)
b The Charlotte
W **• N. G. State
of Labor
AND DIXIE FARM NEWS
Journal
Official Oigan of Control Labor Union; Standing
for the A. F.L. _ —
IS yejS*
CONSTRUE
SERVICIA
norths
CAROLINA
READERS
VOL. XIV—No. 7
Mi Vm«
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 1944
MM DCiMVC CONIIBMATION Of
TMC lltom
$2.00 Per Yeai
44
WIN THp. WAR IN ’44
m 1944
fkm OMIT 1KALLT INDEPENDENT WEEKLY In Mecklenburg County For a Weekly Its Readers Represent the LARGEST BUYING POWtS.^1
Free Labor Will Out-Produce Nazi Slaves
f m -
' agiSfll
-A. F. OF LSLOGA
)
They’re Fighting: NOW—Bach Them Ups NOW—Buy War Bonds: NOW
U. S. PAYS INTEREST ON BONDS
TO BUY BULLETS FOR OUR BOYS
TO FIGHT WITH, AND “HE’LL HELP
PAY INTEREST—IF HE GETS BACK”
(Walter Winehell Column. Observer, June 25.)
THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF A CUB REPORTER
Many telegrams, letters and telephone calls followed the
broadcast In which this editorial on war bonds was heard . . .
Managers of defense plants requested a copy to reprint for 10,000
employes, etc.... A shipyard wanted a copy of the recording to
echo it to its thousands of workers . .. Radio stations here and
there wired for the text ... And so here it is . . . Anyone may
reprint it without permission. Just credit it to the colyum and
the N. T. Mirror.
I km thrtjri spoken bluntly about the subject of war bonds, and I
aoe no reason to puli any punches now ... I do not think purchase of a
war bond is a patriotic sacrifice. I think quite the opposite. I believe
failure to do so is almost treason. In American history this shoo Id be called
the War of the Armed Forces because nobody else is fighting it.
It soands silly, but the U. 8. Government pays interest for the bullets
it gives to its soldiers . .. And if the soldier is lucky enough to get back to
kb home, he mast help to pay for the gun he carried ... If he Is shattered
and if he recovers, he must help to pay for his crutches . .. Doesn’t it make
you proud to drive that ldad of a bargain with your Government? . . . And
to think that the money is owed to us civilians who never saw a battlefield!
If the crews of the loot B-29a which bombed Japan are lucky enough to
get back with their heads, they will help pay you back for the B-29 in which
they were shot down. And if they do not come back, their baddies will help
to pay you for the bombs they dropped. You get paid either way. Yes—you
may call yourself a- patriot for taking less chance on your country than you
do on a race horse . . . And those brave little nurses out on the Normandy
jut as soon as they finish the job of caring for the men wounded
while protecting you, they will start eight to work to pay you back for the
bandages!
Yep, it soands incredible, but the posters are true . . . You can come
out with 2 Y, per cent in the same war that oost some of the guys (who
fought it) their two legs. But don’t let it worry you ... If you don’t buy a
bond, you won’t have to look every fighting man in the eye . . . Some of
them are blind!
INVASION-BOUND
TROOPS GO TO
RED CROSS FOR
NEWS OF FAMILY
—V—
WASHINGTON, D. C.—In the last
minute rush to put their affairs in
order before D-Day, more than 37,000
American servicemen in Great Bri
tain called on Red Cross during the
past month to get reports on the wel
fare of families at home, for help in
personal problems, foir loans and re
assurance on matters that have aris
en since leaving their home ports.
To get the answers to many of the
problems and to prevent unnecessary
worry over emergencies at home, Red
Cross field directors and their assist
ants exchanged more than 31,000
communications with local chapters
and with Red Cross National Head
quarters in Washington.
A Red Cross field director in North
Africa also reported an increase in
requests for Red Cross service to
servicemen, particularly in rest
camps for troops coming back from
the Italian mainland and adjacent
islands.
-V
Regardless of ones age or condi
tion, kindness is always becoming.
