Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Nov. 15, 1945, edition 1 / Page 1
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" - wess Che Charlotte labor Journal i* about a better understanding (AND DIXIE FARM NEWS) | between employer and employe, thereby gaining a better stand ard of living for the worker. Progress shall always govern The Journal's opinions. —in . . ,..ii j 7,. ==a VoL XV; No. 26 _ ■ .—-—---’^. .. ' r-aa Washington Meeting Driving Toward Agreement Labor Press Asks For McArthur’s Transfer To North Carolina Hon. Harry S. Truman, President United States, White House, Washington, D. C. Dear Hr. President: You are hereby most respect fully and sincerely requested to transfer General McArthur from Tokyo, Japan, to the South, with headquarters at Brevard, N. C., just as soon as the General has completed his work in Tokyo. We want him to institute in this Southland of ours that fine pro gram for social reform whic£ he has prepared for the Japanese people. We could think of nothing else that would be such a boom to the South as the adoption for our people of the program which General McArthur has prepared and presented to Jap rulers for adoption in Japan. In that program the General aays: "The people must be freed from qplattien into their daily Muss vrhich holds their minds in virtual sposch and freedom of nUgha p "Regimentation of the masses under guise of a claim of effici ency, under whatever name of government it may be, must cease. THE RULING "In implementation of these re quirements and to accomplish the purpose therein intended, I ex pected you to institute the follow ing reforms in the social order of Japan as rapidly as they can be assimilated: “1. Emancipation of the women of Japan, through their enfran chisement — that being members of the body politic they may bring to Japan a new concept of govern ment directly subservient to the well being of the home. "2. Encouragement of unioni zation or labor that it may be clothed with such diginity as will permit it an influential voice in safeguarding the working man from exploitation and abuse and raising his living standard to a higher level: with the institution of such measures as may be nec essary to correct the evils which now exist in child labor practices. “3. Opening of schools to a map liberal education—that peo ple may shape their future prog ress from factual knowledge and benefit from an understanding of a system under which government becomes the servant rather than the master of the people. “4. Amolition of the systems through which secret inquisition and abuse have held the people in constant fear—substituting there for a system of justice designed to afford the people protection against despotic, arbitrary and un just methods. "v~~ “6. Democratization of Japan ese economic administration to the end that monopolistic industrial controls be revised through de velopment of methods which tend to insure wide distribution of in come and ownership of means of production and trade/ ' Mr. President, the South al ready enjoys Section No. 1, of the General’s Japanese program, and our women folks do have the right to vote. We finely need Section No. 2, here in the South. While many of our industries are organised and labor works under union-man agement agreement in thes organ ised places, a majority of our in dustrial establishments, practically all service trades remain un organized. There are numerous industrial establishments in the South, Mr. President, where the officers of the law join hands with the companies involved and with Vigilante Committees and Citi zen’s Committees and company stooges in opposing the organisa tion of the workers. Armed thugs beat up our organizers at no infrequent intervals here in the South,, that is, the South in the United States of America. As many of our Southern boys gave their lives in making it possible for General McArthur to offer the above fine program to the people of Japan, it does seem to us that we people of the South could at least have the same program which the General has outlined for the people of Japan. Wg need the full provisions con tained in Section No. 3, of the General’s program for Japan. To obtain this, however, we need and must have Federal Aid for our public schools. Section No. 4, of the Jap pro gram would be of great value to the working population of the “policemen"' who go about la swashbuckling manner, armed to the hilt, creating and spreading fear among our people, and make life miserable for them. Oh, Mr. °resident, how sorely wg need the General’s program here in the South, especially in respect to Section 4! It will seem strange to you, Mr. President, that here in the South land, the home and hotbed of de mocracy, just how greatly we do need the provisions of Section 5. It will take all of the General’s ingenuity to democratize economic administration here in the South, overthrow monopolistic industrial controls, and provide for