” from the audience. Continuing, Murray said “If there is, then Lewis is an alien—so am I—and so are you.” Murray a moment before asserted Green had charged the C. I. 0. with “alien trends.” Murray’s address was construed by some American Federation of La bor partisans among the delegates as a bid for I. T. U. support of the C. I. O. This view, however, was scotched by Charles P. Howard, I. T. U. pres ident and secretary of the C. I. O. He said Murray came here only. to present the C. I. O.’s “story” in the current labor problem. Swinging again to Green, Murray said “I don’t understand, and neither can coal miners, why Billy Green described Lewis as selfish and arro gant.” I. T. U. SIDE-STEPS C. L O. AFFILIATION PROBABLY NEXT YEAR WILL SEE RESULTS LOUISVIILLE, Ky., Sept. 15.—Se lecting Birmingham for their 1938 convention city, delegates to the In ternational Typographical union ap peared today planning to sidestep a direct decision on A.F.L.-C.I.O. af filiation. Action on whether the strong print ers union would remain in the Ameri can Federation of Labor fold or go over to the Committee on Industrial Organization probably will be defer red until next year’s convention, leaders said. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. question has been the major problem before the con vention which will end Friday, and delegates have heard William Green, A.F.L. president, denounce th C.I.O. and Phillip Murray, scretary of the Steel Workers’ Organizing committee, C.I.O. affiliate, defend the John L. Lewis labor group. With election of officers set for next May by direct vote of the 80,000 members of the union, laders are loath to let the affiliation issue in trude into the presidency battle. In rapid fashion today delegates turned down a proposal to limit use o ftraveling cards to deny the union label to shops that pay less than 80 cents an hour and run more than 40 hours a week; to raise th old-age pension payments from $8 to $10 a week; to hold the convention bi ennially; and to raise the per capita tax for support of the international to 10 cents a month. Gov’t Employes Union Will Stay With The A. F. L. PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 14.—The American Federation of Government employes reaffirmed today its sup port of the American Federation of Labor, of which it is an affiliate, and the A. F. of L. president, William Green. In a telegram drafted at their na tional convention the Federal work ers pledged “the most ardent sup port in preserving the integrity and uprightness of the cause we repre sent.” The telegram followed assurance from Green that the A. F. of L. would resist “every attempt by sub versive forces to impose upon organ ized labor in America an imported philosophy.” SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL LABOR PAPER. It serves the territory thoroughly of those who buy your wares and make a local labor paper possible for the workers. THEY READ IT. ENDORSE IT. AND PATRONIZE ITS ADVER TISERS. CHATTING ■V HARRY BOATS “Business Week" has this very interesting article on present-day labor activities, and what it has to say on the subject may be more or less educa tional to laborers, merchants, and manufacturers alike: “The intensified labor activities of 1937, which had their beginnings in the division between craft and industrial unionism in the fall of 1935, are to the minds of impartial observers a new rtory. Although labor unrest at the beginning of a business recovery period is nothing new—is, in fact, regarded as inevitable—there are many elements in the background of the present-day development which are not to be found in previous American business cycles, and which combine to presnt a new and more difficult problem than those which business has dealt with or evaded in the past. ... .. “Inescapable are the following evidences of ‘newness’ in the labor problem °f 1 “T* Development of mass-production or ‘machine-age’ methods is more advanced than ever before, and is inherently progressive. Semi-skilled and unskilled labor is doing part of the job formerly entrusted only to Bkilled h0nd“2 A new ‘fear of depression and hope for security’ complex has re sulted from the 1929 crash and its dreary aftermath, remaining in the minds of the lower-paid classes of labor and bare-subsistence farmers, even thougn it may fade from the memory of more fortunate classes.” , . “3. Many former ‘leaders’ in private and public life lost face during the depression; today, a residue of labor distrust remains to the disadvan age of employers generally, no matter how guiltless they may be. “4 Following the world-wide depression, the world-wide trend toward socialization gained momentum. Although America is not patterned after European ways, the