Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / June 10, 1943, edition 1 / Page 1
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She Charlotte labor Journal VOL. XIII—No. 4 Endorsed by the N. C. Stats Federation of Labor YOU* ADVBRTISENENT IN TMB JOURNAL IS A INVMTHKNT AND DIXIE FARM NEWS CHARLOTTE, N. C.. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1943 Official Organ of Central Labor Union; Standing _ for the A. F. L. JOURNAL ADVERTISERS DCRIRVK CONSIDERATION OF the Readers 12 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE TO NORT*H CAROLINA READERS $2.00 Per Yesv Labor Is On tbe Job For Victory The ONLY REALLY INDEPENDENT WEEKLY In Mecklenburg County lwCTmLKmMT?For a Weekly Its Readers Represent the LARGEST BUYING POWER in Charlotte PRICE CONTROL FAILURE THREATENS STABILIZATION PLAN SEC. MEANY SAYS NEW YORK CITY.—The United States faces complete col lapse of the entire economic stabilization program, Secretary Treasurer George Meany of the American Federation of Labor warned in a coast-to-coast radio address. “We have been brought to this sorry pass,” he declared, “by the utter failure of our government to carry out the most essential part of that program, the effective control of the cost of living. The failure of the Office of Price Administration to do the job it was established to do has brought America to the verge of eco nomic chaos.” Mr. Meany said it is high time the economic stabliziation policy was “re adjusted on a common-sense basis.” Either wages must be raised to en able the workers to buy sufficient food, he said, or the prices of food must be reduced to what they were in May, 1942. “And when the prices have been rolled back to that point they must be held there,” he emphasized. Mr. Meany strongly recommended in his talk, which was heard over the Blue Network, that in place of the ineffective American price control system this country should adopt the plan in operation in Great Britain, under which for two years the cost of living has risen less than one-half of one per cent. “Compare that with our own coun try, where the cost of living has ad mittedly risen more than twice that much in a single month,” he said. Pointing out that American Fed eration of Labor surveys prove that food prices have skyrocketed to “dis graceful” heights, Mr. Meany said the consumers of the nation are weary of the unfulfilled promises made repeat edly by GPA that the cost of food would not be permitted to get out of hand. “We cannot wait any longer,” he declared.. “We must have real action now. We do not want more promises.” UNION MANAGEMENT LAUNCH A PRODUCTION CAMPAIGN Management and labor at Curtiss-Wright plants have launch ed a drive to reduce absenteeism, to increase output and to im prove the quality of the company’s production. The international Association of Machinists (A. F. of L.) is playing a leading role in the drive at the company’s factories at Buffalo, N. Y., St. Louis, Mo., Indianapolis, Ind., and Caldwell-Clifton, N. J. The campaign got under way recently with a national radio broadcast from New York City. On the program were company executives. President William Green of the A. F. of L. as spokes man for labor, and Charles E. Wilson, vice chairman of the War Production Board, as spokesman for the government. A Word Of Caution (Baltimore Labor Herald) 1 Tile Lain.r Herald wishes to give a word of caution to Untwn men and women and their friends. The tremendous publicity given to the dissolution or suspension of the Third International is overdoing something which has been entirely overdone. The Labor Herald is taking this propaganda with a substantial grain of salt. Unionists should not be deceived into letting the bars down and turning control of their Unions over to any kind of Com munists. The move has political as well as military significance. We' shall not comment on its