Che Charlotte labor Journalmmmm
^-— Endorsed by the N. C. State AND DIXIE FARM NEWS Official Organ of Control Labor Union; Standing
Federation of Labor for the A. F. L.
VOL. XV No. 4 *- ———"g * T"‘ - * *— CHARLOTTE* N. C, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1945 “ **'-"*“ D“~y* «»-•«««— •- $2.00 Par Yaa*
THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL ADVOCATES LOYALTY TO THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR;
PROMOTION OF INDUSTRIAL PROSPERITY, AND CO-OPERATION OF ALL WORKERS ALONG EVERY LINE.
Back Up The Boys — WithBONDiS
An ONLY REALLY INDEPENDENT WEEKLY to MecUonbv* Connty AMD col,r!h5L,2tc!f4?® Eor » Weekly lte Readers Represent the LARGEST BUYING POWER in Charlotte
brmmmmmH_mm—m——m^mmmMa. mCILINBtTtG COUNT! IN ITS KNTIUTT
FIRED JACKSON COPS ARE
HAPPIER AS JURY OKAYS
THEIR A. F. OF L. UNIONS
bers of the local police force bare the right to Join the American Federation
of State, County and Municipal Employes, an AFL union.
The policemen, who organied a local union a year ago, were fired by
the Chief of Police for refusing to obey the City Commissions orders to
r**i%erUsuesein'the*court teat were whether the policemen were guiltv of
insubordination and whether they had committed an act tending to injure
the oublic service by Joining the union in the first place.
Arnold Zander, president of the AFL international union, testified that
his organisation has a strict no-strike policy for police locate and that fifty
such locate, composed entirely of policemen had been organized in various
cities. trial, held without a Jury, Circuit Court Judge Gillespie
ruled alaSEttiE policemen. The Mississippi Supreme Court on appeaU
ordered a new trial Wore a Jury. City attorneys said they would appeal the
"eW ProoMras introduced at the trial that rity officiate had not Protested
against formation of the union until a “citizen* committee, organized by
local businessmen, went to the mayor and objected.
A. F. OF L MEN ON NAVY TOUR
ASK FOR GREATER OUTPUT _
TO SAVE AMERICAN LIVES
WASHINGTON—The most up-ti-date equipment obtainable is needed in
great quantities to shorten the war against Japan and save American lives,
m the opinion of 10 leaders of American labor who recently returned froma
month’s tour of the Pacific War area, a Navy Department re ease reports.
The labor representatives, including three from the AFL, traveled thousands
of miles, from the rear areas right up to the fighting fronts, interviewed high
Navy and Army leaders including Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimits and
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, and spent two days at active com
The labor officiate are more convinced than ever before on the tremend
• .• • m • su _vm*_ afL — i L. — A * a -— — a* mutstfammiv
me newest ana nest equipment u viuu, ww «^*T**a *7
ingenious mechanical tools and engines of war delivered to the fighting fronts
and to the courageous and ingenious hands of our soldiers, sailors and
Marines, are shortening the war and saving countless American Uves, they
said in a Joint statement. , . . . . . . ...
Two messages were brought to the American People at home by the
delegation. One was that they may have complete ednfidenee in the ability
and integrity of our top commanders in the Pacific and in the soundness of
their judgment and strategy. The second was that sailors, soldiers and
Marines have expressed appreciation of the production record at home, and
ask that this tremendous support be continued to meet all the requirements
of the war remaining to be fought. ^ , _ . . , T„
In their travels, which took them from Pearl Harbor to Guam and Iwo,
to the Philippines, through islands which have made history to Guadalcanal,
and back again, the delegation saw at first hand the tremendous extent of the
war and the huge problems It imposes on both the men fighting and those
producing the materials necessary to gain superiority.
“Our Armies and Navies fighting overseas are completely depeiwlent on
production at home,” they reported. "The task of supplying armies and navies
fighting at great distances from the continental United States, with the
hundreds of thousands of iteths required for efficient, modern warfare, is
unbelievably complex.” _ „ „ _r. „
AFL representatives who made the trip were Roy M. Brown, Vice-Pres
ident, I AM; Thomas Crowe. Vice-President, International Brotherhood of
Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America, and Thomas A.
Rotel!, Assistant Secretary, Bay City Metal Trades Council.
THE WLB OKAYS
MEAT CUTTERS
PACKERS PACT
—V—
WASHINGTON, D. C.—The War
Labor Board approved agreements be
tween the AFL Amalgamated Meat
Cutters and Swift and Armour pack
ing firms, covering wage adjustments
for tools, clothes and plant inequities.
• Union sources said the 10,000 work
ers involved would share in wage in
creases estimated as high as 17 mil
lion dollars.
The agreements were negotiated as
a result of a War Labor Board di
rective of February 20, which told the
companies to work out with the un
ions the amounts to be allowed for
work clothes, sharpening tools, etc.
