Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Oct. 4, 1945, edition 1 / Page 1
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Che Charlotte Xato (AND DIXIE FARM NEWS) wN* * *$•»/** '"^p- y'gw *ffp* Pa-'y'*?ySa ; ,•>'■4 v’ftfflap' - '•#& sEp? • r THE VOICE OP ALL A. F. OF L. MEHLERS IN CHARLOTTE Official Organ of the Charlotte Central Labor Union and Endoraed by the North Carolina State Federation of ▼OL. XV* NO *• PUBLISHED WEEKLY CHARLOTTE. N. C- TNVKSDAY. OCTOBER 4, 1945 Subacription Price $2.00 Per Year California Unions Fight CIO Raids To U. S. Consumers San Francisco. — The executive council of the California State * Federation of Labor has pledged the federation’* “entire resources” and the resources of its affiliated unions to move as one* united force to crush the disruption and jurisdictional invasion attempts by CIO unions.” It accused the CIO not only of planning “raids” but of conduct ing a “vicious campaign of slan der, lies and abuses of AFL unions and their leaden.” “The AFL organisations in Cali fornia represent more than 1,000, 000 members and the CIO repre sents a total of not more than 100,000,” the council asserted, adding: “The AFL cannot tolcnte or permit the disruption and juris dictional invasions at a time when it must rally its forces to meet employen in collective bargaining for the basic interests in trade union affairs of its dues-paying, working members." The resolution did not refer to any specific CIO unions, bat a spokesman for the council said the AFL was especially concerned, with CIO inroads in the'Hollywood film industry, and with simitar in roads by CIO organisers among the vegetable and fruit cannery Release Of Veterans Ir_:::ases In Tempo For North Carolina Raleigh. — Reflecting tempo in releasing veterans from the 'serv ice in recent months, the numbers of veteran visits to local U. S. Employment Service offices have almost doubled, reaching 17,814 in August, as compand with 9,034 in March, for example. The increase in recent months has been gradual but important, it is shown by Dr. J. S. Dorton, State director .of the War Manpower Commission. Local placements of veterans on jobs have increased, reaching 2, 094 in August, the first month in which the number has exceeded 2, 000. Of those completing appli cations for work in August, 817 wen classed as handicapped, and 162 such veterans wen placed is jobs. - * Local U. S. Employment Service offices directed veterans to proper agencies to handle their problems during August as follows: Vet erans Administration, 1,088; State Vocational Rehabilitation agency, 62; Selective Service, 68; training agencies 238, and other agencies, 899. IN-PLANT SNACKS CUT ABSENTEEISM RATE Washington, D. C. — Accident and absenteeism rates have de creased as much as 80 per cent in plants which make be tween-meal snacks available to workers, Iir. Robert S. Goodhart, chief of the Department of Agriculture In dustrial Feeding Programs Di vision, disclosed. He cited as examples the Ther moid Company, Trenton, N. J.; the Westinghouse plant at East Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Avon dale Mills in Alabama. At the Thermoid company, workers de creased their accident rate 80 per cent after the company began serving fflee pints of milk to 1, 500 employees during 5-minute re cesses. In addition, the worker* cut down their absenteeism rates, increased their production. “From practical experience large segments of labor and man agement have learned that between meal snacks during regularly scheduled rest periods benefit the worker,” said Dr. Goodhart. “Bet ter morale, labor relations, and efficiency have been found to ac company this practise, along with decreases in accidents and absen teeism.” NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK ~] _OCTOBER 15 — 21-— - ---- ""T-- m W. T We come heck, laden from our quest 0** To find that all the sages said , r' Is in the book our mothers read. Wittier. These boys, coining back from the fox-hole and the Jungle drew courage and inspiration from the Book their mothers read. • They won the victory in the name of the Prince of Peace.. ...... Let as honor them and the country to which they ■Jre the full measure of devotion by turning the ^ “ i t ' 4 .. Guide Book of Human conduct ior our in»nir»i.u.., our strength — our victory . . Read your Bible during national Bible Week, October IS—21. . __ Read ypur Bible EVERY WEEK. The Laymens National Committee, sponsors of National Bible Week, urges America to turn again to the Book Our Mothers Read. — - — I ••maife*- t -iw___• - - - - WHITE HOUSE CLARIFIES JOBLESS PAY PROPOSAL WASHINGTON. — The White House said formally last week that President Truman’s proposal