Tkn ONLY REALLY mPOTNPEMT WEEKLY t*
printed la Charlotte -and
For i W—My If Baritri
county in ita entirety.
t ths LARGEST BUYING POWKK is
Official Organ Central
Labor Union; standing for
the A. F of L
Che Charlottr labor Journal
n
Users.
Make YOU*
by tb*fc
Truthful, Honest, Impartial
Endorsed by tbe N. L. State Federa
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and dixie farm news
Taatk Tmt Of CmUmm.
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Endeavoring to Serve the Mosses
VOL. X—NO. 37
YOUR ADV SWT HIM ENT IN TNI JOURNAL IS A OOQO
INVESTMENT
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1941
JOURNAL ADVERTISERS DESERVE CONSIDERATION OS
the readers
S2.00 Per Yi
MILLIONS HEARD POLICY OF A. F. L
AS TO OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE OVERl
4 NATION-WIDE HOOK-UP SUNDAY
_ I
WASHINGTON, D. C.—The National defense policy of the
American Federation of Labor and of the Building and Construe*
tion Trades Department and the Metal Trades Department was
told to an audience of millions in a half-hour nationwide broad
cast over the Columbia Broadcasting System network. The prin
cipal participant in the program, William Green, president of the
A. F. of L., said:
“We have enlisted for the duration
of the emergency. We are alive to
the dangers that beset our country
and our way of life. There is nothing
in reason that the government of our
country has asked us to do that we
have failed to do. There is nothing
in reason that the government may
in the future call upon us to do that
we will fail to do.”
Other labor leaders on the program
were George Masterton, president of
the United Association of Plumbers
and Steamfitters, and Joseph S. Mc
Donagh, secretary-treasurer of the
Metal Trades Department. They and
Mr. Green responded to questions put
to them by Albert Warner, CBS com
mentator in the nation’s capital.
Mr. Masterton, who appeared as a
spokesman for the Building and Con
struction Trades Department, of which
he is a vice-president, and Mr. Mc
Donagh told of the “no strikes on de
fense jobs” policy enunciated by the
two departments at recent confer
ences in Washington.
Mr. Warner said there might be
confusion because of the fact that the
legislative program of the A. F. of L.
vigorously maintains labor’s right to
strike and asked Mr. Green to “clear
that question up for us.”
“The right to strike is fundamen
tal,” Mr. Green replied. “It is labor’s
ultimate defense against oppression.
“It is guaranteed by the 13th for
bids involuntary servitude. In a free
country, you can’t force a man to work
against his will. But while jealously
guarding this basic right, the Amer
ican Federation of Labor recognises
that in this present crisis, when Amer
ican democracy is arming itself for
self-preservation, production of de
fense materials must be Speeded
rather than delayed. That is why
we have voluntarily adopted this ‘no
strike’ policy.
“We feel that management has an
<cKuial resnons:bilitv in this connec
tion and we appeal to Aftiericarl in
dustry to employ with labor the
peaceful processes of collective bar
gaining so that we can function in
efficient teamwork for the successful
completion of the defense program.”
Mr. Masterton said there is no real
shortage of workers in the building
and construction field. Mr. McDonagh
asserted that in the metal trades “the
only labor shortages we have encoun
tered are in two or three highly
skilled classifications” that they are
being overcome by overtime, oy rais
ing the age limits and Sy training
and retraining programs.
A plan to increase production for
extending the work week in extraor
dinary cases to seven days a week was
disclosed by the Metal Trades Depart
ment’s representative. Under this
plan, to be employed “only in extreme
cases of emergency,” every man on
the job would work six days, five days
at straight time and the sixth at over
timer rates. The days off would be
staggered so that each man would get
one day of rest even though the plant
operated at full blast seven days a
week.
’AMBUSHES
Two small British boys were gazing
at the shop windows decorated for
Christmas. Presently they came to a
butcher’s shop, and one of them point
ed to a number of hams hanging from
a large holly branch. “Look, Tom,"
he said. “Look at them ’ams agrow
ing up there.”
