13 YEARS OF f
CONSTRUCTIVE
SERVICE TO
NORTH
CAROLINA
READERS
VOL. XIV. NO. 12
> A* •• *
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1944
r%tt mwiotmrn
$2.00 Per Teat
««
Free Labor Will Out-Produce Nazi Slaves
WIN THE WAR IN '44” -
-—-V: ;-l F. OF L SLOGAN FOR 194i
^ Dt- ^ Jr.
ONI.T HEALLT INDEPENDENT WEEKLY In Mecklenburg Comity ^ °t?Titai For 11 Weckly lts K<*dgr» Kepreaenl the LARGEST BUYING POWER in Char lotto
A. F. OF L DRIVES FOR KILGORE BILL;
DEMANDS CONGRESS ACT NOW;
WAKE UP YOUR CONGRESSMAN!
GREEN WARNS OF CHAOS UNLESS PLANS ARE READY
TO COPE WITH SUDDEN PEACE — BILL VITAL TO
HELP PROVIDE JOBS
WASHINGTON, D. C.—The American Federation of Labor
spear-headed a vigorous drive to jolt Congress into immediate
action on reconversion legislation so that the nation may be ready
to undertake peace production should the war in Europe end
suddenly.
Concerned by reports that Congress intended to mark time
until after election so that members facing re-election contests
might spend all their time campaigning, President William Green
served notice that labor will not abide such dangerous procrastina
tion.
Through the AFL’s legislative rep
resentatives, he prevailed upon Sena
tor Robert R. Reynolds, chairman of
the Senate Miliary Affairs Committee,
to call an immediate meeting of that
committee to consider the Kilgore Bill
and, other pending legislation dealing
with post-war readjustments.
When it appeared that a committee
would not respond to this ap
Snat Majority Leader Alben W.
joined with Senator Reynolds
in sending another imperative tele
gram setting a meeting for Aug. 3.
Meanwhile. Mr. Green called upon
all AFL affiliates and members to
urge Senators and Representatives to
support the Kilgore Bill. In a public
statement he said that the Federation
endorses the Kilgore Bill because it
seeks to protect human rights as well
as property rights during the post-war
enFewreC^ave been expressed that
should Germany collapse and surren
der, as some military strategists pre
dict, more than ten million workers
would find themselves unemployed
overnight. - _ . „„
“Immediate passage of the Kilgore
bill is vital to help provide jobs and
insurance for demobilised servicemen
and dijgmployed war workers,” Mr.
Green said.
“We call upon the members of Con
gress to act quickly on this important
legislation because time is running
out. If the war against Germany
should end suddenly, before me have
made legislative and economic pro
vision for that contingency, the home
front would be plunged into chaos:
“Right now we are wholly unpre
pared for peace. We have*no plans
for coping with unemployment, with
shutdown of war factories or with the
problems of war factories or with the
problems of reconversion. If peace
catches us thus unprepared, an eco
nomic panic jeopardizing any possi
bility of post-war security and recon
struction may ensue.
"Therefore, I urge Congress to re
main in session until final action can
be taken upon this bais legislation.”
Senator Barkley, striking a similar
ntoe of warning, said in his telegram:
“It is imperative thta members of
the Senate Militarv Affairs Commit
tee return to Washington at once in
THE 40-CENT MINIMUM WAGE
NOW REACHED UNDER THE
FEDERAL WAGE-HOUR LAW
By FOREST H. SHU FOR I)
Commissioner of Labor. Raleigh. X. C.
July marked the achievement of another goal for the working
.men and women of America, for in this month every man and
I every woman who labors in interstate commerce or is engaged in
' the production of goods for interstate commerce and is covered by
I the Federal Wage and Hour Law became legally entitled to receive
at least $16 for a workweek of 40 hours.
Administrator L. Metcalfe Walling
of the Wage and Hour and Public
Contacts Divisions has signed the or
ders under which the last of the 21
million workers covered by thd Wage
Hour Act are guaranteed minimum
order that proper consideration may
be given to vital and indispensable
legislation dealing with reconversion,
demobilisation and surplus property
disposition, bills concerning which are
now pending in Military Affairs Com
29
This committe is now considered
the bottleneck on post-war legislation,
with an undercurrent of hostility pre
vailing between sponsors of rival
measures. Besides the Kilgore bill,
there is pending a bill sponsored by
Senators George and Murray which is
not regarded as favorably as the Kil
gore bill by labor.