examples of certain countries (such as England, Aus tralia, Scandinavia) are being studied by Americans, and successful handling of industrial disputes abroad is certain to suggest similar treatment here. “6 A new body of labor leaders has risen to power in the United States, keenly alive to the forementioned elements and eager to turn them to econ?,™,c At^Washington sits the nearest thing to a labor government that this country has ever had, whose election, whose j^rsuasive proclamation of a ‘new deal,’ whole political ambitions, and many of whose specific policies and definite actions have encouraged labor to demandA*1®”'^ as they “Fundamentally, of course, the demands of labor are the same as they always have been, in so far as these demands relate to hours, wages, and working conditions. But the post-depression psychology is upon the old base, to such an extent that new approaches and new methods are necessary in meeting the problem. “Must the employer abandon hope of running his own shop T “No. The employer who has the confidence of his men can do more ^ them than any organizer of unions. In the past two years the ground ha been cut froih beneath the ‘agitator’ type of unionizer wJ^h employers, after close study of their employes’ hopes and .needs, d„e openly and honestly with them, and have pursued a careful, patient course of e<?<That0llabor must be taught management’s problems is becoming in creasingly apparent, even as management must learn labors needs, a labor has been kept in the dark, or if it has been led astray by glib ers’ from outside the shop, management is largely to blame. The employer who has earned the distrust of labor, or who has neglected ^oppoHumtx^ of ‘selling’ himself to his workmen and has remained a mystery to them, jn a serious predicament when spellbinders arrive with arguments for wh Vhp lnhorine man has been given no Teal answer. . _;]1 i “In the* long run, the final decision on the ‘collective movement will b* rendered by the public, which sooner or later makes its majority ▼oice heard. It thus fa/has found reason to attach some blame to both *naPf*em??ti * ; lalKir and to repose confidence in certain members of both sides. It is in no mood for platitudes or specious reasoning, it has a long memory, and it f/auick to spot evidences of fair dealing on the part of some companies and ‘covering up^ tactics on the part of others. Honesty, then, should pay divi dend“In the opinion of sideline watchers, the present labormovementisone sign of a tremendous majority sentiment which may make itself felt >n. other wfys Employers who realize the trend, and who are taking a hand in the /a/e themselves; who are sitting down to talk things out frankly and hon estly with labor, are themselves a part of this majority sentmre"*. And, n There is much food for thought in the above, for both labor and all nghThere is much food for thougth in the above, for both labor and all who employ labor. *** 1 ■ • ' ■ Green Makes Plea For Return of C.LO. Suspended Locals In a statement following the con cluding session of the Executive Council at the Council’s Fall meeting held in Atlantic City, N. J., William Green, president of the Federation, reiterated previous statements to the effect that the A. F. of L. would wel come the ten suspended C. I. 0. unions to the Federation’s annual convention in Denver beginning October 4 so that the question of craft unions and in dustrial unions could be fought out on the floor of the convention. Mr. Green said that if the ten un ions, which were suspended by the Tampa convention of the American Federation of Labor last November for being a dual organization and dis loyal to the American Federation of Labor, accepted the invitation it would indicate that they were leaving the Committee for Industrial Organi zation. He declared they would be welcome with their increased mem bership and their increased voting strength would be recognized. While expressing doubt that the ten unions would desert Lewis’ Committee for Industrial Organiza tion, Mr. Green said that if they did so the next step toward peace would be the apopintment of a joint com mitte from both groups to study the situation. “The longer this fight goes on the more complicated the issues become,” he declared. “It will be harder to settle today than a year ago, and it will be still harder to settle in an-1 other year.” Postofice Clerks Renew Pledge To The A. F. of L. TOLEDO, Sept. 12.