Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Oct. 8, 1942, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
■,* take mitt L • TAK t PflKT & , ™ '/V'* WAR / / £»*yufi f STAMPS Shr Charlotte labor Journal Endorsed by the N. C. State Federation of Labor AND DIXIE FARM NEWS Official Organ of Central Labor Union; Standing for the A. F. L. VOL. XII. NO. 20 VOUII ADVtRTIItHKNT IN TH« JOURNAL IS * INVISTHINT CHARLOTTE, N. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1942. JOURNAL AOVIRTIIKM DKSKRVK CONttOIRATlON OF THI RlAOKM $2.00 Per Tear - “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 THE HOME FRONT! A captured Nazi document tells how Hitler plans to run his bloodstained “Greater German Empire”—by means of an army of secret police, always on the job. Japanese ambition to share a conquered world with Ger many isn’t any secret, it’s even symbolized on new Jap postage stamps. To be sure, these as pirations have had some rude shocks lately — the splendid stand of the Russians once more threatens Nazi aggressors with stalemate and approaching win ter, Nazi General Rommel still is stalled in the African Desert, the far-extended Jap flanks have been dealt blows by U. S. forces in the Solomons, Austral ians in New Guinea, Americans and Canadians at Kiska in the Aleutians. But if we are to defeat the salvage purpose of our enemies, if we are to grind them into the dust, we all must do more, and in a hurry. Our war output is huge — in August munitions alone were produced in a volume more than three and one-half times that of November, 1941— but the plain fact is that over all production in August lagged about 14 per cent behind fore casts. Must Ration Scarce Goods Fuel oil is not scarce but the means of transporting it— thanks to Nazi subs—are at a premium. Petroleum supplies and terminal facilities on the Atlantic Seaboard have been pooled, but still there’ll be only about two-thirds of the normal supply this winter for the 30 states in which fuel oil has been rationed. This means tightening up heat leaks, saving fuel, changing over to coal wherever possible. The cost of changing from oil to coal may be shared by tenant and landlord, if the tenant agrees. Meat Supply To Fall Short We aren’t short of meats, in fact we’ll have the largest sup ply in history this year, but it will fall short of unrestricted demand by more than six billion pounds. Our fighting men must have the meat they need, as must our Lease-Lend Allies, The rest of us—although there’s more money to spend for food—must share the billion pounds which will remain by voluntari ly limiting our weekly meat diet to 214 pounds per person, until about February, when a meat rationing program will be ready. Actually this allowance is about as much as we have averaged for ten years. A Philadelphia refining company recently junked old and idle equip ment and obsolete plants, netting about 1,000 tons of steel for the scrap metal campaign or enough to provide all the steel needed in manufacture of fifty Flying Fortresses. Retail Trills’ To Go Customers of retail stores will find many of the merchan d i s i n g “inducements” and “frills” missing from store serv ices, pick-up and delivery serv ices will be cut to the bone, and free samples—they are one form of waste—will be few. Regrig erated display cases for food stores are out of production, only those already in stock may be sold. The lumber shortage this year is four to six billion board feet, next year we’ll need 39 billion feet as against average produc tion of less than 25 billion. Man ufacturers of concrete, clay, and gypsum products are being ral lied to produce substitutes for wooden products, wherever pos sible. Small Business To Get Aid in the last halt ot September about six million dollars worth of war contracts went to small business, and plans are in the making to ease the war liabili ties of small business, and to as sist it in recouping equipment losses after the war. The CIO, AFL, and the Railroad Brother hood are cooperating with the Scrap Salvage Drive, as are 80 percent of the nation’s daily newspapers. Citizens every where are asked to act as “sal vage scouts,” spot metal hoards that have escaped attention, idle machines and unused metal structure . . . Western Indians have gone on the warpath against the Axis, they’ve return ed to the ways of their fathers, abandoned autos to ride horse back . . . Enlistment in the high school Victory Corps, which will train students for military serv ice or civilian war work, is open to every high school student Dental surgeons, traveling den tists, midwives are eligible for rationed tires and tubes . . . Seasonal workers and those who leave their homes to take war jobs will be given extra gasoline. Mr. C. E. Hutchison It is never too late to honor the memory of someone who has spent a lifetime of usefulness in our commun ity. Mr. C. E. Hutchison was not a man of the ranks of labor—in fact he was an employer of labor, but it is a privilege to pay respects to his memory. We can do no better than use a line or two from a letter re ceived from him in 1937—“The wel fare of the men and women who work for wages has always been close to my heart.” Mr. C. E. Hutchison of Mt. Holly not only said that but practiced it all his