Senator Kilgore joined with Rep.
Emmanuel Celler, sponsor of the same
bill in the House, in urging immedi
ate action. They declared that to
gain full employment in peace time
"we must find 15 million more jobs
than were available in 1989.”
“If we plan only for pre-war levels
of production, we shall fail,” their
statement said. “We must produce
, at least 60 to 19 per cent more than m
I 1939. If we do not plan for full em
ployment, any other plans we make
will be swept away in the tide of un
employment and depression.”
pay of 40 cents an hour. The two
wage orders which bring employees
in the last few branches of industry
up to that minimum became effective
July 17th. The orders cover some 2
million men and women, and directly
affect approximately 110,000 who had
been receiving less than 40 cents an
hour.
That hourly rate may seem unbe
lievably low with today’s manpower
shortages and with employers seek
ing authority to raise their workers’
pay, yet the activities of the Divisions
this year will result in the payment
of more than $17-million to workers
whose wages were illegally withheld.
$231,503.22 of this amount is payable
to workers in North Carolina. More
significant, more than one-quarter of
the case we have handled this year
involve failure to pay a minimum
wage which up to now has ranged
from 30 to 40 cents an hour.
When Congress passed the Fair
Labor Standards Act in 1938 it set ;
October 24, 1946 as the date when ali
covered workers in interstate com
merce should receive not less than
40 cents an hour. Congress also pro
vided for the appointment of indus
try committees which, prior to 1945, .
could recommend a minimum above
the statutoi y 30 cents, but not higher
than 40 cents, industry by industry,
after reviewing economic and compe
titive conditions within each indus
try and after making sure that an in
creased minimum wage would not
substantially curtail employment.
CHARLOTTE AND GASTONIA
CENTRAL LABOR UNIONS
IN SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
On Sunday? July 30, a joint meeting of the Charlotte and Gas
tonia Central Labor Unions was held in the Labor Temple in
Charlotte for the establishment of a joint Organizing Committee
to assist all A. F. of L. Local Unions in organizing their trade in
these cities.
• Gastonia was present in force under the able leadership of
G. B. Huss, President of the Gastonia CentraHXtabor Union and a
member of Carpenters Local Union. Gastonia C. L. U. is very
active and is doing a real job of organizing in their jurisdiction and
say that all they need is time and a little cooperation from Char
lotte in organizing in Mecklenburg County; they will take care of
Gaston County.
While Charlotte was well represented a large number of affili
ated Unions were conspicuous by their absence. We realize that
most of this “absenteeism” was caused by delegates being out of
town on WAR WORK; but we know that part of it was due to the
spirit of “let George do it.” “Jack” Moore, President of the Char
lotte C. L. U. is doing a fine job of organization in this area being
assisted by a very active Organizing Committee, with T. D. Sutton
as Chairman.
Several representatives of National and International Unions
were present and addressed the meeting. Among them were: Curtis
Sims, Bakery Workers, “Bill” Brown, Textile Workers and Henry
Adair, Electrical Workers.
W. M. Witter, Editor of the Charlotte Labor Journal and a
member of the L T. U. for some 50 years made a very interesting
talk on the difficulties of organization “then and now.”
The Joint Organizing Committee was formed with G. B. Huss
ind “Jack” Moore as Co-chairmen, members of the committee are
to be appointed by the Chairmen after a meeting on August 14th
in Greensboro, N. C. This meeting will be held in the King Cotton
Hotel at 8 P. M. and all delegates to the North Carolina Federation
Convention from these two cities are urged to be present. Frank
Fenton, Director of Organization, George Googe, Southern Direc
tor, and C. A. Fink, President North Carolina Federation are ex
pected to attend this meeting as well as Representatives of Nat
ional and International Unions.
Vbis is
srffis
..... l/e Melaehi H. Rich, si „
He is only IS but • veteran e( action Is
“ rer eseort on whiek
be was kit in the
For weeks be could net move bis feet but
one feet pretty welL Few buddies
' “ all rescued by a
David Phelps st
received a fraetared rifht lea
pound tractare of the left. Bat
all right as jm
ear aad
he’s doing
-is
A smile ne Nasi torpedo eaa wipe off. Marion Porter,
Steward S/e, who hails from Spartanburg, S. C., was
in the water three hews after his ship was torpedoed
in the Mediterranean. A M asm shell ease was thrown
against his'leg when the tin flsh hit and fractured it
badly. New he is waiting tor his injury to heal so that
he can get amrUirnr stack at the Axis. . _
They Are
Buying
War Bonds
—Are You ?