AMERICAN HEROES
BY LEFF _
Life jacket nearly torn from hi* body by crow fire from enemy
bomber*, Clyde Neil Andrew*, Second Mate, Merchant Marine, fought
back from the bridge of hi* »hip with a .30 caliber machirte
protective shielding. Laler tbe ship wa* torpedoed and sunk. With e
tional skill and courage he moved injured men into lifeboat*, he wear*
the Distinguished Service Medal. For men like this buy more War Bonds
than ever before. V. S. Trtamry Depart***
ORNBURN TO BROADCAST JULY 6, ON
“UNION LABEL AND WAR PRODUCTION”
WASHINGTON, D. C.—“Union Label—the Emblem of
American Standards” will be the subject of a radio address
by L M. Ornburn, secretary-treasurer, Union Label Trades
Department, American Federation of Labor, Thursday, July
6, 1944, from 11:16 to 11:30 P. M., E.W.T., over the coast
to-coast network of the Mutual Broadcasting system. The
broadcast will originate from Mutual's Station WOL in
Washington, D. C.
The Union Label Trades Department urges all members .
of labor unions, union label leagues and women’s auxiliaries j
to “listen in” on this important broadcast.
UNION LABEL TRADES DEPARTMENT
American Federation of Labor.
STATES ACT TO BENEFIT MIGRANT
WORKER - N. C. TAKES CLAIMS ON
THE NEW INTERSTATE SYSTEM
North Carolina is one of 18 states which have acted together
to pot into operation a new plan of unemployment benefit pay
ments for the migratory worker, and last week received the first
claims for handling under the new system. Through the Inter
state Conference/oT Employment Security Agencies, of which the
Unemployment Compensation Commission of North Carolina is a
participating member, the states have developed this plan for com
bining into one employment record, for the purpose of benefit pay
ments, the total wages earned by a worker who has moved from
1a atilt*
In discussing the plan, W. R. Cur
tis, who is both the acting chairman
of the North Carolina agency and a
vice president of the Interstate Con
ference, stated that although the
authority for this action by North
Carolina had been granted by the
1943 Legislature, and the Commis
sion itself accepted the plan last No
vember, administrative details for a
system of national scope had to be
worked out in cooperation with other
state agencies. The plan has Just
gone into effect here this month.
The purpose of the plan is to meet
the objection to the present state-op
erated program of unemployment in
surance oh the ground that it im
poses hardship and injustice on the
migratory worker. The Interstate
Conference has been working toward
the perfection of this new plan for
several years. At the present time
only nine states lack the necessary
permissive legislation for adopting
it. The g\>al of the Conference is for
all the other states, whose laws do not
prevent, to subscribe to the plan with
in the next few months, so that it
may be functioning as fully as pos
sible before post-war claim loads de
velop.
Heretofore, individuals who have
been employed in several states, be
cause of minor differences in the 51
state systems, might (a) lose out on
their benefit rights entirely, (b) lose
out on a part of their duration, (c)
n nnnfinnnnnnnn
receive their benefits at an improp
erly low weekly benefit amount, or
(4) receive more benefits than they
coaid under any single system. In all
these situations, the migratory work
er could be either penalized or re
warded unfairly.
Under the new plan which the
states have now put in operation,
when a jobless worker showing a
work history outside the state, files
a claim for unemployment compensa
tion in North Carolina, the Commis
sion first secures from the other
states where he has worked, the rec
ord of his earnings there. It is then
determined from a summary of all his
rt earnings during the base periods,
which state the claimant would
have the highest potential benefits.
If it appears that that state is Mary
land, in a particular case for instance,
then North Carolina transfers the
claim to Maryland which would be
designated as “the paying state.” The
claimant receives his unemployment
checks from Maryland according to
the Maryland benefit formula, but
on a basis which takes into considera
tion earnings in other states as well.
By a system of interstate account
ing.
u^, the paying state is proportion
ately reimbursed by the others.
The North Carolina Commission
received last week the first two claims
under the new plan on which this
state would be the paying state. It
has already transferred several wage
records to other states for payment.
GENERAL EISENHOWER THANKS
AM. FED.. OF LABOR WORKERS
WASHINGTON, D. C.—In response to ■ cablegram In
forming Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower that all AFL workers
were on the job throughout the country following D-Day
and were determined to back up the armed forces to the
limit, President William Green received the following cabled
reply from the commander of the Allied forces:
FROM HEADQUARTERS
SUPREME COMMANDER OF ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY
FORCES IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERA
TIONS
TO MR. WILLIAM GREEN, PRESIDENT,
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
“UPON BEHALF OF THE MEN AND WOMEN IN
THE ARMED FORCES UNDER MY COMMAND, I THANK
YOU FOR YOUR PATRIOTIC SUPPORT OF THE GREAT
EFFORT TO DESTROY THE FORCES OF OPPRESSION
THAT HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SUBJUGATE THE
WORLD. YOUR DETERMINATION TO CONTINUE
MAXIMUM PRODUCTION WITHOUT STRIKES WILL
HEARTEN EVERY MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES.”