for $26 of jobless pay for 26 weeks “does not mean that everybody would get $26 a week.” Declaring some at the comment on the President’s unemployment compensation proposal has indi cated a “complete misunderstand ing” of the significance of the $26 weekly maximum, the White House statement said: “As the President sought to make dear in his message to Con gress on September 6, the $26 is a ceiling and does not mean that everybody would get $25 a weds.” The statement said that all State laws which figure weekly benefits on a percentage of wage loss would remain in effect. Per centages at wage loss which are compensated range in the various States from 40 to 66 per cent of the average weekly wage. “Therefore,” the statement said, in a State that pays 50 per cent of the weekly wage loss but has a $20-a-week ceiling on the amount of benefit payable, the only effect of the President’s proposal would be to enable workers who have earned more than $40 a week to draw more than the present maxi mum amount. In such a State only a worker who would earn $50 or more a week would receive the maximum of $25 a week.” GEORGE CUTTER NAMED TO MILL George K. Cutter has been elected vice president in active charge of the Cutter Manufactur ing company at Rock Hill, 8. C. last week. Mr. Cutter is also vice president of J. H. Cutter, Inc., of Charlotte. Labor Department Reorganization Fails To Solve Many Major Problems Washington, D. C. — President Truman’s reorganisation of the Labor Department failed to ease tension in the nation’s troubled labor-industrial situation. The President transferred to the Labor Department the National War Labor Board, the War Man power Commission and the U. S. Employment Service. Secretary of Labor Schwellenbach said these changes would strengthen his authority in dealing with disputes. Thus far, the agency shifts hape resulted in no visible improvement, while a certain amount of con fusion did develop. Immediately after the War La bor Board was moved, its chair man George W. Taylor resigned. For a few days it appeared that there would be a wholesale wave of additional resignations but Schwellenbach called ah emerg ency conference and prevented dis integration of the board before its work is completed. As AFL member Robert J. Watt said on the AFL Labor-USA radio program, the War Labor Board is preparing to go out of existence, the War Manpower Commission 1 already has wound up its work and the Senate has voted to return the U. S. Employment Serveie to state control. He therefore called the reorganisation only "half a step in the right direction — and no more." WLB members were ^prevailed upon to remain on the job after Schwellenbach assured, them he would refrain from interfering with the board's decisions or pol icies. The Secretary of Labor revealed that he felt continued operation bf the WLB is vital until the labor management conference, due to open on President Truman's call on November 6, fashions some substitute procedure for settlement of industrial disputes. Although few disputes have been certified to the board since the Japanese surrender, between 2,000 and 3,000 unresolved disputes remain on the docket. The board also has a docket of thousands of alleged violations of stablisation regulations. In addition, applica tions are coming in for permission to reduce wage rates. I — j LABOR, USA Washington. D. C. — The twelfth edition of the Ameri can Federatieniat of the Air, broadcast on the “Labor, UAA." program oter the American Broadcasting Com pany network, presented the following oatstanding feature articles to supplement the POVERTY OS PLENTY The Senate adopted an unem ployment compensation bill which tails far short of the standard urgently recommended by Presi dent Truman. The bill as passed has three good features. It extends the duration of unemployment bene fits throughout the nation to 26 weeks. The limit now in some states is only 15 weeks. Further, the new measure grants jobless benefits to almost 3,000,000 gov ernment employes and 400,000 maritime workers, hitherto ex cluded. Finally, the bill allows up to $200 to send stranded war workers back home to new jdbe. These are desirable improve ments, but they do not go far enough to meet human needs dar ing reconversion. The Senate killed the President's key recom mendation, which called for sup plementing the present^ inade quate state unemployment bene fits with federal funds to reach a nation-wide maximum payment of 325 a week. Those who opposed the Presi dent’s recommendation, have served notice that they intend to fight for an economy of poverty and scarcity id America. Thai challenge is accepted by the lib eral forces in Congress who are determined to press tor