life. He was a good man. We believe that sums it up as well as anything can. By halting the use of steel drums to pack some 200 products, the U. S. will save enough steel to build two 35,000-ton battleships and at least ten hard-hitting destroyers. The rubber on U. S. trucks and buses is wearing out at the rate of 35,000 tires a day. Laborers Needed For Pearl Harbor The Civil Service Office at 121 West Fourth Street has sent out a call for laborers for PEARL HARBOR. The requirements are good health—men between the ages of 18 and about 48—and transportation will be paid by the Govern ment. No men in Class 1A can be considered, and there is no dis posal on the part of the Government to disturb required farm labor in the vicinity. If you can meet the qualification as briefly outlined, call at the office mentioned above and they will advise you further. The pay is 70c per hour for a 40 hour week. Automobile mechanics for the Holabird Ord. Depot at Balti more are also needed, and the need for stenographers and typists at Washington is critical. The salary ranges from $1,440. to $1,620. depending upon experience and living conditions there are improving daily. Direct your inquiries and make your personal calls only at the Government Civil Service Office at 121 West Fourth Street, Charlotte. USE THE PAYROLL PLAN 10% EACH WEEK FOR WAR BONDS .1 - I SYMBOL OF PATRIOTISM Labor Has Shown It Can Win The Scrap America’s unions have done more than any other group to build the national scrap pile. Here are just a few examples of what has already been accomplished by labor organization: The Railroad rBotherhoods have combed the railway properties to find rail and scrap material and have forwarded the results of their surveys to the WPB Labor Production Division. The Brotherhoods’ searches turned up 150 old locomotives in 2 railroad roundhouses and backshops; Brotherhood officials said the idle engines had been there as long as 10 years. In another roundhouse they located more than 73,125 tons of iron rails which‘'were not being used. They also re ported stretches of track no longer in use, and forgotten carloads of rail. In Seattle, AFL Teamsters, on their own time, manned more than 1,000 trucks to collect 4,500 tons of scrap on March 13 of this year. In July, Teamsters donated their services in Denver to collect 10 tons of rubber. In Seattle last August 250 Teamsters outside of working hours drove 250 dump trucks to collect scrap metal and rubber throughout the city. More than 500 CIO members, led by the Transport Workers Union, spent all of one September day collecting scrap in New Orleans. Members of the United Steelworkers of America, who are most directly affected by the shortage went even further. USA locals made a survey of their plants and yards to see what scrap metal was lying around and in several instances uncovered large amounts which were immediately listed for salvage. The USA members did not stop with this. They even removed the brass pin sections from the old union buttons and forwarded them to their na tional office for scrap collection. In Cumberland, Md., AFL and CIO members joined with civic groups in collecting more than a million pounds of scrap which were sent to the nation’s steel mills while the $5,000 in proceeds from the scrap sale were turned over to the USO and the American Red Cross. Labor Commissioner Warns Against Illegal Employment of Minors Promises Violators Will Be Prosecuted RALEIGH, Oct. 7, 1942—Despite the fact that North Carolina’s Child Labor Laws permit abundant em ployment opportunities for children between the ages of 12 and1 18, re ports reaching the State Department of Labor indicate that the privilege of employing minors is being abused by some employer, Commissioner of Labor Forrest H. Shuford said today. “Thefe are plenty of employment opportunities within the limits of the Child Labor Laws to give employment to all minors who have attained suf ficient age and are available for work,” Shuford stated. “Conforming to the law does not bar young people and children from working. It sim ply channels their work into lines and hours of employment which will not hinder their physical, mental and moral development.” There are very few places and oc cupations in which young people 17 and 18 years of age are not permit ted to work, the Commissioner said. “One type of establishment in which minors under 18 years of age are definitely not permitted to work is places of business where wines, beer, and other alcoholic beverages are sold. The law is very explicit upon this point, and I want to promise that where employers persist in this type of flagrant violation they may expect type of flagrant violation they may expect to face prosecution at the earli pst possible moment,” Commissioner Shuford declared. “If is hoped that when unwitting violations of the Child Labor Laws are brought to the attention of em ployers who may not have been aware of the provisions of the la*, they will immediately bring themselves into compliance so as to avoid the neces sity for legal action,” the Commis sioner added. _ “Our Child Labor Laws were de signed to prevent the exploitation of children,” he said. “While not pro hibiting the employment of minors generally, the laws do set up stand