Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Dec. 20, 1945, edition 1 / Page 1
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frrrrm « arm, an JOURNAL’S POLICY The Charlotte Labor Journa' welcomes sag reations and struct!ve criti ism. Che Charlotte labor lourn (AND DIXIE FARM NEWS) Progress shall always govern The Journal's opinions. A Newspaper Dedicated To The Interests of Charlotte Central Labor Union and Affiliated Crafts—Endorsed By North Carolina Federation of Labor and Approved By The American Federation of Labor. VOL. XV; NO. 32 Published Weekly CHARLOTTE, N. G, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1945 Price 5c Per Copy Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year Labor Smashes Blitz Drive For Anti-Strike Measures Churchmen Say Imported Workers Have Lowered Labor Standards Washington, D. C. — Workers from Mexico, Jamaica and the Ba hamas imported into this country three years ago to meet an alleged labor shortage, have lowered the standards of American workers. So assert a group of distin guished churchmen, representing the Protestant, Catholic and Jew ish faiths, in a startling statement. These workers, despite safe guards established for their pro tection, have been badly treated, the statement says. The rail roads were singled out as having viciously exploited Mexicans brought in for work on the tracks. The church leaders warn that ef forts are being made at Washing ton by the railroads and other industries to keep these workers here. The situation of American mi gratory workers, the statement in sists. is alreadr bad enough, with out making it worse by forcing them to compete with aliens who are unable to protect themselves. “These workers,” the church men declare, “are the most de pressed group in the United States. They are denied decent housing, health and educational facilities. Irregular employment and inad equate wages are other evils in flicted on them.” The churchmen demand that mi grants be protected by bringing them under the Wage and Hour Aet and the Social Security Act. Lost wages and bad conditions, it is 'asserted, are the chief ob stacles to securing a labor supply on the railroads, on the farms and in canning and other industries which have had the benefit of the labor of 62/KM) imported Mexicans and 20,400 workers brought in from the West Indies. Labor Unions Organize For March Of Dimes Jan. 14-31 ■ Organization of national labor unions into the fund drive for 1946 March of Dimes, to be con ducted January 14-31 by the Na tional Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, was announced recently from the office of Basil O’Connor, President of the National Founda tion. , Appointed co-chairmen of the National Labor Division are Wil liam Green, President of the America Federation of Labor! Philip Murray, President of the Congress of Industrial Organiza tions! and ' Thomas C. Cashen, Chairman of the Railway Labor Executives Association. In the past, these union's have actively supported the March of Dimes through their own fund raising organizations. In 1945, AFL members contributed $162, 330.93 to the National Foundation. CIO members raised $95,786.85 in the same period. Independent unions contributed $8,938.40 during the year. These figures are ex # elusive of individual donations made at movies and other public functions. Green and Murray have served as co-chairman of the National Labor Division since the founding of the orgaization in 1938 by the late President Roosevelt. Cashen served as a labor co-chairmen in the"l§45 drive. Of all contributions to the an nual March of Dimes, half remains with local chapters of the National Foundation for equipment, trans portation .hospital treatment and care of poliomyelitis patients, re gardless of age, race, creed or col or. The‘other half goes to the Na tional Foundation for research, education and emergency aid dur ing epidemics. In a letter of acceptance to a ' (Please Tara to Page 4) IFl UNION WINS TWO ELECTIONS IN MCHMOND Richmond, Va.—(SLPA)—After • long drawnout fight with the CIO, which finally headed into the Federal courts, the Tobacco Work* era International Union, AFL won a Labor Board election in the plant of Larus Brothers, Inc., last week. The vote stood 366 for the AFL and 170 for the CIO. Vice President George Benjamin and Representative W. E. Lewis, of the International assisted the AFL workers in the campaign. George L. Googe, Southern Representa tive of the American Federation of Labor, appeared for the Tobacco Workers before the NLRB and in the court proceedings. TOBACCO WORKERS WIN MANY GOOD POINTS FOR NEW YEAR Wheeling, W. Va. — (SLPA)— Local Unions No. 2 and 198, of the Tobacco Wokers International Union, AFL, have won an out standing victory in the contest with Block Brothers Tobacco Com pany of this place. The workers remained away from their jobs 28 days, it is noted in the report of International President John O’Hare, the new agreement jbst signed a blanket increase in wages of 8 1-2 cents an hour was ob tained, and an upward adjustment in wage rates in addition thereto for a majority of job classifica tions. Minimum rate of pay for women was increase W.R/ a omen was increased 9 cents an hour and the mimimum rate for men increased ten cents an hour. Substantial improvements were made in working conditions through the negotiations of the new agreement. Red Cross Upholds Pact With 7-Count Indictment New York City—Praising labor’s generous support to bis organiza tion, Chairman Basil O’Connor of the American Rod Cress denounced “erroneous and misleading state ments” about the fund-raising agreement between the Bed Cross and war relief committees of the AFL and CIO. “There was never any secrecy about this agreement,” O’Connor asserted,. "The agreements in volves no ‘hick-back’ or ‘pay’ in siny