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VOL. IX—No. 32
YOU* ADVIRTIIIMINT IN TNS JOURNAL IS A
INVSRTMKNT
CHARLOTTE, N. C, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4,1940
Anvrntircrr DUUVI CONSIDERATION or
*2.00 For \
PRES. GREEN SAYS SEC. PERKINS
MISREPRESENTS FACTS CAO.-A.F.L
DISPUTE IN HER ANNUAL REPORT
WASHINGTON, Jan. 1.—The
American Federation of Labor ac
cused Secretary Perkins last Satur
day of misrepresenting the facts of
the CIO-AFL dispute in her annual
report to Congress and suggested that
a Congressional committee summon
the Labor Department head and
wring from her the truth she has
suppressed.”
m a sharply critical statement,
President William Green, of the AFL,
also took exception to Miss Perkins'
references in her report to the nu
merical strength of the two labor or
ganizations.
“the statement of the Secretary of
Labor that the AFL ‘claims' 4,UOO,OOJ
members is misleading,” he said. “We
do not ‘claim,’ we report 4,000,UUU
paiu-up iiiemoers. The figures are in
cluded in our financial report and are
subject, to verification by expert ac
countants.
“Our financial report is in the pos
session of Secretary Perkins. She
had no such report from the CIO be
cause they issued none. Yet in the
same breath that she states we
‘claim’ 4,UUO,000 members, she says
the CIO also ‘claims’ 4,000,000 mem
bers. Thus she attempts to place
both organizations in a position of
parity wnen, as a matter of fact, the
paid-up membership of the AFL is
probably four times that of the CIO.”
in the course of her report, Miss
Perkins reviewed the split in the la
bor movement«nd described it as “haz
ardous to trade-unionism” as well as
“troublesome” to some employers and
to Government agencies dealing with
labor problems. She mentioned also
President Koosevelt’s and her own ef-1
forts to effect a union of the two war
ring groups.
Green asserted that this portion of
the report was “thoroughly uninfom
ed, misleading and untdue.”
“Her statement that the split in the
labor movement was ‘crystallized’
when ten unons were ‘expelled’ (from
the AFL) on Sept. 6,1936, is contrary
to the facts and faulty in judgment,”
he continued. “The split occurred
with the formation of the CIO in No
vember, 1935, and was crystallized
when that organization undertook to
wage an undeclared war on the Amer
ican Federation of Labor immediately
thereafter. No unions were ‘expelled’
by the AFL on Sept. 5, 1936. Ten
unions were suspended on that date.
There is a vast difference ....
“In reporting on peace negotiations,
.... the Secretary stops short of a
vital point when she is under moral
obligation to tell the whole story. She
refrained from reporting that the CIO
broke off negotiations last April and
has refused to renew them since.
“Furthermore, she failed to report
that in response to her urgent request,
as well as that of the President, to re
sume negotiations, representatives of
the AFL agreed to meet anywhere at
any time with representatives of the
CIO. She failed to report that Mr.
Lewis’ (John L. Lewis, CIO president)
answer was ‘No,’ that he spurned the
invitation of both the President and
herself and for that reason peace ne
gotiations have not been resumed.
“Why has she withheld this vital
information from Congress and the
public. We hope an appropriate Con
gressional committee will summon the
Secretary of Labor to appear before it
and wring from her the truth she has
suppressed.”
DRIVE FOR JOBS URGED BY A. F. L;
BUSINESS, LABOR AND CONSUMERS
URGED TO GET TOGETHER FOR END
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30.—The
American Federation of Labor said
today that gettinsL. the unemployed
back to work was tne'No. l’economic
problem for 1940, and suggested a con
ference of business, labor, farm, and
consumer representatives for co-oper
auve action to that end.
If industrial production could be
increased 25 per cent above the 1929
level, the A. F. L.’a monthly survey
of business said there would be jobs
for virtually all the 9,000,000 unem
ployed and a higher general standard
ui uving for the entire population.
‘ A, we look forward to the task of
increasing production and putting the
unemployed back to work one point
stands out clearly,” the review added.
“Private industry cannot plan to in
crease production without some assur
a nee as to the future.
“In the present circumstances with!
war in Hu rope and a presidential,
e,.ci.on aneau, certainty as to the fu-l
.use is, of course, not possible. It
is po^Bioie, nowever, for a conference
of lesponsible representatives from
business, labor, farmers, and consum
ers to lay the basis for co-operation to
increase production and thus to give
more j^uwi?e ns to the future tljau
could otherwise be possible.