DUKE POWER CO.
AND L B. E. ARE
IN AGREEMENT
—V—
An agreement between the Duke
Power Company and the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
represented by Local Unions B-355,
Burlington, N. C.; B-407, Greens
boro, N. C.; B-745, Durham, N. C.;
B-913, Winston-Salem, N. C.; B-957,
Greenville, S. C., and B-962, Char
lotte, N. C., for certain classifications
has been consumated, subject to the
approval of the War Labor Board.
The agreement provides for the re
turn of war veterans to their jobs, va
cations and sick leave with pay and
wage increases.
This agreement is in fact a renewal
of an agreement as the Duke Power
Company and the IBEW have been in
agreement through B-962, for some
of their employees^ since 1937.
IT HAPPENED
An attractive young widow, after
burying her husband called on the in
surance company to collect the $50,
000.00 policy her husband had left.
After endorsing the check she turned
to the manager and said in all serious
ness, “Believe it or not I’d give $20,000
of this to have him back.”
AMERICAN HEROES
«Y LEFF
Pvt. Edward L. Rice, Long Beach, California, war on the receiving
end of enemy hand grenade* at Kwajalein Island. He removed his
weapon from its mount, ran forward and raked the Japanese front line
Mmscbcs with fire. He has won the Distinguished Service Croat. W0.„
must earn victory; buy more War Bonds.
V. S. Treasury Department
Free Labor Will Out-Produce Nazi Slaves
BUY WAR BONDS
Load Workers Ask
For Bargaining
Rights With IBEW
—V—
Employees of Southern Electric
Service Company in Greensboro and
Charlotte, N. C.t have requested the
IBEW to represent them as bargain
ing agents. Approximately • 100 per
cent in their Greensboro branch are
now members of the IBEW ana a
large number of the employees in the
Charlotte branch have expressed their
desire to become members of the
IBEW. The N. L. R. B. will be re
quested to hold an election in the near
future. _______
N. C. PRIORITIES
MANPOWER COM.
SETS “CEILINGS”
FOR EMPLOYM’NT
RALEIGH, Aug. 1.—The Man
power Priorities Committee for North
Carolina has established Manpower
Priorities and Employment Ceilings
for 1415 firms in essential activities
in the State as a result of the six
meetings' held in six administrative
areas recently, Dr. J. S. Dorton, State
Manower director, announces.
Last week the committee established
priorities and ceilings for 195 firms
in the Asheville'Administrative area;
550 firms in the Charlotte Adminis
trative area, and 806 firms in the
Winston-Salem - Greensboro - High
Point area. Previously the committee
had fixed the status of 159 firms in*
the Raleigh administrative area; 100
firms in the Elisabeth City-New Bern
area, and 168 in the Wilmington area.
State Federation
Convention At
Greensboro, N.C.
—V—
Hie N. C. State Federation of
Labor Convention will be held at <
Greensboro, N. C-, August 14, 15
and It. in the King Cotton Hotel,
opening at It A. M. Monday morn
From the number of credentials
received it will be one of the larg
est conventions ever held. There
have been quite a number of new
affiliations since the Winston
Salem Convention last year and
it is reported the Typographical
organisation will be represented
in the convention by delegates
from several locals in the state.
The Labor Journal also is in
formed that organised labor in
Reidsville has been doing some
fine work recently, as they have
organised a Central Labor Union
and the charter will be installed
Thursday night August 3rd.
Charlotte will send one of the
largest delegations to Greensboro
in its history.
-V
WHERE IS YOUR SHARE?
Of the eight million tons of paper
needed for salvage in 1944, the War
Production Board says 38 per cent
ia in hiding in American homes and
farms, while the other 62 per cent is
to be found in the files and store
rooms of American industry. If the
Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts don’t
find those home-hidden hoards of
waste paper before next fall, school
children hope to di^r them out.
Subscribe for The Journal.
. THt MARCH OF LAB On
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