EISENHOWER.
KEEP AMERICA AMERICAN
By RUTH TAYLOR
A FOURTH OF JULY CHALLENGE
Ever since I first heard Father Boland use the trenchant phrase which
is my text, I hare felt that in those three words, properly understood, lies
the hope of unity, the expression of that for which we are fighting and
the way to achieve the Victory for which we all hope.
Keep America American—this is the defiant challenge of the finest
idealism the world has known. It is a clarion call to action in the fight
between the forces that would destroy and those which would build man up
to his proper stature.
Keep America American—this is no creed of isolationism, no shutting
of the gates of the spirit to the problems of the world, no selfish hoarding
of our resources of brain and body for the use and comfort alone of those
already within our nation.
Keep America American—this does not mean a yardstick of nationality
by which to measure our fellow citixens. The yardstick we must use is that
of the spirit—an unselfed devotion to the credo that all men are created
equal. We are the first self-created People in the world—not segregated
by race or creed or color but bound together bv a common bond of belief
we are ALL entitled to the rights and responsibilities of freedom.
Keep America American—let us never forget that this nation was
founded on unity, and that to achieve unity men must act for the good of
all, not as self-seeking groups of individuals.
Keep America Acerican—let us preserve our rights by careful usage
of them. This country is the land of liberty, not license. Any change must
come under the orderly processes of our own laws, not under the sudden
whim of any dictator.
Keep America American—let no disunity appear among us. Let us
keep the old ideals of opportunity for all. not favors for a privileged few.
Let us grant to our neighbor thy same rights we claim for ourselves. Let
us remember that the cornerstone of the nation is religious liberty, and let
us not discriminate against our neighbor because of the faith, the class
or the party to which he belongs.
Keep America American—let us stand together and face the world as a
united nation, dedicated to the protection and preservation for all men of the
self saine freedoms of speech and religion, from want and wear, which we
intend to keep for ourselves.
A. F. OF L MEMBERS PROUD
OF THEIR WORK; PLEDGE MANY
, MORE SUPERFORTRESSES
WASHINGTON, D. C.—AH America was thrilled by the spec
tacular bombing of Japan by long-range Superfortresses, but no
one got as big a kick out of the news as the thousands of AFL
workers who make these giants of the air.
In Boeing plants at Seattle, Wichita and other sections of the
country where the Superfortresses are in production, AFL work
ers pledged themselves to increase output of the world's biggest,
newest and most powerful bombing plane.
Millions of words were printed in the newspapers in praise of
the great Superfortresses, but few mentioned the fact that the
skiU and genius of union workers made them possible.
(hie of the few exceptions was Under Secretary of War Rob
ert P. Patterson, who said:
The bombing of the islands of Japan by our
fortresses, the B-29, is just a beginning. We wiH strike at the
heart of Japan again and again. The Superfortresses are a
product of American labor and industrial genius and are a very
tangible example of the partnership existing between those taboo
ing on the home front and the armed forces in the active theaters
of war."
RAIL BURDENS
ARE GROWING
MUCH GREATER
—V—
WASHINGTON, June 26. — The
strain on the nation’s railroads is
proying even heavier than anticipat
ed, the Office of War • Information
said today. Passenger travel on the
overburdened carriers increased 2U
per cent in the first three months of
this year over the same period in
1943, whereas official forecasts had
indicated a 16 per cent jump.
Business has a habit of interfering
with pleasure, especially when there’ll
a game of golf or baseball scheduled.
THE MARCH OF LABOR
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1917-1944
Did you ever hike in mud and slush
Shoe-top deep and have to rush—.
With your head bent down and your back most broke^—
To beat the enemy to the next big stroke?
Have you heard the sound of sucking mud
As the troops marched on with a heavy thud—
And their feet splashed in and then sucked out
As they hurried on to follow their Scout?
It’s the weariest sound in the world, you can bet.
When once you’ve heard it, you’ll never forget
The sound of the mud and the soldiers’ feet
As they tramp toward the front through rain and
sleet.
It can only be known by those who’ve trod
Through mud and muck on foreign sod .. .
It gets in your soul and sticks in your ears
You can hear it forever, down through the years.
Grim soldiers who’ve trudged through mud and snow
Are the only ones who can ever know
The curse of the mud while on their way
To protect our lives in the U. S. A.
JOHN Y. BROOKSHIRE,
Spartanburg Branch Mgr., Duke Power Co*
A. E. F. World War L