military significance. Politically, we doubt that Joe Stalin has surrendered any Com munistic ideals or ideology. We do not believe he has embraced capitalism. The abandonment of the Commintern. if it has been aban doned. is on all fours with the marriage of convenience once made between Joe and Adolph. We urge Union men and women who believe in the Democratic processes to be on the alert against the Red influence with redoubled vigilance. Do not be misled by an anti-Union press into believing the millenium has arrived. Democratic Unionism and Communism can not exist side by side. One or the other must rule. There can be no division of authority. j Communists will behave in the future just as they behaved in the past. Even Earl Browder, Communist big shot, says there will be no change in the policy and tactics of American Communsits. A TAUNT TO TOKYO Who said we were soft ? production; r U-S. METAL I —Picture released by the TVPB Labor Press Unit. To the non ferrous miners of America, the Industrial Services Division of the U. S. Army Bureau of Public Relations sent the cartoon-poster pictured above, one of a series designed for the workers who dig copper, lead, sine, nickel, and molybdenum, vital metals in the war effort. CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL STRIVING FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE WORKERS AND A FAIR DEAL FOR THE EMPLOYERS editorial SENATOR MORRISON, THE "LONE WOLF" OF THE CAROLINAS, VOTED AGAINST THE CONNALLY ANTI-LABOR BILL AS BEING OF "DOUBTFUL VALUE " By W. M. WITTER HON. CAMERON MORRISON, THE VETERAN OF MANY POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, WHERE IT TOOK COURAGE TO STAND FOR THE THINGS HE BELIEVED TO BE FOR THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE OF HIS STATE AND COUNTRY WAS NOT CARRIED OFF HIS FEET BY THE EF FORT OF “BIG BUSINESS,” USING A TROUBLE PERIOD (THE MINERS WALKOUT) AS A CAMOUFLAGE TO SHACK LE ALL LABOR, AND SET BACK MORE THAN 15,000,000 SKILLED WORKERS TO THE FORMER STAGE OF SEMI SLAVERY, UNDER CAPITALISTIC CONTROL. Cam. Morrison was not taken off his guard by heated oratory against all unions, or associations, or groups of Labor people banded together for the uplift of their fellow man, the betterment of society, and a better feeling between employer and employee, as groups. Cameron Morrison went to Washington unshackled by either Labor or Capital, but as a New Dealer, and all that it and Presi dent Roosevelt stood for, that did not interfere with the freedom of our citizenship as a whole. And true to his past history, he had vision enough to see that the best interests of all the people, would not be conserved through passage of the Connally bill. He believed Presidential powers to deal with the Lewis situation were adequate and with his usual boldness, politically, he broke away from the Majority-voting Southern Members of Congress. HE IS STRONG IN HIS OPINION AGAINST THE LEWIS TACTICS, AS UNAMERICAN, AND UNPATRIOTIC, IN FACT HE DOES NOT BELIEVE JOHN LEWIS A TRUE AMERICAN CITIZEN, WORKING FOR THE BEST INTERESTS OF HIS COUNTRY—SO TO SPEAK—AND NEITHER DOES ALL OF LABOR. But, notwithstanding the Autocratic attitude of John Lewis, the public must admit that, for the hazardous occupa tion these miners are engaged in, taking their life in their own hands with each day’s toil, as dangerous as a soldier’s calling on the field of battle, and with life-loss of a very high percentage, the miners are entitled to every dollar they get, and every dollar they have asked for. WOULD YOU DO THEIR JOB FOR THE IK I AY—UK ANY r AY * rtU! In speaking of his “Lone Wolf’ vote the Hon. Cameron Mor rison, said briefly: “I was impressed that President Roosevelt had not requested any such legislation. I realized he possesses adequate powers to deal with strikes that might jeopardize the war effort, and, consequently, I failed to