The review said it was not unrea
sonable to look for an increase in pro
duction to a level of 25 per cent above
1929 within “a short space of time.”
m the decade from 1919 to 1929, it
said, industrial production increased
43 per cent. For the full year 1939,
it added, production was 11 per cent
below 1929, although 1929 peaks were
exceeded in the last quarter of this
year.
Along with increased production,
there should be some gradual further
shortening of work hours if the un
employed are to be absorved, it said.
A drop in the average work week from
50 hours in 1929 to 40 hours in 1939
was credited with preventing techno
logical unemployment for 3,000,000 in
the last decade.
As to the outlook for 1940, the re
view said business forecasters expect
ed the year to average about 5 per
cent above 1939, but that it would
probably start with some slackening
off from the level of this month,
Where Does
Your Union
Earned Dollar Go—
Did you know that in a recent
issue of the Charlotte Labor
Journal, approximately seventy
e»s houses or individuals were
.ep,esented by advertising, seek
.n0 your patronage, and that a
iiunioer ot others frequently
use our advertising columns.
Charlotte retailers and distrib
utors are realizing that the Union
Earned Dollar totals five millions
'or more in a year’s time, and it is
to your interest to favor those who
help make your Labor newspaper
posisble.
Head Journal Ads Carefully
and Profit Thereby.
uu~u~s~i~r~i—i—i~i—i~i—i—i—i—i-——————
tAiKONIZE THOSE
WHO ADVERTISE IN
THE JOURNAL
Co. Must Restore
$100,000 In Back
Wages To Workers
CHICAGO.—Thomas O'Mally, re
gional director of the Wage and Hour
division of the United States Depart
ment of Labor, announced last Friday
the Hump Hairpin Manufacturing Co.
of Chicago had agreed to restore
more than $100,000 in back wages to
about 300 employes.
He said it was the largest restitu
tion case involving a single company
since enforcement of the fair labor
standards act began Oct. 24, 1038.
Workers will collect an average of
$300 apiece, O’Malley said. In one
case, $800 will be restored.
Shortly before O’Malley made his
announcement, Federal Judge John
P. Barnes signed a consent decree or
dering the company and its affiliate,
the Chain Store Products Corporation,
to stop immediately the employment
of child labor, to pay not less than 30
cents an hour, and to pay time and a
half for overtime in excess of 42 hours
a week.
CENTRAL LABOR UNION GETS OFF
TO GOOD START FOR 1940 DESPITE
FACT THAT “FLU” IS PREVALEN1
Central Labor Union resumed busi
ness last night after a vacation period
of two weeks during the holidays. On
account of sickness, etc., the attend
ance was not up to par, yet the meet
ing was one of much interest, there
being much accumulated correspond
ence, etc., to be acted upon. Secretary
Greene was absent due to a flu at
tack, J. A. Moore acting in his place.
Sergeant-at-arms C. E. McGinnis was
back at his post as sergeant-at-arms
after an illness of a few weeks.
The housing authority committee
report was made by Brother McElice.
Brother Conder reported for the or
ganizing committee that the commit
tee would get together by next meet
ing and map out a line of activity, at
wnich time a report would be made.
R. H. Todd reported for the Team
sters and Chauffeurs, thanking the
different locals for the aid to Greal
Southern stricken and for donation!
which helped make the Christmas foi
them a very happy one.
Many of the locals reported neu
members, and all reported all mem
ben, with few exceptions, as work
ins regularly. Accumulated communi
cations of a private and semi-private
nature were read and acted upon.
Delegate McElice brought to the at
tention the fact that out of 8,000,000
worken over 3,000,000 are working
under closed shop conditions.
A communication was read from
President Green calling attention to
the fact that the Labor Non-Partisan
Political League was on the A. F. L.
“blacklist,” branding it as being of
a communistic tinge and forbidding
A. F. of L. state, central bodies or
locals in anyway participating in its
activities.
.Facing the Facts
With PHILIP PEARL
Looking into our crystal ball, we
can see a good year ahead for work
ing men and women everywhere. At
least, we hope so.
Host predictions are compounded of
90 per cent hope and 10 per cent
“hope” (guesswork). We have no hes
itation in admitting this is our foi
mula for New year prognostications.