AMONt rut HAST UNIONS m
NtOoTtATl A CONTRACT NAS
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UHtON LABAL MTbUAHOrHAT.
••FIGHT - WORK - SAVE”
OUT OF EVERY PAY ENVELOPE
BUY WAR BONDS
THE A. F. OF L. STANDS WITH AND FOR THE FLAG
PRESIDENT GREENS COMMENT
ON SCHWELLENBACH, TO SUCCEED
MADAM PERKINS AS SEC. OF LABOR
WASHINGTON, D. C—President William Green of
the American Federation of Labor issued the following
comment on the appointment by President Truman of
Lewis B. Schwettmbach as Secretary of Labor:
“We regard Judge Schwellenhach as a most capable
and well-qualified man to serve. He showed that he pos
sessed a very clear unders/anding of labor and labor's
problems when he served in the United States Senate.
His record there was excellent from a labor point of view.
We look forward to his service as Secretary of Labor
with a feeling of confidence and satisfaction and will
gladly cooperate with him as fully and completely as pos
sible.
“In addition to that, we are going to urge that he
take steps to consolidate within the Labor Department
all the agencies of government that deal with labor prob
lems and labor questions and in that way to expand the
service of the Labor Department.
“We hope that he may set up an advisory committee
so that we may serve with him and cooperate with him in
his work as Secretary of Labor."
A PLEA TO A. F. OF L WORKERS
TO PURCHASE WAR BONDS TO THE
LIMIT, AND, TO HOLD THEM
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 5^—The following statement of
Charles J. Mac Cowan, Inti President, Brotherhood of Boiler
makers, Iron Ship BuiMers and Helpers Union, A.F.L., has recent
ly released the following statement in the interests of continued
War Bond support:
... " _ _ _ . . . _ . i m
“What is America? Did you ever
stop long enough to ask yourself that
question? To some it might mean
the hustle and bustle of a busy city;
the songs of Stephen Foster; the
sound of the sea breaking on the rock
bound coast of Maine; fields of cotton
in Dixie; the broad expanse of the
Mississippi; the rolloing plains of the
West with their fields of ripening
grain; the grandeur of the Rockies;
the sun setting beyond the Golden
Gate; the snowy mantle atop Mt. Hood
or a thousand and one other simple
things that constitute a great nation.
“So many of us just accept these
things. We take them for granted.
They are what we believe to be our
God given right—but what are we do
ing to preserve them ?
“Ask the boys on disease infested
New Guinea or the wind swept desola
tion of the Aleutions the same ques
tion. Theirs might be even a simple
definition. To them it might mean
attending a game on a Sunday after
noon; Coney Island on a hot Summe
day; cutting the grass on their own
front yards or many other things of
that nature.
“The difference lies in not what out
definition might be but rather in
what we ate doing to preserve thes
things. We are all firm believers in
the “Four Freedoms” and that Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
are the inalienable right of every
freedom loving American. Are thes<
but a play of words or a patriotic
jargon of high sounding phrases
which you accept albeit you do not
fully understand just what they
mean?
“Not so the soldier, the sailor and
other members of our a m d forces.
They are fighting to prese ve these
things—even to laying down then
lives in making the sup'emr •scrifice
You no doubt would be willing to do
*the same thing but for various rea
sons you have not been called upon to
do so. i
“The people on the Home Front
i have been doing a splendid job of pro-1
ducing the guns, tanks and other lm- I
plements of war as well as building'
the ships that transport them to the
battle fields of the world. You have
established an enviable record. We
are proud of your achievements in
the face of untold difficulties. Sure
we have to put up with rationing—
but we still get plenty to eat. It is
difficult to secure the particular
brand of cigarettes we smoke and we
cannot get enough gasoline to drive
the family car; hut what about the
boys in the fox-holes facing unseen
death from every direction? Compare
your lot with theirs.
“Let’s not be complacent about this
war for we are facing Total War. The
battle is by no means over. We must
guard against a lessening of our War
Effort. We must tighten our belts and
get in there and pitch and keep on
pitching until the last shot is fired,
the world has been completely freed
and the despoilers of freedom and
democracy have been wiped off the
face of the earth. ,
“You ask what more can I do? Sure
you have purchased war bonds to the
limit of your ability. You are devot
ing your time to producing the im
plements of war, but that is not
enough. You must go even further
and purchase more and more war
bonds in order to meet the growing
demands upon our financial resourc
es. Your purchases might mean the
saving of an American life and un
questionably will shorten the duration
of the war. It is the duty and the
privilege ,of us on the Home Front to
give .until it hurts- in order to insure
the success of the War Finance Cam
paigns Jtxx”
"in pu chasing war bonds you are
not giving you money away you are
simply investing it in the future of
Arne «*• nr1 making it possible for
you s to go on enjoying Free
dom.
