Che Charlotte labor Journal
Endorsed by the N. C. State
Federation of Labor
AND DIXIE FARM NEWS 0ffieial 0raan %.c3fJ f'l. Union: standinff
VOL. XII.—NO. 15
Youn advertiiihknt in tmc journal ir a oooo
INVUTMINT
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1942
JOURNAL AOVSRTIRKRS DKSKRVK CONSIDERATION OF
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“United We Stand for Victory”
The ONLY REALLY INDEPENDENT WEEKLY in Mecklenburg County For a Weekly Its Readers Represent the LARGEST BUYING POWER in Charlotte
FREE LABOR WILL WIN
LABOR DAY, 1942
By WILLIAM GREEN,
President, American Federation of Labor
“Free Labor Will Win!”
That is the theme and the spirit in which the workers of America
celebrate Labor Day this year.
And that is the fundamental truth the workers of America are proving
day in and day out in this desperate war by the results of their toil.
We need no longer pledge that free labor will outproduce slave labor. The
workers of America are actually
doing it. They have broken every
production schedule. They are set
ting new records every day. They
are producing the weapons of war m
hitherto unheard of quantities.
Yes, free labor will win! And the
American Federation of Labor is de
termined to keep labor free so that
we may win.
Since the outbreak of war, many
short-sighted persons and selfish in
terests have been hammering at la
lob’s freedom and have tried by propa
ganda to destroy the safeguards and
standards established over the years
for the protection of American work
ers by the trade union movement.
At times it appears that reaction
ary groups are more interested in
fighting labor than in fighting Hitler!
But the American Federation of
Labor has fought the false propa
ganda of labor’s enemies with facts
and with truth and has resisted every
challenge triumphantly.
At the very outset of the war, labor
rose to the occasion by voluntarily
relinquishing the exercise of its right
to strike for the duration of the war.
WILLIAM GREEN
Many ox our enemies were not sausiiea wun mis action ana suugnt to auousn
the right to strike by various compulsory methods. We warned then that
much more could be accomplished by free workers acting on their own
volition than by force or compulsion.
Grave responsibilities rest upon the workers of America. They must
provide a constant stream of the munitions of war to our own armed forces
and those of our Allies. I have every confidence that the workers of our
country will continue to live up to their responsibilities and to make every
sacrifice of their own free will that is essential to victory.
We are determined that when the terms of peace are written the four
freedoms enunciated by President Roosevelt shall be established for all time
throughout the world. And in addition to these freedoms—freedom of speech
and religion, freedom from want and fear—labor will insist upon a fifth
essential element to this glorious code. That is the freedom of workers in
every land to join free and democratic trade unions of their own choice « This
is labor’s own peace plank and no force on earth can stop us from making
it a reality.
i
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
F. D. R. Speaks Toiimerica’s Workers
There has never been a Labor
Day as significant as this one. In
a great many countries free la
bor has ceased to exist; a black
out of freedom has darkened
Europe from the tip of Norway
to the shores of the Aegean, and
sturdy working men who once
walked erect in the sun now
stumble and cower beneath the
lash of the slavemast'ers. The
rights of free labor and free men
have vanished in the conquered
lands. They are threatened and
besieged everywhere.
This is indeed labor’s grave
hour as "it is the grave hour of
the farmer, the industrialist, the
teacher and preacher, the ap
roned housewife, the smallest
child in the cradle. All these are
the beneficiaries and heirs of the
democratic system, and it is
democracy itself that the evil
men of West and East hate and
seek to destroy.
Happily, our good right arm
is strong and growing stronger.
In our own country, in the coun
tries of our brother allies, the
people who live by the sweat of
their brows have risen mightily
to the challenge of the struggle.
They have given their sons to
the military services. They
have stoked the furnaces and
hurried the factory wheels.
They have made the planes and
welded the tanks, riveted the
ships and rolled the shells. Pro
duction of war materials here is
now the greatest in our history,
but it is not yet enough. It will
be greater still.
This is an appropriate occa
sion to express my appreciation
to the working people of the
United States for the energy and
devotion with which they have
met the demands of the present
crisis. They know what it is to
work until muscles ache. They
know what it means to be weary
when the whistle blows at the
end of the shift.
They know, too, that democ
racy has made labor’s advances
possible. They know just what
stake they have in America, just
what they are fighting for
There are certain to be stormy
days ahead. Laborers, farmers,
industrialists, all of us, are
pledged to the war effort. We
are certain to be asked for sac
rifices. These may be sacrifices
of wage increases, crop price in
creases, profit increases, bodily
comforts. All this is little enough
for free men to sacrifice in a
world where freedom is imper
iled.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
Statement by Honorable Henry A. Wallace, Vice-President
of the United States, for publication in the Annual Labor Day
Edition of the Charlotte Labor Journal, Charlotte, North Caro
lina, September 7, 1942.
“For many years, on the first Monday in September, we have
been proud to do honor to labor. In this war year, more than
ever before, it is appropriate to recognize the indispensable role
of labor in American life. For it is only through the faithful
efforts of millions of workers, straining every sinew to the utmost,
that we are able to produce the ships, the planes, the tanks, and
all the variety of weapons on which the United Nations are de
pending for victory. In a very real sense every soldier, every
flier, every bluejacket fighting at the front has at his side these
workrs who are fighting with him. Together they are defending
the right of people everywhere to freedom and to equal opportun
ity—not only freedom now for our own generation but the future
freedom of generations yet unborn.”
i
USE THE PAYROLL PLAN—
10% EACH WEEK FOR WAR BONDS
LABOR DAY GREETING TO THE PUBLISHER OF THE
CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL FROM THE HON. J. MEL
VILLE BROUGHTON, GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Mr. W. M. Witter, Publisher
The Charlotte Labor Journal
Charlotte, N. C.
Dear Mr. Witter:
I am very much interested
in the fact that your publica
tion will shortly issue its
twelfth annual Labor Edition.
This is a remarkable record
and I hope that the publica
tion of such edition will con
tinue through the coming
years.
Labor Day in 1942 will be
perhaps the most significant
in our national history. It
cought to be a day of recogni
tion for labor’s part in the
war program. No history of
this way can be written with
%
GOV. BROUGHTON
out giving a large part to the efficient and patriotic contribu
tion made by labor throughout the United States.
North Carolina has a proud part in this program of labor.
During the last eighteen months production in North Carolina
has exceeded all known records. Much of this production has
been essential for the war program. Labor has accepted this
challenge and has made a record of performance which is un
excelled anywhere in the United States.
The people who labor in our industries are good North
Carolinians and good Americans. They are proud of the record
that has bee nmade. They believe in the principles of this
country ond thousands of them have sons who are in uniform
fighting for these principles at the present time.
I esteem it a privilege to extend through your columns a
word of greeting to the labor forces of North Carolina. I
salute them as soldiers of defense enrolled under'the flag of
our republic.
Cordially yours,
J. MELVILLE BROUGHTON,
Governor of North Carolina.