legislation which will encourage full produc tion, full employment and an econ omy of plenty in our land. The provision for a 325 maxi mum payment was buried under an avalanche of misinformation and misunderstanding. The argu ment was made that paying the unemployed 325 a week would en courage idleness. Yet the law specifically provides that appli cants must declare their willing ness to accept suitable employment before they can become eligible to receive compensation. The Im (Please Tarn to Page 4) Green Urges Truman To Show Congress Error Of Its Ways For Blocking Needed Labor Bills Rankin Legislation Would Create I Strife Between American Workers (Special Dispatch) Washington, D. C. — The eai torial writers of the Hearst McCormick - Patterson axis who work overtime conjuring up new schemes to pit veterans against labor should read the recent Con gressional remarks of Representa tive Charles Savage of Washing ton. The truth might twinge their Lambasting Mississippi’s hate monger, John Rankin, for his in troduction fit legislation purport edly aimed at permitting veterans to gain employment without union affiliation, but actually designed to legalize the open shop and fo ment strife between labor and vet erans, the young West Coast pro gressive listed true facts which the anti-labor press has garbled so willingly. “Thousands upon thousands of Iour servicemen vere union men before they were soldiers. Many unions have provided free stamps for their dues books or other means to keep servicemen in good standing while in the armed forces . . . Servicemen are proud to have those service stamps in their books,” said Representative Sav age. “If we make strike breakers out of returning servicemen by law, they will no longer have the pro tection from their brother union men. They would be the potential threat to the American standard of living. On the other hand, servicemen have no greater friends than their fellow workers who have remained on the home front In many cases, unions have sus pended the requirement of initia tion fees for servicemen. As far as dues are concerned a union that has no money is of no service to its membership. He pointed out too, that unions have estab lished special committee to handle veteran problems. ' The Washington Congressmen warned that enactment of this bill could lead to vast unemploy ment buttressing this argument by explaining that once employers had broken unions through use of veterans and wage scales were lowered they could undersell com petitors, forcing them to shat down plants or else join in the "union-basting tactics. Representative Savage poo poohed claims that veterans want to see themselves established as a separate class when they return to civilian life. “They desire to come back to this country and gat back into their respective walks of life. They want jobs and op portunities all right, but they want jobs and opportunities for all the people.” Speaking in language which could not be misconstrued, he repeated the premise which labor has stated time and time again: “They know that any pro gram to give veterans jobs and leave the civilian population un employed is an impossibility. They realize that their only security lies in full employment for all the workers.” The congressmen told tne mem bers of the House that these facts weren’t concocted in a dream. “I returned from Europe last month where I talked to thousands of servicemen and came back on a ship loaded with 7,000 troops, with whom I was at sea for 11 days. It was from the veterans them* selves that I learned that they do not want to be cast aside as a sep arate group.” Representative Savage reminded that Hitler’s first move to estab lish fascism in Germany was to destroy labor anions—the core of opposition to fascism — and that the Rankin bill was a “fascist measure.” It is unjust for the “boys returning home from fight ing fascism, to ask them to start fighting for fascism at home, in America,” he said. He urged that industrial disputes be settled in the American way, across the negotiating table, “instead of fo menting indsutrial disputes by pitting one worker against the other ss this bill would do.” He added that the passage of the Rankin • bill would prevent any further peaceable negotiation in regard to veterans welfare in labor unions. An added twist was the inter jection of Representative Ramey who noted that the Rankin bill was (Please Turn to Page 4) New McMahon Labor Relations Bill Emphasizes Voluntary Settlements * Washington, D. C.