ards regarding age, hours of work, safety, and other conditions of em ployment, and it is the intention of the Department of Labor to enforce these standards. We must not for get that children under 18 years of age are not vet mature, either phy sically o’- mentally. Thev are not equipped to stand protracted periods of strain in their work, and when such strain occurs it may result in permanent injury to the developing child.” Violators of the Child Labor Laws face the prospect of fines up to $50.00, 30 days imprisonment, or both, he said. In order that employers may check their own employment practices aginst the Child Labor Laws, Com missioner Shuford has issued the fol lowing statement relative to the em ployment of children: “Minors under 14 years of age may not work in any manufacturing or commercial occupation, except that boys over 12 years of age may sell and deliver newspapers and maga zines for not more than 10 hours per week, and on condition that such work shall not interfere with the child’s regular attendance in the public schools. Minors under 14 may work in domestic and agricultural occupa tions under the direction or super vision of their parents.” “Children under 16 years of age may not work in any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, and girls under 18 may not work at any form of messenger service or street trade.” “Minors under 18 years of age may not work in, about, or in connection with any establishment where alco holic liquors (includes beer and wine) are manufactured, distributed or sold; or in a pool or billiard room; or any occupation designated habardous by law or ruling of the Department of Labor.” “Minors 14 and 15 years of age may not work before 7:00 A. M. or after 6:00 P. M., nor more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. No minor under 16 may work during school hours.” “Children 16 and 17 years old may work not more than nine hours a day and 48 hours a week. Boys in this group may work between 6:00 A. M, and 12:00 midnight, and girls may be employed between 6:00 A. M. arid 9:00 P. M.” Commissioner Shuford stressed the point that employment certificates should be obtained from the County Welfare Department by the employ er before, not after, the child begins work. Shuford expressed appreciation to Superintendent Woodard for bringing to his attention the child labor con ditions discovered in Johnston Coun ty. “Because of a shortage of inspec tors, the Department of Labor has been unable to investigate all John ston County establishments covered by the Child Labor Law during re cent months,” Shuford said. “How ever. employers who wilfully violate the law may rest assured that they will be dealt with whenever illegal child labor practices are brought to our attention.” AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR CONVENTION OFF TO GOOD START Over 600 delegates of the American Federation of Labor opened their convention on Monday and listened to the only real important task before the floor—the task of speeding up production—buying Bonds—and discuss ing possible peace in the family of labor—looking toward re-instating the unions of the CIO into the fold of the A. F. of L. President William Green told a cheering American Federation of Labor convention that America’s workers have won the battle of production and its armies soon would be ready to strike and win. President Roosevelt, he said, has rebuked his subordinates who scolded labor and voiced more pessimistic views. The A.F.L. chief related that Mr. Roosevelt, after touring western war plants, found his production requests achieved 94 or 95 per cent and hoped for complete achievement by the end of the year. “I declare here,” said Green, “that the President of the United States need not hope, I assure him, as the representative of 6,000,000 workers, that before eth end of this year all the standards he set will be excelled by the workers of America.” Green said that in the same statement “the President pointed out that there were those subordinate officials of our government in the United States who were speaking out of turn. I interpreted his statement as a rebuke to those w^io kept advertising to Hitler and to the world that we were ‘losing the war,’ that trade unions were unnecessary, and we could get along without them. What does the President of the United States say? Subordinate, down the-line administration officials talk out of turn, jumping into print some times in speeches seeking to be picturesque or in an effort to get personal publicity. These men, he (the President) said, often do not have a rounded view of the whole picture. “Questioned about a recent series of speeches asserting that we are ‘losing the war,’ the President said that he would never have made such a statement.” , Delivering tne_ convention keynote speech extemporaneously, Green re viewed the production advantage held by the Axis nations when the war started . “We,” he added, “did not begin in the United States of America until we were attacked at Pearl Harbor, but we have won Hie battle of pro duction in the United States of America since Pearl Harbor. And we must win that before we can win upon the open field of conflict. It won’t be long, in my opinion, before we are ready to strike . . .T5ur men and Canadian soldiers will win for us.” Describing the unity negotiations sche '-led for next month, Green said: “My heart is in this movement. Every fiber and sentiment of my being is deeply touched. The need for unity within the ranks of labor is profoundly impressive. I will give all I can in order to promote the realization of that purpose and of that objective, and if I could reach that objective and realize it within the life of my official service to you, I would feel then that I had practically completed my work as your representative.” The paid membership of the A. F. of L. was declared to be 5,890,009 members. Six hundred million pounds of foodstuffs and other farm products were delivered in July by the Agricultural Marketing Administration for shipment to America’s allies. That figure was slightly higher than the June total. The damage done by the Jap attack on Pearl Harbor has been repaired “far beyond expectations,” Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet Nimitz said last week. The union spirit carried over into the Army in the case of Abraham I. Cohen, a former member of Local 111 of the State, County and Municipal Workers (CIO), who is now stationed at Fort Ethan Allan, Vermont, in Headquarters Detachment No. 1110. Last week Pvt. Cohen donated $100 to the National CIO War Relief Committee to be divided among Russian War Relief, Red Cross, USO and United China Relief. He wrote that he had saved the contribution out of his army pay and that eh was purchasing war bonds regularly. I don’t want to be in a position where I find mvself short of ammuni tion for my rifle or revolver just as a Jap or a Heinie is rushing toward me,” he said. Labor Bats 2,000 To 1 Against Strikes The American Federation of La bor, on its nation-wide “Labor For Victory” radio program over NBC, announced last week that the no strike score since Pearl Harbor is 2000 strikes prevented for each one that occurred. How this achievement, vitally im portant to the successful expansion of war production, was accomplished was described by three outstanding “strike surgeons” who were inter viewed on the program. They were Frank Fenton, national director of organization for the AFL; Dr. John R. Steelman, director of the U. S. Conciliation Service and William H. Davis, Chairman of the National War Labor Board. Mr. Fenton disclosed that his of fice settles by peaceful means 99 out of 100 disputes involving directly af filiated local ^unions. He praised the widespread compliance by affiliates with labor’s no-strike policy and an nounced that the Federation does not and will not authorize, condone or excuse a strike under any circum stances. Dr. Steelman revealed that the U. S. Conciliation Service, designated by President Roosevelt as the “front line” agency of* the Government in the mediation of labor disputes, has set tled 95 per cent of the 7000 cases that have been handled by it since the war without any “before or after” strikes. The cloth in four “zoot” suits would make five victory suits. An average home burns enough fuel oil in a year to drive a destroy er 50 miles. Negro WPA employees on the House keeping Aide Project made 181,258 visits between April 7, 1942, and June 30, 1942, and gave assistance to 53,294 families. I---: Charlotte Unions All Out For Metal Drive The Charlotte Central Labor Union body has urged all its unions and memberships to spare no effort to put North Carolina over the top in the salvage of scrap metals for our war furnaces. Mr. J. A. Scoggins, Mr. Conder, Mr. J. A. Moore, Mr. Cuth bertson, Mr. Kiser and Mr. Green as well as all other union officials are going right down the line urging our people to this great and necessary work. The Typographical Union on Sun day last, devoted most of their meet ing to the same purpose and the Tex tile Union, Electricians, and all other locals will do as big a job on the scrap metal drive as they have been doing on the war bonds. The order of the day with all union people is WORK — FIGHT — SAL VAGE—AND SAVE FOR WAR BONDS. \ • Buyer, Overcharged 2c On Toothpaste, Awarded $50 A court order awarding a Balti more consumer $50 because he was charged 2 cents more than the ceil ing price for a tube of toothpaste may reduce the number of price viola tions in the future. Stephen Varga of Baltimore ap peared in People’s Court recently. Acting as his own attorney with the OPA as a friend in court and an OPA investigator to back his story, Varga claimed that he had paid 23 cents for the tube of toothpaste in March and was charged 25 cents on August 4. Varga had kept his receipts and was thus able to prove his case. A railway tank car can haul only the fuel oil needed to heat four homes for a year. 1 WISDOM Each week a quotation from the writings of some wise and famous person whose thoughts have influenced those who lived before us. “There are two forms of slavery—that which Friday accepted when he placed Crusoe’s foot upon his head, and that which Will Atkins and his comrades attempted to establish when they set up a claim to the ownership of their island and called upon the inhabitants to do all their work.”—Henry George.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 8, 1942, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75