“Get away,” said the other. “’Ams
don’t grow.”
“Well, that’s all you know about it,”
said the first scornfully. “Ain’t you
ever ’eard of an ’ambush?” I
Charlotte Location
Wage and Hour
Field Office
The Journal has so many
calls as to the location of the
Charlotte Wage and Hour
Field Office, that it is publish
ing the address for the bene
fit of those who have need of
its services:
WAGE AND HOUR FIELD
OFFICE
409 Johnston Bldg.
212 S. Tryon St.
The days of the present are more
ominous than any that have faced
the universe for the past two thousand
years.
ijiijiij u .mom—<—
WISDOM
Strong language befitting a strong man—“AH that
harms Labor is treason to America. If any man says ne
loves America yet hates labor, he is a liar ... There Is no
America without Labor . . . ’’—ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WHY NOT TELL HIM NOW?
If he earns your praise, bestow it; if you lil^e him, let
him know it; let words of true encouragement be said!
Do not wait till life is over and he’s underneath the clover—
he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead!
THE MARCH OF LABOR
9
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Hie fir*t union•
initiate r-*
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THIS WEEK IN DEFENSE
A portion of major events in onr National Defense Program for
tiie past week, as sent ont by E. Leigh Stevens, State Director for
Virginia, and Staff Representative for North Carolina.
Director General Knudsen and As-'
lociate Director Hillman of the Office
if Production Management stated
his week the Nation's industries had
>xpanded their output by 23 per cent
jetween May and December, 1940, and
:hat “although we were a little slow
n starting ... in another three
months or so we ought to have some
:hing real to show.”
Both statements were made in ad
iresses to the Council of State Gov
irnments’ annual assembly in Wash
ington. At the same time, the OPM
Director General praised the response
)f manufacturers to the defense pro
gram as “one hundred per cent” and
laid “if we are willing to spend a lit
tle sweat for a year or so, we may be
ible to save a little blood later on.”
Mr. Knudsen later told a press con
ference he still holds to' his estimate
that 33,000 military planes will be
built in the United States by July,
1942. He disclosed that airplane pro
i lift ion in December established a
new record of 799 planes and that
military aircraft engine production
touted 2,400 last month.
Mr. Knudsen said automobile firms
that will participate in the plane pro
gram have assured him they would
sUrt producing plane parts this year
and by the last quarter of 1941 pro
tection in the aircraft assembly plants
would begin.
John D. Biggers, Chief of the OPM j
Production Division, warned manufac
turers in the meantime that the Gov
srrmjent will not permit “needed
facilities to remain idle” and urged
manufacturers to cooperate promptly
in a survey of manufacturing space
being made by the National Industrial
Council.
“No plant in the country,” Mr. Big
gers said, “is so specialized that it
cannot be adapted to national defense
needs. Typewriter factories are work
ing on machine guns; while a large
stove company is making bolts for the
Army.”
PRIME CONTRACTORS LISTED
The OPM later announced that to
speed-up the farming out of defense
contracts it had sent to local defense
production groups a list of 610 firms
holding contracts for the Army and
the* Navy and SecreUry of the Navy
Knox told a press conference the
Navy was also underUking a broad
program to sub-let contracts among
small concerns.
The OPM list conUined the names
and addresses, by sUtes, of all prime
contractors who have received defense
trders of more than $100,000 each for
any of seven major types of equip
ment from July 1 through December
30, 1940. The types of equipment se
lected were ammunition components;
aircraft and parts; automotive, tanks
and equipment; machinery and parts;
guns and parts; ships and parts; ana
electrical equipment.
LABOR'S CONTRIBUTION TO
DEFENSE
OPM Associate Director Hillman
also stated to the Council of State
Governments that labor's present con
tribution to the Nation's defense is
the greatest in labor's history and the
number of industrial disputes in de
fense industries since last May, when
the defense program was started, has
“radically declined” as compared with
the corresponding months in 1939.