And so, with that much understood,
nere goes our preview for 1940:
WAR and PEACE—The dictators
who forced war upon Europe will he
the victims of it. Hitler and Stalin
nave been enjoying the “day of the
dog.” But the longer war lasts the
less chance they have of surviving. Be
fore the end of 1940 the people of
Germany will feel the pangs of hun
ger and they foil turn upon the trai
tor to humanity who now oppresses
them. England and France, wisely con
tent with playing a waiting game ann
starving tne aggressors by blockade,
will find the German people then
strongest allies in breaking. Hitler.
Meanwhile, Stalin will continue to
find the Finns stubborn and uncon
querable foes. The Scandinavian coun
tries, in self-protection, will come to
the aid of Finland. And the Russian
people, who still have no idea why the
war against Finland was begun, will
become weary of slaughter and disillu
sioned with their dictator. Stalin wih
not last very much longer than Hitler,
when they both go, peace will come.
Perhaps not in 1940, but surely not
much later. Let us pray it will be an
intelligent peace, a peace without ven
geance against people who were them
selves victimised by autocrats hungry
for world domination.
LABOR—We see progress ahead
for organised labor. The C. I. O. is
now on its last legs. It cannot halo
out much longer. The working men
and women who have been misled into
the C. L O. will rise up against the
leadership of John L. Lewis just as
surely as the people of Germany ana
Russia will rebel against their dicta
tors. Already there .are dear signs
that Lewis is losing his grip. See what
happened in Philadelphia the othei
day I The C. L O. central council in
that city, comprising every C. L O.
union in the jurisdiction, openly de
fied Lewis. It voted overwhelming
ly to refuse to obey Lewis’ orders to
fight the A. F. of L- building trades
unions. In 1940 similar outbreaks
against Lewis will become general all
over the country. The American peo
ple are against Lewis and all his
works and that gees for working peo
ple just as well as anyone else. We
predict that in the Spring of 1940 a
great international union which once
played a leading role in the C. I. O.
will return to the fold of the Ameri
can Federation of Labor. Other un
ions which left the Federation in 1936
will follow this example quickly. And
labor peace, which Lewis refused to
seek even at President Roosevelt’s be
hest, will come about despite his re
sistance. Once more labor will be
come a strong and united family, in
vincible in its march toward progress,
even though the burly figure of a
would-be labor dictator is left strand
ed in the wilderness.
Him DAYS WIU. U inipi
OUR COUNTRY—Tbs United
TO THE MEMBERS OP
ORGANIZED LABOR
AND THEIR MANY FRIENDS
if This newspaper has always endeavored to create and maintain good will between em
ployers andemployees.
if The highly competitive conditions of today require more harmonious efforts in
iine ot endeavor in order to achieve the highest degree of success.
if Our eilurts in this regard are made possible by the firms and individuate advertising
m our columns. By their co-operation they prove conclusively that they are interested
in the welfare of the working man and that they appreciate his business, ^
if In addition to thanking these advertisers for this expression of their good will, we
urge every member of Organized Labor and their families to demonstrate their good will
as well and favor these firms with their patronage, d
if You are assured of sincere, courteous and reliable service in dealing with these places •
of business which handle choice selections of dependable merchandise in their respective
lines.
I THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL
I
THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL
States of America will remain at
peace with the world. The American
•people will see better days in the com
ing year. For we have learned that
we possess the most precious asset in
the world—freedom. Seeing what the
peoples of other lands are suffering
under, we can view our own problems
in their true light. America may be
suffering from indigestion but it is not
afflicted with cancer.
It is always frightening to be sick.
People woh are ill have strong imag
inations. They are prone to fear the
worst. During the last ten years of
nation-wide heartburn, some of our
people imagined the United States
needed a major operation. They look
ed abroad for remedies. They were
told to lop off the American system,
and try to graft Communism, Nazism
or Fascism in its place. Now the
American people have discovered
foreign remedies were actually
They have decided they want
tf this foreign poison.