j i “In conclusion may I suggest that
you place the following “High Pn
WSmO&i ■ i
LAUNDRY STRIKERS FIRED UPON
BY A LAUNDRY EXECUTIVE ON
TUESDAY AT NEW WAY PLANT
The following, which appears to be an impartial piece of re
porting, appeared in Wednesday morning’s Observer, and is repro
duced. The strikers, as a whole have been orderly, and Organ ier
Abercrombie, regional director of the Laundry Workers Interna
tional Union, A.F. of L*, has handled the situation in a competent
way, warning the workers against any demonstration other than
along peaceful lines:
(Charlotte Observer, Wednesday, June
6th)
Buckshot fired allegedly, from a
gun in the hands of Robert B. Kep
hart, owner of the New Way Laundry,
about 2:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon
struck Uiree persons, according to a
city police report, and resulted in his
arrest on three counts of an assault
with a deadly weapon involving in
fliction of serious injury, marking a
violent development in the six-day
old strike of production employes of
local laundry and dry cleaning firms.
These firms now number nine.
A Negro man and two Negro girls
were hit by slugs from a 12-gauge
shotgun discharged by Kephart, of
ficers charged, and they were subse
quently dismissed from Good Samari
tan hospital when their wounds were
said not to be serious, the Observer
was informed.
The three casualties were listed as
Charlie Spearman of 919 East Ninth
street, Johnnie Mae Ervin of 423 East
Sixth street, and Hattie Williams of
1106 East Hill street.
HOME ALSO STRUCK.
Investigating officers arrested Kep
hart in his office after he was alleged
to have fired repeatedly into a group
of people, including striking laundry
employes, in front of the plant, which
nt 935 East Ninth street. Another
|aD^ati<»i was that a number of the
I buckshot found lodgement in a resi
I dence across the street, the home of
Mrs. Sam Bolin, at 932 East Ninth
street.
Some of the buckshot became em
bedded in the home occupied bv the
Bohn family, and 27 of the shot were
removed and taken to police head
quarters, the report by investigating
officers continued. Some of them
were said to have struck a wall a
short distance above a bed in which
two children were resting at the time
of the gunfire. •
Kephart was placed in the city jail,
ority” items on your MUST list
1. Support the War Finance Cam
paigns and purchase War Bonds to
the very limit of your ability.
2. Stay on the job and avoid ab
senteeism in order to meet the need
for the supplies and materials neces
sary for the defeat of Japan.
3. Retain all bonds purchased.
4. Avoid unnecessary spending and
help prevent inflation.
5. Invest in pay-roll savings.”
and later m the arternoon was released
under bond of $600 for his appearance
before City Recorded E. MacArthur
Currie. Time for the hearing has not
been definitely determined.
E. L. Abercrombie of Atlanta, Ga.,
regional director at the Laundry
Workers’ International union, Ameri
can Federation of Labor, said that the
ranks of the strikers were being aug
mented with additional workers be
coming members of the union. “Peace
ful picketing is continuing at New
Way Laundry and the other eight
plants,” ho added.
SAYS LIFE THREATENED.
At the same time he said that
he received a threat against his.
life around 9 o’clock yesterday
morning. “I got nn anonymous
telephone call” he recounted.
"’Do you think much et your
life?’ I was asked, and when I
replied affirmatively I gut this
response. Well, if you do, you’d
better got to hell out of here by
in the morning.’ He refused to
tell me bis name. Of coarse I'll
be here in the morning; I am not
planning to go anywhere.”
Asserting that he was confident
that the strike would “extend to one
or two more local laundries in the next
few days,” the union official said that
the Charlotte Central Labor union and
the North Carolina State Federation
of Labor are being asked for ‘‘Indorse
ment of the strike,” which began last
Wednesday morning when many pro
duction workers failed to report for
work in plants of seven local laundry
and dry cleaning firms. Two others
have become affected since then. <
“Today,” he continued, “I was as
sured of the support, financial and
otherwise, of International head
quarters of the union. This assur
ance was given me in a long distance
conversation with Sam J. Byers at our
International headquarters, in Indian
apolis.”
Inability of the union to induce the
laundry and dry cleaning plant own
ers to recognise the union “or even to
discuss it” was assigned by union of
ficials aa the cause of the strike. The
nine firms with production workers on
strike are Arrow Laundry, Charlotte
Laundry, Inc., Domestic Laundry, Inc.,
Julian’s Laundry and Cleaning, Model
Laundry company, Inc., New Way
Laundry, Sanitary Laundry, Inc.,
Wright’s Laundry and Cleaning com
pany, McCorkle’s. Cleaners and Dyers.
-V-——:
A bee stings because some one
steals “his honey” and “nector.”
FQOD RATION STAMPS GOOD
3_
JUNE SO
T-f .
31
_
MAY I
AUG 31
d in Jun«
L 1, 5UGA"
jiil SU«A*I thru JUNE 2
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