—Senator Mc Mahon of Connecticut introduced a new labor relations bill in Con gress along with three colleagues. The measure proposes to strengthen the mediation and arbi 11ration machinery of the govern ment without introducing any com pulsory features into collective bargaining procedures. In contrast with the sponsors of the Ball-Burton-Hatch bill. Sena tor McMahon consulted at length with AFL President William Green and other labor and industrial leaders before drafting this legis lation. However, the AFL has made no commitment to support the bill. One feature of the McMahon measure at which labor looks somewhat askance is the proposed establishment of boards of inquiry by the President to determine and make public the facts in any labor dispute which cannot be resolved by the preliminary methods of mediation and arbitration. These boards, the Senator said, would hold public hearings to “provide a public forum so that the factual argument of each side would be available to the public." While labor does hot fear this plan, it contains a new wrinkle which re quires careful study. First emphasis in the McMahon bill is placed on free collective bargaining. To handle disputes which are not settled by such ne gotiation, the measure set up a Division of Mediation and Concth atoin in the Labor Department. Should these steps also fail, the McMahon bill paves the way for the voluntary submission of the questions at issue to arbitration by a board to be named by the Presi dent. Once the board's services are engaged by both sides, its de cisions is to be final and have the force of law. In order to enter arbitration under the McMahon bill, the parties must stipulate in advance that they will accept the award made by a majority of the arbitra tion board. WASHINGTON. D. C.—A. F. of U President William Green charged that Congreqp i* strik ing against the best interests of the nation by killing unemploy ment compensation legislation. He warned that the hostile at titude of Congress is contribut ing in large measure to unrest and uncertainty and is driving the American people to the left.| Mr. Green called upon President rruman to “show Congress the er ror of its ways” and lead the na tion through the problems of re conversion into “the economy of plenty which America can and must achieve.” The AFL chief’s blast followed the sudden and shocking setion of the House Ways ami Means committee in killing the unemploy ment compensation bill passed by the Senate. Mr. Green called the House move defiance of President Tru man’s urgent recommendations and “a slap in the face” to mil lions of war workers who are now losing their jobs. His statement, which also took cognisance of growing Congres sional opposition to the Full Em ployment bill ami other key mea sures on the AFL’s list of “must" legislation, follows: “By killing unemployment com pensation legislation the House Ways and Means committee has defied the President of the United States and slapped in the face millions of loyal American work ers who are losing their war jobs. “These workers responded to the urgent appeals of the government and patriotically remained at their machines in vital war industries when they could have taken safer and more permanent employment. They were assured by the gov ernment that they would not be made to suffer for their loyalty. “Now that victory has been won, Congress has let them down and repudiated the solemn pledge of the government. First the Sen ate struck out from the Kilgore Unemploymnet Compensation bill the key provision recommended by President Truman for lifting maximum benefits to $25 a week. Now the House Ways and Means committee has tabled the rest of the bill. “This hostile attitude by Con gress is contributing in large mea sure to the unrest and uncertainty that is sweeping the country. Con gress is in no position to complain about strikes, when it deliberate ly goes on strike itself against the best interests of the nation. “Nothing is better calculated to jiestroy the free enterprise sys tem and drive the American people to leftist extremes than the cal lous disregard shown by Congress toward human needs during re conversion. “The American Federation of Labor calls upon President Tru man to show Congress the error of its ways and to exert the kind of progressive leadership necessary to guide the nation through the problems of reconversion and into the economy of plenty which America can and must achieve." NEW RADIO FIRM OPENS IN CITY The Radio Sales A Appliances company, a new Charlotte firm opened for business Monday in quarters in the Addison Storage Garage building at 222 South Church street W. A. Barber, well-known Charlotte radio will be manager, and J. B. Jonas, operator of the Addison Storage Garage, will be co-manager.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 4, 1945, edition 1
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