wide dis tribution of income and ownership of means of production and trade. It was our plan to take this matter up with you personally on your visit to the South, but since you have had to cancel your en gagements, we are sending this open letter to you, urging you as our Commander-in-Chief to send General McArthur into the South at the earliest possible 4 moment, and instruct him to put into effect here in your own country that fine program he has outlined for the Japanese people. Sincerely and earnestly yours, THE SOUTHERN LABOR PRESS ASSOCIATION, By James F. Barrett, Ex. Secretary. TRUCK DRIVERS SIGN WITH PET MILK CO. IN TENNE8SEE Kingsport, Tenn. — Business Representative J. J. Morrisette of Truck Drivers and Helpers Local Union No. 549, reported the com pletion of negotiations and sign ing of a closed shop agreement with the Pet Milk Company. The contract covers all of the company's operation under the Teamsters jurisdiction at the ! Abingdon, Virginia plant and re ceiving stations at Sugorinsville, Tennessee and Rural Retreat, Vir ginia. The 85 members covered by the agreement received an average wage increase of ten cents per Sour across the board They were also granted one week vacation with pay after one year of serv ice and two week’s vacation after three years. Any employee whose duties requires their working be tween 7 p. m. and 5 a. m. shall re ceive as additional compensation a premium of 6 cents per hour for the time so worked. • ' i ‘~Z. ■ Set. Charles GritaU Philadelphia, Pa.—Members of the Pennsylvania State Federa tion’s Executvie Committee—AFL, were thrilled by the dramatic ap peal of Sgt. Charles Gritski for their support of the Victory Loan drive. Sgt. Gritski, a member of the Brotherhood of Operating Engineers and war hero, spoke at a special Victory Loan luncheon that was personally arranged by William JL Kern, State Director for Labor of the Pennslyvania War Finance ' Committee. Sgt Gritski (then a CpL) ad jadelphia two years ago. Gritski | was one of the first casualties in the African invasion. He had practically lost the sight of his i left eye; his entire abdomen was riddled by shrapnel; he suffered 38 severances of the intestines. In addition, his left arm was so < mangled that it was the opinion of surgeons that there was little j hope of saving it. On his most recent appearance, however, Gritalri had completely regained the sight at his left eye cases more than the $15,000 in surgical expenses necessary for his rehabilitation is required by many thousands of casualties in as serious a condition as he was. It has been estimated by the Bureau of the Budget that the re habilitation of disabled veterans will cost almost four billion dol lars a year for ten years. Poll Shows Majority Of Labor In Favor Of Voluntary Arbitration The American Arbitration Asso ciation announces the results of a j « widespread polling of viewpoint on the question of Compulsory vs. Voluntary Arbitration. The opin ions of corporations, labor unions, ' and a representative cross-section i of the public are reflected in this j poll. Instead of making a selected , sampling from among a few hun dred persons, over 35.000 ballots were distributed. One went to the head of each of the leading 10,000 corporatoins throughout the whole country as well as to each member of the various ‘committees of the National Association of Manufac turers. Comparable complete cov erage of labor unions was made. The public in the person of Gov ernment officers, professional men involved in labor-management rela tions and other individual cross sections completed the total. Over-all returns show that 69.7 per cent favor voluntary arbitra tion of labor disputes as against 30.3 per cent who favor compul sory arbitration. Breaking it down into the vari ous groups, unions voted better than 4 to 1 in favor of voluntary while corporations as a whole j voted less than 2 1-8 to 1. A sur ) prising factor was that the vote of t the AFL Unions, while 8 to 1 in i favor of voluntary, was a lowei ratio than in the CIO which was : well over 6 1-2 to 1 in favor of voluntary. The editors of Labor papers voted 8 to 1 in favor of t voluntary. The professional group voted only 1 1-2 to 1, while mis cellaneous personal expressions were just over 2 to 1 in favor of voluntary. In other worda, the over-all vote in favor of voluntary arbitartion is 2 1-3 to 1. ' c Those who voted in favor of he voluntary principle, where ar bitration would be undertaken only when the employer and the Union agreed thereto, were asked to ex press an opinion as to how the arbitrators should be selected. Less than 4 per cent favored the Government providing arbitrators while 76 per cent favored selection ; by agreement of the parties. The remaining 20 per cent were in favor of the naming of the arbi trator in the first instance by some impartial agency — not Govern mental. IBEW AND GEORGIA POWER COMPANY RENEW CONTRACT Atlanta, Ga.