sense to the labor war relief committees.” MrvO’Connor was re-elected as the Head of the Red Cross and t^e organisation voted to uphold its arrangement with the labor groups in the 1M6 campaign. After America entered the war, O’Connor said, the AFL Labor Lague for Human Rights and the CIO War Relief Committee agreed to merge their fund-raising activi ties with those of the National War Fund and the American Red Cross. An agreement was reached in 1942 providing that the actual expenses of the employes of the labor war relief committees engaged full time in the fund-raising campaigns (Please Turn to Page 4) TkE CHRISTMAS FAMILY REUNION — I i 'zsssyA i > d~9~r-n^rrr MY BOYS! r_i merqy XMAS/ REUNIONS OF MANY FAMILIES IN THEIR HOMES WERE MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR VICTORIOUS FIGHTERS ON THE BAtTLE FRONTS AND UNION WORKERS ON THE HOME FRONT. UNION LABELS, SHOP CARDS, AND SERVICE BUTTONS ARE ATOMIC WEAPONS IN PEACETIME TO PRESERVE THE AMERICAN HOME L M. OBMBCBK. SwnUryTntwnr. UNION LABEL TRADES DEPARTMENT. AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Electrical Workers Win Election In DuPont’s Richmond Plant The International Brotherhood'; of Electrical Workers, t hrough Henry E. Adair, international rep resentative, announce that the Union recently won a election in the DuPont plant in Richmond, Va., by a large majority. The election was conducted under the supervision of Ernest Modern, rep-, resenting the National Labor Re lations Board. The Richmond case had been pending for several months. Representative Adair also re ports that the IBEW recently won two elections in North Carolina, one at Raleigh and the other at Fayetteville. The two North Car olina elections were conducted with the electrical workers in two plants owned by the Electric Mo tor and Repair Company, which firm also owns another plant in Columbia, S. C., Mr. Adair says. The North Carolina elections were conducted by Eugene Curry, NLRB representative, supervising. Important Decision Handed Down By Board On Textiles Gastonia, N. C. (SLPA) — Be cause of numerous similar situa tions in the textile industry, the NLRB’s decision handed down here last week to the effect that an election is in order in any one plant of a chain of mills is highly THE SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR RETAIL PROFITS WASHINGTON, D. C.—Over I, 324 per cent! That’s the stag gering increase in profit* rolled up by department and specialty stores during 1944, compared with their average earning from 1936 to 1939, OPA Administra tor Chester Bowles revealed. Bowles made public the fig ure during a Senate Small Busi ness committee hearing on price control. Aghast, Senator Allen J. EUender, Democrat of Louisi ana, exclaimed: “If that’s true, then OPA has failed in its job.” Bowles’ answer was that “we regulate prices, not profits.” important. The United Textile Workers of America, AFL, had pe tioned the NLRB for an election in the plant of the Seminole mill, a unit of Textiles, Inc., owners and operators of a chain of mills. The company resisted the petition for an election on the ground that one election should be held for the workers in all of the mills of the chain owned by Textiles, Inc. The Union insisted that the com* pany resorted to this plan as a means of defeating the desires of the workers in the Seminole mill, where a majority of the workers had signed authorisation cards with the union. The NLRB hear ing was on this issue, and the de cision rendered will have a far reaching effect, it being that eSch plant in a chain is a unit of em ployment and operation and that the workers have a right under the law to be granted the election for the determination of a bargaining agent It is expected that the election will be held at an early date. - AFL WAGE HIKE DEMAND KHLEO DY v EMPLOYER VOTE WASHINGTON, D. C. — Tho American Federation of Labor’s attempts to obtain from the Labor Management conference a declara tion in favor of higher wages which would serve as a guide to the determination of disputes in reconversion industries was de feated by the opposition of man agement. The first objective of the AFL delegates was to get agreement on better collective bargaining methods which would make it pos sible for employers and unions in each plant or industry to settle their wage problems according to the merits of each case. When the committee considering this subject failed to bring in a unani mous report, AFL President Wil liam Green submitted the follow ing resolution to the final plenary session of the conference: “Resolved, that if our national economy is to be preserved, our war debts liquidated and the pur chasing power of the American public maintained at high levels in order to avoid disastrous un employment and deflation, it is of first and utmost importance that general wage increases be granted immediately and adequately.” Mr. Green told the conference that the AFL is mobilizing all its strength in support of the wage demands of its affiliated unions. He declared that the AFL will wage “an unrelenting and uncom promising fight for higher wages which are justified by economic conditions.” Mr. Green blasted the CIO res olution on wages as “innocuous” and assailed CIO President Mur ray for refusing to serve on a sub committee created by the executive committee to consider wage rec ommendations. "He was on strike," Mr. Green charged, “and he maintained his strike during the entire confer ence.” ' * Congress Hafts Action Until After Holidays Washington. D. C.