“Moreover,” Mr. Hillman said, “the
number of strikes thus far has been
considerably smaller than in the year
1916 when our factories were engaged
in arming the allies. The number has
been much less than in 1917 when we
were actually at war.”
“To date 241 potential industrial
disputes in defense industries have
been brought to the attention of the
labor division of the National Defense
Advisory Commission. Director Hill
man added. Of this number only two
esulted in appreciable stoppages.
Even these two were for a short dura
tion, one lasting seven working days
and the other two.”
Secretary of Labor Perkins told a
press conference later in the week she
would like to see “many more agree
ments” between employers and employ
ees, calling for "no stoppages of work”
pending the exhaustion of all methods
of conciliation, mediation, and arbi
tration. The Secretary pointed out
that most contracts negotiated by
companies and unions with the help
of the Conciliation Service partici
pated included a clause embodying this
agreement.
At his Friday press conference,
President Roosevelt said considering
the sise of the country he thought the
delays in the defense program caused
by strikes have been small and the
national defense picture was very en
couraging despite a few labor disputes
in several plants manufacturing de
fense material,
* PRICES AND PROFITS
NDAC Commissioner Elliott, in
charge of Consumer rPotoetion, stated
this week that business profits must,
come from large volume instead of
large prices.
“Sound business judgment,” Miss
Elliott wrote to the Managing Direc
tor of the National Association of
Manufacturers, “as well as considera
tion of the public interest in this period
of national emergency requires that,
just as past losses had their origin in
slack operations and low output, prof
iitable operation should be sought in
an increased volume of production' in
duced by stable prices . . . Every rise
in price, no matter how *iack, carries
*
Attorney General Jackson, in a
speech before the Council of State
Governments, stated that “an eco
nonmrfifth column” was a bigger
threat to this country's security than
“the bomb throwing saboteur.”
The bomb throwing saboteur has
been replaced by the economic sabo
teur, Mr. Jackson said. The economic
saboteur spreads distress and doubt
in the rights of labor. He seeks to
incite capital against labor, labor
against capital, labor against labor,
and all of them against Government
THE JOURNAL has by far
tha largest city circulation of
any weekly pabliahed in Char
lotte. Tonr ad in The Journal
will bring reanlta from the
workers,
You can relieve the monotony ol
your job by thinking up ways to im
prove it.
Some lazy fellows would rather be
in yesterday than to put forth anj
effort to go from today to tomorrow.
Fly the FLAG
THE A. F. OP L. STANDS WITH AND FOR THE FLAG
UNION LABELS
Let’s make 1941 s Union year. Let's call for LABELS
on Shirts, Clothing, Shoes, Hats, Ties — (and everything
else) where a Union Label is not obtainable, boy from a mer
chant fair to organised labor. Buy America first, last and
always. Lay off of “Made in Germany,” “Made in Japan,”
— BUT MADE IN AMERICA.
5TH COLUMN STRONGER IN AMERICA
THAN IN HITLERIZED DOMINIONS
IS ASSERTION OF CHAIRMAN DIES
COLUMBIA, S. C., Jan. 28.—Chairman Martin Dies, Demo
crat of Texas, of the House committee investigating; un-American
activities asserted last night that the fifth column in this coun
try “is better organized and higher financed than any of the fifth
columns of countries overrun by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.”
In an address sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Texan
said that “fearless exposure followed by vigorous prosecution where the law
has been violated is the democratic answer to the fifth column in the United
States.”
“There is no power or combination of powers that could successfully
invade the United States,” Dies said, so long as Americans “stand united
...” adding that “the enemy within this country constitutes a greater
menace” than a foe from without.
France, he said, “stands today the supreme example of what the Trojan
horse can do through treason.”
He told of many organizations investigated by the committee, including
the American League for Peace and Democracy, which he said had 7,000,000
members at one time. This group, he said, was “under the control of Russia”
but “as a result of our exposure, it was forced to fold up.”