—Local Union No. B84, and the Georgia Power com pany have renewed the agreement for another year, with numerous gains over the expiring agreement embraced in the new contract. The pay increase obtained amounts to $10 a month. Non-shift workers will receive time and one-half for all Sunday work. All workers coming under the agreement will receive time and one-half for all time over eight hours a day. The Stores Department has been organised one hundred per cent, and come under terms of the new agreement. Improvements were made in numerous instances, in cluding a provision that all men working as pipefitters will now be rated as mechanics. President W. L. Chapman, Business Mana ger A. G. Kennedy, John Mann and Red Hash constituted the con ! tract committee. This committee was ably assisted in the negotia 1 tions by International Represen tatives G. X. Barker, L. L. Dick and T. H. Payne. v * Substantial Progress Reported By Labor-Management Conferees BARBERS LET MOREY TALK M WASHINGTON VICTORY BONO RALLY WASHINGTON. — Washington barbers let their money do the talking at a recent Victory Bond rally of Barbers Local No. 289— A PL—held at the Pythian temple here. Over 400 members of the local purchased $10,000 worth of . E” Bonds on the spot. Another . *600 Bond was purchased from the treasury of the local. Speakers at the rally were George E. Me- | Kenna, vice president of the Jour- j neymen Barbers, Hairdressers and Cosmetologists’ International Un ion of America, and Ernest Fon tana, regional Labor represents- : tive, War Finance division, U. S. Treasury. Those attending the rally en joyed a musical revue put on by service personnel from Walter Reed hospital and a moving pic ture, “Diary of a Sergeant,” which ■ stresses the importance of backing ' the Victory Loan drive for rehabil- j Hating wounded returning veter ans. Another rally trill be staged ; later during the Victory Lean «s$ confidence was repressed i by Charles Bavello, business man ager of the Local and chairman of the Victory Bond committee, that Victory Bond sales will top the ! $36,000 Bond investment made by members of the local during the Seventh Loan drive. } PREMATURE WA6E RAISES GET APPROVAL OF NWL8 Unauthorized wage or salary in- J creases which were put into effect before August 18, when the Gov ernment’s wage policy was changed to permit, increases with out obtaining approval, will be considered as having been lawfully ! put into effect on that date, the National War Labor Board said in a unanimous resolution an nounced today. This will not ap ply, however, to the building and construction industry, which had been granted a 90-day exemption from government’s policy of per mitting increases without approv al. The effect of the Board’s reso lution is that none of the sanc tions applicable to unauthorized wage or salary increases will ap ply to those unauthorized pay ments which are continued after August 18. Wages or salaries which include »n authorized increase or decrease are not deductible as costs for in come tax purposes. Wage or salary decreases are still subject to approval of the War Labor Board before they may be put into effect. The Board’s resolution follows: “Resolved, that whqre an em ployer prior to August 18, 1946, effected an unauthorised increase of wages or salaries, the continued payment of the increased rate after August 18, 1946 (except in the case of employers in the build :rg and construction industry) shall be eonsidet^tW ad author ized increase made on such date and none of the sanctions pre scribed by the Stabilization Act and regulations thereunder shall be applied in any enforcement pro ceeding on account of continued payment of such rate for the pe riod subsequent to August 18„ 1945.” (Approved — November 1, 1945.) , Washington, D. C.—Substantia] progress was reported by the Labor-Management Conference seeking to minimize in dustrial disputes a^ committees began drifting reports on specific recommendations. The first major agreement reported by Conference Secre tary George W. Taylor was on collective bargaining. All six conference committees hi^ve fully accepted the principle that cellective bargaining is the primary and basic method of resolving disputes between unions and employers. Failure of employers to accede to this principle wrecked the labor management conference held after the last war in 1919, Mr. Taylor said. Another committee was reported ; unofficially to have reached unani- 1 mous agreement in favor of repeal of the Smith-Connaliy Act on the ground that it has nicreased in dustrial strife instead of reducnig it. The American Federation of Labor fought this measure from the beginning and has never wav ered in its opposition. The committee on existing col lective agreements, Mr. Taylor told newsmen, “appears to be in agree ment that there must be some treminal point to grievance pro cedure if the agreement is to con tain an effective no-strike, no lockout clause.” This is to pre vent management