—The National Federation of Post Office Clerks, closing its national convention here last Friday, pledged its loyalty to the American Federation of Labor, of which it is an affiliate. The convention was called upon to instruct delegates to next month’s A. F. of L. convention in Denver how to vote on the question of a one cent per month per capita tax. Those who supported the proposed tax asserted it would not be used to fight the C. I. 0. but to organise un organized workers. A vocal vote up held the tax and instructed the deje gates who are Nelson E. Franklin, Toledo, and Alexander Jeffrey, Louis ville. John C. Sweeney, Cincinnati, and George G. Case, Nashville, Tenn., were named delegates to the 1938 A. F. of L. convention. Houston, Texas, was selected as the site for the next biennial conven tion of the postal clerks in 1939. The convention passed a resolution seeking a reconciliation between the A. F. of L. and the C. I. O., and an other seeking the passage of legisla tion extending to Federal Employes “the rights, respects and protection of the Wagner labor relations act.” IF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION IS IN ARREARS SEND IN A CHECK NOTICE TO GRANITE CUTTERS Members of the G. C. I. A, and Qnarry Workers, employed by the Georgia Granite Corporation, Elberton, Ga.. and the granite cutters in the plant of the Birkeley Granite Corporation of Atlanta, Ga„ are on strike and have been for seven weeks. Granite enters and qnarry workers are urged to stay away from Elberton. Ga„ and Atlanta, until this strike is won. Officials of the corporation have been advertising for men. Pay no attention to such advertisements. Other officials of the corporation have been telephon ing granite cutters in Charlotte that the strike is settled. That is a falsehood. Telephone A. F. of L. headquarters, 3-1905, or call at the head quarters, 302 So. College St., Charlotte, for official information about conditions in the granite industry. Workers are urged to consult this office before acting upon any information from any other source. McCOLL TEXTILE WORKERS ARE DISGUSTED WITH TACTICS OF THE T. W. 0. C. DICTATORSHIP (Special to The Charlotte Labor Journal) McCOLL, S. C., Sept. 14.—It now appears that textile workers in this center wUl follow in the footsteps of the workers in the neighboring town of Bennettsville, and soon return to the fold of the American Federation of Labor. McColl went CIO, or TWOC, rather, several months ago, and indications point to the fact that the workers are disgusted with the tactics of the TWOC, and are demanding that their local union leave the TWOC set-up, and place it in the irreat American Federation of Labor. The union at Bennettsville did this very thing several weeks ago, and that is exactly what the members of the McColl union say they are going to do. Both the Bennettsville and the McColl locals were affiliated with the old United Textile Workers of America. When the national officers of the U. T. W. picked that Interna tional up, lock, stock and barrel, and delivered it into the hands of the John L. Lewis-Sidney Hillman C. I. 0. and TWOC gang, without even asking the members of the local un ions whether or not they desired to go into the C. I. 0., the textile work ers realized that they were not even considered worthy of consideration by the dictators in the Lewis crowd, so they are mad as wet hornets, and they are now demanding that their local union be placed under the ban ner of the American Federation of Labor, where the members of the local unions have.some say-so in their own affairs. In speaking of the high-handed methods of the dictatorship under John L. Lewis, and his C. I. 0. gang, one member of the McColl union said: “Most of us are Democrats. Sup pose our national leaders should hold a convention and then notify us that we are no longer Democrats, as the leaders of the party had put us in the Socialist party, and that we are now Socialists instead of Democrats, what would we do? I tell you what we’d do: We’d raise pluperfect Hell, that’s what we’d do! Well, our leaders did that very thing to our lo cal union. We were American Fed eration Labor unionists. A national meeting was held, and our national officers turned us over to the C. I. O., whatever in the dickens that may be’ and notified us that we were no longer American Federation of La bor unionists—that we were now C. 1. O.’s and they never asked us one dern thing about it, and we had no vote or voice in the matter. I am not going to stand for anybody taking my union and tossing it about from post to pillar, and re-naming it and then telling us what they have done, and that we’ve got to like it. To hell with ’em!” The action of the TWOC officials, it as charged here and in Bennetts ville, has been of the same dictating manner. It is charged by the work ers that the union committees cannot meet with the management of the mills about the union’s affairs, but | that the organizers and paid repre sentatives of the TWOC do all the meeting with the management and make all the trades