1940 the AmeriCSh people Will
It
find native remedies for their ills,
may be only a matter of the proper
diet. Our country has in the past beer,
caught in the throes of economic cy
cles, involving an over-rich diet for a
few years and then a long period of
near-starvation. Perhaps we can find
a way of providing a more evenly bal
anced diet. Certainly efforts should
and will be made to reduce unemploy
ment. In 1940 this will be a primary
concern of all our people. It will be a
Presidential election year. Let eacn
candidate state his program. Let the
voters decide which program offers
the best guarantee of success. Then
let every element in our population
co-operate toward that goal. The
American Federation of Labor offers
its own program—a universal thirty
oour week with increases rather than
reductions in pay. Thus will employ
ment be spread and a greater purchas
ing power created to buy the products
of our wonderful industrial age.
And thus we come to our ultimate
wish—a Happy New Year to You AIL
WM. ». UKLLMS, FLU VICTIM,
BUT IS SLOWLY RECOVERING
Due to the illness of William S.
Greene, who writes the “I Question?”
eolumn for The Journal, his column is
missing, he being a “flu” victim this
week, but at this writing a report
from his home informs us that he is
improving slowly. Mr. Greene is sec
retary of the Charlotte Central Labor
Union and also of the Musicians local,
and his many friends wish for him a
speedy recovery.
Investigation Asked
Of Adv’t Appearing
Caswell Messenger
As to Peonage Laws
(A press dispatch, coming out of
Washington, D. C., last week makes in
teresting reading, if true.)
WASHINGTON, D. C.—The Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People has asked the
Department of Justice at Washington
to investigate an apparent condition
of peonage in the vicinity of Yancey
▼Ule. N. C. The NAACP request
cited an advertisement which appear
ed recently in the Yanceyville Caswell
Messenger as follows:
“NOTICE—I forbid any one to hire
or harbor Herman Miles, colored, dur
ing the year 1989. A. P. Dabbs, Route
1, Yanceyville."
The Chapel Hill, N. C., weekly made
an investigation in the area covered
by the advertisement and says that
the insertion of such notices, reminis
cent of slavery times, is not uncom
mon in that area of North Carolina.
Although such practice long ago
were outlawed by the U. S. Supreme
Court, the North Carolina investiga
tor reported that the neople in the
area ignored this fact and that Judges
and politicians had not dared to act in
a contrary manner. The NAACP
urged the Department of Justice to
taka action under the peonage laws.
Sabaeribe for tha Journal
TEAMSTERS M CHAUElECKS LOCAL
EASSES 500 MEMBEKSUIE MARK; MEW
OEMCEKS ELECTED AND INSTALLED
Verily, 1939 vu a banner year foi
Charlotte Local, No. 71, oi the team
sters and Chauffeurs, especially the
Utter half of it, for from about 70
odd members the first part of 1939
this local has passed the 600 mar*
and is heading to see 1940 with it
passing the 1,000 membership mark,
ibis information is passed on to the
canor Journal by urgamzer U. L.
mccrone, business agent and general
representative of that body in tnis ter
ritory, and u simply an illustration
of wnat hard wora, bulldog tenacity
and perseverance can accomplish
r.ach and every member of the 'team
sters and (Jhauileurs is a good-will
amoassador in the way of organizing
and helps in the wora of organizing.
Negotiations on wages and nours
for ail signed up trucaing concerns
was begun tnis weea anu organizer
mcCrone says this pnase oi work
win continue until an agreements have
ueen ratified.
A Labor board decision on the Great
Sbutnern 'trucking company trouoie
in Charlotte u expected about the 16th
of this month, and the decision of the
board will have etfect upon the entire
system of the Great bouthern, with
neaoquarters in Jacasonvihe, r la. ,
Another good feature oi ine report
from the 'teamsters' local is that an
members are working, with tne ex
ception of the Great Southern force,
out they have been wen cared ior ana
still present an unbroken front, whicn
snows a line spirit for these men. The
w
Charlotte local and other labor unite
in this territory have seen to it that
these men are provided for. The
Southeastern Comerence of the Teamr
sters and Chauffeurs, t a King in 18
Southern and Southwestern states, is
scheduled to meet in Atlanta, Ua., Jan
uary gy, 30 and 31, and Charlotte will
be represented at this gathering at
which time plans will be made lor
further organization activities, wage
scales, etc.
in December the following officers
were elected and installed to servo
during the ensuing year:
fTesiuent—u. ft. barton.
V ice-l'resident—M. b. McCrorie.
Sec.-freas—J. H. huiierton.
trustees—A. t. Sea tty, b. ft. Kirk
patrica, ft. if. Todd.
business Agent—H. L. McCrorie.