—The sudden blits drive for adoption of anti labor legislation by Congress has been smashed. Organised labor gained at least 3, temporary reprieve when the House and Senate Labor commit tees voted to postpone action on the Norton-Ellender Bill until aft er the holidays. This vote constituted a repudi ation of administration leaders who had demanded enactment of the measure before Christmas. United opposition by all of or-j ganized labor and most of manage ment is believed, in Congressional circles, to have dimmed any chance of adoption of the Norton-Ellender Bill even after the committes resume consideration of the pro posal after New Year’s. Both committees decided to broaden their inquiries to cover the entire field of labor-enanage ment relations next January. The members made it clear thft they did not intend to act in haste and| might take two months before de ciding on legislation to recommend, if any. This was considered a highly favorable omen by organ ised labor leaders. The Norton-Ellender Bill was introduced to carry out the rec-j ommendations of President Tru man for legislation outlawing strikes for SO days when the Sec retary of Labor certifies a dispute to the President and he names a' fact-finding board to consider the case and make recommendations, In reality, however, the bill goes far beyond the President’s recom mendations' and is regarded as highly dangerous by the trade union movement. Even manage ment representatives joined in op posing many sections of the meas ure. * Senate and House hearings prob ably will not be resumed until Jan uary 15. In the meantime, all anti-labor legislation will be bot tled up. This applies also to the Hobbs Bill, which was passed by the House. AFL President William Green led the attack on the Norton-El lender Bill at the hearings before the House Labor Committee, while the Senate group heard only gov ernment witnesses testifying in its favor. ^ Members of both committees in dicated they were displeased with the punitive and restrictive fea tures of the bill and expressed doubt that it would effectively pre vent strikes if adopted. Mr. Green emphasized that while the bill does not contain specific penalties, it would subject unions all over again to court in junctions and conspiracy charges which might lead to jail senten<4k for contempt of court. The reprieve granted by Con gress affords labor a glorious op portunity to marshall rank-and file opposition to anti-labor legis lation. Mr. Green urged all AFL members and organisations to write their Representatives and Senators during the recess urg ing defeat of such legislation. AFL Wants To Help China Secure Democracy And Free Trade Unions Washington, D. C. — The Com-! mittee on International Labor Re lations of the American Federation of Labor pledged support to the Chinese people in their efforts to build a constitutional democracy and to develop a real labor move ment. The committee made public the following sttement outlining the AFL’s views: “We are much concerned for the future of China and its national struggle to set up the institutions of free democracy within an area containing one quarter of the world’s population. Wc have a long tradition of friendship with China, marked by aid in the Box er rebellion and the Nine Power Treaty pledging China aid against aggression. Despite the effects of our State Department for action in accord with that treaty, when Japan invaded China she fought the invading armies single-handed for over 9 years. Since we en tered this World War, China, with the scanty supplies and aid we cculd get to her, has mobilized her resources to defend her country, culmniating in a decisive battle against Japan. “Our government is definitely committed to policies in support of China and to the Cairo agree ment assuring that Japan shall be expelled from all territories which she has taken by violence. We are now carrying out our agreement 1>J transporting Chinse troopa to Manchuria, which is to be part of China. Forty percent of Japan ese troops are still inside China territory. We have not yet ful filled our responsibility to China. “China, with a recorded history going back more than 3,00 years, is building a democracy, unifying her people and reaching out for the scientific progress of the Western World. Even in the midst of revo lution preceded by war against Jap anese invaders, China initiated large programs of national educa tion. Because of seizure of its coastal cities, China has developed metallurgical, chemical and textile industries in the interior of the country where only handicraft in dustries existed before. “A real labor movement is mak ing progress in China together with the development of co-opera tives. These are pivotal institu tions in the development of de mocracy. In the name of the name of the American Federation of Labor we pledge them our sup port in their efforts to build a constitutional democracy and uni fy the Chinese people for peace at home and internationally.” Green Flays Norton Bill With Labor Relief Groups Washington, D. C.—In a vigor ous denunciation of the Norton Ellender Bill, APL President Wil liam Green placed the House La bor Committee a seven-count in dictment of the compulaory, cool ing off, fact-finding measure. The AFL chief charged: “1—It invades the right to strike, which right labor must pos sess in order to procure economic justice. “2—The proposal will serve as a signal to the stages to pass sim ilar laws applicable to intrastate disputes of every nature. “3—Vital guarantees of the Nor ris-LaGuardia Act ara automatic^ ally nuulified or rendered worth less. J * —The constitutional rights of freedom of speech, freedom of as semblage and freedom of the press ara destroyed. * “5—Government by injunction Is reestablished, subjecting violators to criminal contmpt charges, and to imprisonment. “6—The vicious “doctrine of con* spiracy” in labor disputes is re established. “7—Civil damage suits ara att (Plessa Torn to Page 4) '
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 20, 1945, edition 1
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