with the bosses about affairs which should properly be done by the union committee. This, it seems, is not satisfactory, to the textile workers. The head of the TWOC in the Carolinas is said to have stated, in a speech here, that he wanted the workers to stop ganging up on the street corners talking about the un ion and the agreement and the way things are being done, and it is > charged that he was mad at the work ers for even discussing their own un ion affairs. AU these things, it is said about here, have created a gen uine disgust on the part of the work ers for the TWOC, and these work ers, it is freely predicted, soon will be back in the camp of the American Federation of Labor, where the workers in each local union have voice and vote in all of their affairs. Painters - Decorators Affirm Loyalty To Am. Fed. of Labor BUFFALO, N. Y., Sept. 14.—The Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America reaf firmed its loyalty to the A. F. of L. today in closing sessions of* its 15th general assembly. — • In a resolution, the painters term ed John L. Lewis’ Committee for In dustrial Organization as “communis tic” and charged the C. I. O. with “wishing to destroy the American Federation of Labor.” The next general assembly of the brotherhood has been set for 1941 in Santa Monica, Calif. LABOR ORGANIZATION VS. A LABOR POLITICAL PARTY (BY THE SIDE-LINER) “East is East and West is West, and ne’er the twain shall meet . . . ’ The poet who penned the above lines must have had the powers of a prophet and could look down through the years to the coming of the time when that political-power made John L. Lewis, conceived the idea and made effort to execute his plans to disrupt the American Federation of Labor, throw it into the discard as a labor organization, and re-make it into a political machine whose chief operator was to be John L. Lewis. John Lewis is not the first man who has tried to turn the American Federation of Labor into a political party. Eugene Debs tried to turn the American labor movement into a Socialist party. Big Bill Haywood tried to create a powerful political machine by taking the labor movement in the mid-West and the West and changing it from an economic force into one of purely political activities. Lesser lights throughout the country have tried t oride into political power and preferement by using the labor movement in his locality for political purposes. The Communist leaders of the Old World have long sought an oppor tunity to grab the labor movement in America and turn it into a power for the International Communistic group. John Lewis, personally ambitious and an ingrate beyond redemption, played into the hands of Communists when he announced to the world that he, the Great John L., was bigger than the established, recognized and respected American labor movement. In North Carolina this effort to turn the labor movement into a political machine has been made in recent years. For the past several years, in fact, there has been little organizing work done, among the unorganized, but there has been lots ond lots and heaps of political activities in the ranks of the State Federation of Labor. That is the main reason why organized labor in this state is so weak. Efforts to organize the workers into labor unions have been few and far between, while all the work that has been done, generally speak ing, has ben along political lines. The American labor movement is an economical force—not political The purpose of the American labor movement is to organize the workers, so they may deal with their employers through the principle and practice of collective bargaining, and in contractual relationship make agreements with employers and their workers concerning hours of Labor, wages for labor, and working conditions satisfactory to labor. The purpose of the pie-hunters and would-be political bosses who want to turn the labor movement into a political machine is to create pinnacles of power upon which such leaders can sit arrayed in all the glory of Solomon and wield the powerful wand of the Dictator. The two philosophies can never be merged, anv more than the East can be brought to the West, and the poet says: “And ne’er the twain shall meeC*\ TO ADVERTISERS KEEP YOUR DOLLARS AT HOME Advertise in your LOCAL LABOR Paper. It serves the workers of Charlotte and surrounding territory, and NO OTHER LABOR PAPER DOES. BE WARE OF LABOR HIJACKERS. They are abroad in the land under various guises, and with high sounding endorsements, but they do not bring the ' bacon home from this section. When in doubt, call Charlotte Labor Journal, Phone 3-3094
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 16, 1937, edition 1
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