Seigeaut-at-mms—rtoOert niggers,
beu gates to Central baoor onion—
ri. ti. luucrone, ft. n. toud, —. —.
rtoss, Jituiumu, ana £. O. oauipueii.
the 'teamsters and Chauffeurs
local will open up a business nrtira
within the next week or two in charge
of business Agent McCrorie, this har
ing become necessary in order to fa
cuuate the business of the Charlotte
local.
in closing, The Journal would him
to state mat tne teamsters' local has
been a group subscriber and a staunch
supporter ox tne Journal in the past
years, and we congratulate them upon
tne progress they nave made in lyog
and wish them every success in HMD.
WHAT 100 TEAKS HAS DUNE
EUK WOMEN” IN JNEW ANH KEVISED
EDITION OF “WOMEN AT WOKE”
[The U. S. Dept, of Labor, Women’s
Bureau sends out the following, in
part:]
A new and revised edition of
“Women at Work: A Century of In
dustrial Change/’ published originally
ior the Century of Progress Imposi
tion in lim, was released for distri
outftm today by' Miss Mary Ander
son, Director of the Women's Bureau,
United States Department of Labor,
the bulletin is one of the most fopu
*ar ever pubUshed by the Bureau.
The revision includes new chapters
on “The Woman Worker Today,”
“Women and Labor Laws,” and “l,o>v
Wages for Women.” Chapters
brought up to date discuss union or
ganisation, women’s opportunities,
rSegro women workers, and immigrant
women workers. The other chapters
are “Thi Coming of the Machine” and
“Women Workers in War Time.”
Throughout the history of women in
.ndustry for the past 100 years, the
pamphlet shows, women have had to
race the problems of unemployment
and low wages. Today, while these
problems still persist, progress is be
ing made in meeting them through
the new weapons of strengthened la
bor unions and new government serv
ices. Cited particularly are the
National Labor He la turns Board, in
suring workers’ rights to organize;
the Federal Works programs, provid
ing the unemployed with work; the
•social Security and State relief pro
grams, providing the unemployed with
*ork; the Social Security and State
.elief programs; the aid to the un
employed m finding jobs through pub
lic employment agencies; and the
..afeguards against the return to
sweatshop wages and hours through
the Fair Labor Standards Act of liras
and' new State minimum-wage and
maximum-hour laws for women.
Figures are cited showing how
women particularly have benefited
from these programs. At one time
in 1938 about 372,000 women ^
WTA jobs, providing them with sub
sistence and in many cases teaching
them new skills for use later in pri
vate industry. More than three-quar
ters of a million women were receiv
ing old-age benefits in 1938 as a re
sult of the Social Security Act. Other
women, who had become unemployed
since January 1937, were receiving un
employment-insurance benefits, and
m tne summer oi 1S38 nearly 2o0,000
mothers or other persons with young
cniidren to care tor were being paid
monthly sums, also under the Social
security program.'
The linited States Employment
Service and its affiliated State agen
cies in the calendar year 1938 "'"I*
boii.oou placements of women. Though
in some cases more than one tempor
ary job went to one Woman, in the
great majority of cases each job rep
resented a different woman who was
aided through his free employment
agency service.
About 5 million women, the report
States, had the protection of mini
mum-wage laws, Federal and State.
Approximately 4 mi.jon were covered
by the f ederal Fair Labor Standards
Act. State minimum-wage laws ap
plied to approximately lit million
women not covered by the Federal act,
but less than a million were actually
benefiting by such laws because of
court action or delays in issuing wage
orders.
“With government and organised
labor as her aiues,” the report states,
“the woman Worker today is in a bet
ter position than ever before to win
her long struggle for good wages, de
cent working conditions, equal oppor
tunities with men, a secure income,
and the full, happy, and healthy life
that is her birthright in America.*'
GRATITUDE
For starry night and dawn of day,
For winds that in the willows play,
For every Gift that cornea my way,
I’m grateful.
For 8urwhine bright and silvery rain,
For harvest time and ripening grain,
For joy that ever follows pain,
I’m grateful.
For steeple bells that gaily ring,
For, homing birds upon the wing,
And love that only worth can bring,
I’m grateful.
For furrowed fields and upturned sod,
For paths that I alone have trod,
For faith that lifts my soul to God,
I’m grateful.
—Alice WiUon-Norton la "The Uplift.1*
Journal Readers Co-operate With Those
Who Advertise In It
i