Dies was introduced by Governor Burnet R, May bank. He pl«"n~i to
leave for Birmingham, Ala., later tonight.
Earlier, in an interview, the congressman expressed doubt that the
Germans could invade England. -
“The 21 miles between Calais and Dovet is an obstacle that cannot be
AVasMinsa ” mm noaovtod
DONNELLY “MERIT SYSTEM
EXPOSED BY UNION PRINTERS
CHICAGO, ILL. — The Chicago
printing trades unions have issued an
interesting circular titled -“-The Two
Sweat-Shop Mags” which exposes the
so-called “merit" system of the notori
ously nonunion printing concern of R.
R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (Lakeside
Press), Chicago. An interesting para
graph from the circular is this:
“The Donnelley concern is remorse
less in sweating its employees. Par
ticularly vicious is the Donnelley
“merit” system which, in reality is a
speed-up devise designed t<j extract
the last ounce of energy fropi employ
ees. “Merits” are determined after a
stopwatch stu^y—think of it, “a stop
watch study”—has been made to die
cover the factors of an operation that
control its speed. After the stop
watch speed has been determined em
ployees must keep up that pace or
suffer what is called a “demerit.**
Ordinary errors are considered “de
merits.” This “merit” system is de
scribed as “scientific,” but to the dis
interested observer there is nothing
more scientific about it than there
was about the slave-driving of Simon
Legree.”
Members of organized labor are
urged to secure a copy of the circular.
Ask for Circular 57 and address your
request to the Organization Commit
tee of Chicago Printing Trades
Unions, 130 N. Wells St., Chicago, 111.
W9KW
A WORD TO ADVERTISERS
THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL IS
PUNTED IN ITS ENTIRETY IN CHARLOTTE AND
MECKLENBURG COUNTY. Every dollar received for
subscriptions and advertising is paid, to Charlotte
workmen, who spend their money in Charlotte. It Is
well for advertisers to keep this in view, and remem
ber that Organized Labor spends over six million dol
lars a year with Charlotte merchants, and they always
keep in mind those who make their paper possible.
DEMAND THE UNION LABEL
Label in your hat?
Label in your shoes?
Label in your clothes? •
Label on yonr printing?
Union barber shave you?
Union carpenter build youd house?
Union painter paint it?
Union bricklayer put the foundation
under it and the pillars in front of it?
Union plumber fit out your sanitary
equipment? . ,
A union electrician for your electri
cal work?
An unknown donor recently sent
from America 3,000 chests of molasses
, and 1,000 feeding bottles to the Ber
nardo Orphon Homes in England,
where 26,000 meals are served daily.
The British Admiralty has issued
instruction that no Sunday work is
to be done on ship repairing unless
absolutely necessary. They have found
that a seven-day week is no advant
age in the end.
“Riches, when honestly gained) are
an achievement.”—Myron E. Hayes.
w«i FEBRUARY I94i|
nmnnr !■ in
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281
lasting value
The successful resistance of the American Federation
of to the introduction of Communist purposes ana
methods in the labor movement was an outstanding patri
otic accomplishment. Its lasting vaiue wWbe recognised
more ^ more as time passes.—John P. Frey. _
UNION LABEL BROADCAST
TO GQ OVER NATION-WIDE
BROADCAST ON FEBRUARY 1ST
UNION LABEL BROADCAST ON NATION-WIDE
NETWORK ^
L M. Omburn, Secretary-Treasurer, Union Label Trad®*
Department, American Federation of Labor, will deUvw a
radio address over the nation-wide network of the Columbia
Broadcasting System, February 1, 1941 2:00 to 2:15 P. M,
E S T -
Union Label and Industrial Democracy is the subject of
this important message to members of Labor Unions, their
families and friends. Be sure to listen in and let the tool
radio station know your reaction to these coest-to-coeat
broadcasts. _
UNION LABEL TRADES DEPARTMENT
American Federation of Labor
Washington, D. C.