see any urgent need for additional legislation on this matter. “Furthermore, through thr. years I, have had occasion from time to time to take a bold position in representing the viewpoint of North Carolinians as I understood it. Again I did that yester day.” There have been bills offered, bills now pending, and others will be offered to break the back of Labor, under the guise and camouflage of War Necessity, so that when our boys come back home from the fields of battle they will find the home workers shackled, and things fixed by Big Business for them to fit into the same groove, and they can sell apples along Broadway, or along other streets in the big cities, to keep from starving as they did after World War No. 1. BIG BUSINESS WAS SO AVARACIOUS THAT IT EVEN CAME NEAR FREEZING ITSELF TO DEATH, AND HAD TO YELL FOR RELIEF. AND PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, REP RESENTING THE NEW DEAL GAVE IT TO THEM BY CLOS ING ALL THE BANKS AND STABILIZING BUSINESS. THEN HE RECOGNIZED THE LITTLE MAN AND GAVE HIM AND LABOR A PLACE IN THE NEW DEAL. Labor is still thankful to Franklin D. Roosevelt, with-the exception of a few malcontents, some of them high in the ranks of Labor, who have waxed fat and corpulent and are forgetful, like some capitalists of the hand that fed them. THE JOURNAL DOES NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING THE NEW DEAL STANDS FOR IS RIGHT, BUT IT IS L1KE OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, FUNDAMENTALLY AND BASICALLY IT IS FOUNDED UPON THE SOLID ROCK, AND AS TIME PASSES ON MINOR CHANGES OR ADDI TIONS ARE NECESSARY; YET. AS LONG AS IT IS IN VOGUE THE WORKERS WILL NEVER REVERT TO THE SEMI SLAVERY CONDITIONS OF TWENTY, THIRTY. FORTY OR FIFTY YEARS AGO. WHEN THE FACTORY WHISTLE BLEW AT 6 A. M. AND THE WORKER WENT INTO UNSANITARY SHOPS AND MILLS, AND TOILED UNTIL 6 P. M. FOR PER HAPS A DOLLAR, A DOLLAR AND A HALF, OR TWO DOL LARS PER DAY; CHILDREN AT 25 CENTS PER DAY, PROB ABLY 50 CENTS, THE SAME PERIOD, AND WOMEN WORK ED ALONG WITH THE MEN, ALL TRYING TO EKE OUT A LIVING, NOT UNDER EVEN ORDINARY SANITARY CONDI TIONS. . , The times have changed—compulsory education laws nave (God bless them) forced the children into the schools; sanitary commissions come into existence, and the upward trend was on, for, with education and enlightenment the people W*H *ioJonger be held in bondage, despite the ravings of a bought Capitalistic press, despite all the Manufacturers Associations, and organiza tions of a like nature sailing under the guise of ULTRA PA TRIOTISM. Legitimate business does not want to see the worker downtrodden, and right here in Charlotte, and in North Carolina, a feeling of co-operation is evidenced daily between Capital and Labor. These men in business do not damn or want to see all Labor damned for the actions of a few irresponsible and unwise leaders. ON THE HOME FRONT WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER, STRIVING ONE FOR THE OTHER, DWELLING IN PEACE AND HARMONY, BUYING BONDS, WORKING VICTORY GARDENS, GIVING UP OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE, IN THE AIR OR ON THE SEA, AND DOING IT CHEERFULLY; AND TO CAMERON MORRISON FOR HIS “LONE WOLF” VOTE WE DOFF OUR HATS AND SHOUT HURRAH FOR A MAN WITH ENOUGH GUTS TO VOTE AS HE THINKS—AND IN OUR OPINION HE IS SOME WISE THINKER. The House vote stood 231 for and 141 against; 89 democrats, including Cameron Morrison, voting against the bill, two of the Carolinas delegation not voting. Mr. Byrnes, termed the “Assistant President,” may be Presi dent Roosevelt’s “mouthpiece,” but we have never seen or heard of a Roosevelt yet who did not do his (or her) own thinking and talking, especially if he disagreed with a “mouthpiece!” The Observer says in an editorial Wednesday morning, in one para ADMIRAL WOODWARD CALLS THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF LABOR A “MIRACLE” Contributions of labor to the war effort were spoken of as a' “miracle” by Rear Admiral C. H. Woodward, USN (Retired), Chief of the Navy’s Industrial Incentive Division, in an address at the American Federation of Labor’s “Labor for Victory” rally in Washington May 21. In speaking of labor’s accomplishments the Admiral said, “insofar as the word ‘miracle’ means making the impossible happen, I think ‘miracle’ is the word for the kind of job that labor is doing for the common cause.” The Admiral cited instances in which labor accomplished “impossible” jobs in putting damaged ships to sea in record time. He also told of the role labor played in the defeat of the Axis forces in Africa through record production of badly needed tanks and other equipment. The Navy Seabees came in for praise for the outstanding part they have played in the war as did labor in general for construction of ships, planes, guns and war materials. Sergeants Barney Ross and Albert Schmid, Marine Corps heroes of the battle for Guadalcanal, also spoke briefly of their experiences in battling the Japs. A Navy Seabee, Chief Petty Officer Thomas Jacobs, a “carpenter from Midway Island,” also made a short talk. President William Green of the A. F. of L., other labor leaders and government officials took part in the program. IMMWMt UNION SEAMEN TELL STORY OF NAVY GUN CREW HEROISM This is the story of union seamen tasting the horrors of modern was and how a Navy gun crew protected them during an attack by two enemy raiders. Four members of the Sailors Union of the Pacific, A. F. of L., survived the attack and 31 days in a lifeboat, along with six other members of the crew and five members of the gun crew. The SUP members who lived to tell the story are Walter Manning, Archie Carlson, Rodner H. Piercy and August Reese. The men were aboard a Liberty ship when it was at tacked by the raiders two thousand miles out of Cape Town. The ship was raked from stem to stern by the fire. Reese said most of the Navy gun crew members and seamen were killed during the shelling but that a young Naval Ensign rallied the survivors and fired 32 rounds at the attacking vessels from the Liberty ship’s guns. graph, after YELLING TO HIGH HEAVEN FOR ANTI-STRIKE LEGISLATION AND URGING PASSAGE OF THE SMITH CONN ALYY BILL, WHICH TIES DOWN ALL LABOR: “And even though the White House, the Secretary of Labor and all the prejudiced partisans of labor within the present official household in Washington, might hold out against it, such legisla tion is vitally and even critically needed at this time. It is urg ently needed if for nothing more than that John L. Lewis can be handled as he deserves to be handled in the event he persists in his insurrection and treachery.” IT IS ALL RIGHT TO PASS A BILL TO CHECK LEWIS, BUT NOT ALL ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE DOING THEIR PART, AND MORE, TO HELP WIN THIS WAR, EVEN THOUGH THE PRESIDENT HAS POWER TO CHECK HIM, AND MR. BYRNES KNOWS THAT, AS DOES CONGRESS. LET ROOSEVELT, OR HIS “MOUTHPIECE” TAKE THINGS IN “THEIR” OWN HANDS AS “THEY” HAVE THE POWER TO DO. THE MARCH OF LABOR . I H 1941 TH! OUTPUT PER FARM WORKER MAS 78% GREATER THAN IN BASE PERIOD 1909*19(4. /VjCS. BFTfY MlU KARR IS INK NEV4 j PRC$iOf NT OF ATLANTA, GA.C.l.O. UNtTfO STBELWONKERsI A 6AANt>*01Heg,SMC IS AN OCPWT WEUWAHPlbotMAKt^ MAK.MO0TAMIN6 EQ(AU» pay for ihmm vut cn*FiYt> warns Op OAGANlOO LABOR "%AU MKObR MART AHOUlSoti Of 1M vAwiM'S SOAfAd, O.S.'DCPT. OF LABOR.. HELP WIPE FASCISM OFF THE BARTH ! BUY U.S. WAR BONOS ! bVSRY" PURCHASE Of fO0DUCTS vnuxaiMoa LABORS |“ HAND M ItS FtSriTfbft PROGRESS. LOOK R>R THIS lAflfi i»| 1H£ m) REtff IKT 'joO PURCHASE f * - -—i^r ri^rrrrmnru l> BUY WAR BONDS OUT OF EVERY PAY ENVELOPE
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 10, 1943, edition 1
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