from defeating the purpose of such agreements by delaying action on grievances interminably Improvement of machinery for settling jnssidietional disputes by the unions themselves is being ex plored by a thrid committee. Hearings are being held by a fourth committee on ways and : means of bolstering the United States Conciliation Service. Among the witnesses appearing before this group were Conciliation Serv ice Director Warren and John Steelman, special assistant to President Truman. The way was cleared for action by the conference on major issues when CIO President Murray was forced at a meeting of the Ex ecutive Committee to back down from his original demand that the conference pass upon pending wage disputes. Mr. Murray explained that all he meant by his resolution on the wage question was for the confer ence to endorse collective bargain ing on wages now and in the fu ture. ; “Of course, no one either on the labor side or on the management side is going to object to that,” one delegate commented. But, originally, the CIO sought to toss into the conference’s lap all its current wage disputes in steel, automobiles and other in dustries. The delegates got the impression that Mr. Murray wanted the conference to fight the CIO's battles for it. Johff L. Lewis, delegate for the United Mine Workers Unijai,,. castigated Mr. Murray at a stormy session of the Executive Committee. AFL delegates took the same stand. Discovering he had no support, Murray retreated completely. However, the CIO sought to propagandise the issue and make the nation’s workers believe that the American Federation of Labor was not supporting higher wages. AFL President William Green ponited out'that the American Federation of Labor has led the fight for higher wage rates and | that it is throwing its full sup port to affiliated unions in their attempts to negotiate wage rate increases with employers. But such matters, he empha sised, must be decided through collective bargaining and cannot be injected into the labor-manage ment conference which has no power to enforce its recommenda tions and has no authority or de sire to establish a new, nation wide wage formula. WPS re ESTABLISH STATISTICAL RESEARCH ROOM IIWASHII6T0I ,To acquaint industry with the wealth of statistical information collected by the War Production Board and its predecessor agen cies, the Civilian Production Ad ministration will establish a sta tistical research room for a six week period, November i» through December 28, 1946. The exhibits will be open Monday through Fri day of each week, from 9 a. m., to 8 p. m., in the Social Security Buliding, Washington, D. C. During the war government re ceived from industry factual re ports on such matters as produc tion, materials consumption and inventories which were invaluable in planning production for military needs and for the civilian econo my. Exhibits will include some ma terial which could not be published during the war for reasons of mili itary security, or could not be made available previously because of the pressure of war work upon WPB’s statistical staff. Officials emphasised that the material available for examination will not include any information relative to individual firms, be cause this information was given to the War Production Board on a confidential basis. Only sum mary facts will be presented. In general, the material will be of four types: (1) blank copies of all application and report forms issued by WPB and its predeces sor agencies, (2) copies of pub lished tabulations drawn from these forms as returned by in dustry, (3) information indicat ing the extent to which other data have been tabulated but not pub lished, and 4) estimates of statis tical coverage on particular phases of industry. To avoid overcrowding of the research room in the early part of its operation, persons intending to visit it between November 19 and 23 are asked to notify Mr. Al bert A. Eisenstat, Chief, Indus trial Statistics Branch, Civilian Production Administration, Wash ington 25, D. C., of such intention, and to name those operatng un. s of WPB in whose statistics they are interested. Individuals who do not so notify Mr. Eisenstat by November 16, are requested to schedule their visits to the re search room at some time after November 23. CHARTER INSTALLED AT GREENSBORO CORE MILL Greensboro, N. C.—Local Union No. 601, Operating Engineers, in the latest group to join the rapidly growing AFL movement in thia city. The local was organised, charter received and installed, members and officers obligated and a committee named to negoti ate with the management of Conn Textile Mills for an agreement. A. E. Brown, organiser, assisted | the workers throughout the period of organisation and served as in stalling pffker when the Local; was set up as a functioning body for these workers.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 15, 1945, edition 1
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