Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Jan. 3, 1946, edition 1 / Page 1
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. JOURNAL'S POLIO’ The Charlotte Labor Journa' welcomes suggestions and con structive criticism. Its object is to promote organisation of the unorganized, to kelp Wring about a better understanding between employer and employe, thereby gaining a better stand ard of living for the worker. Progress shall always govern The Journal’s opinion-*. Vol. XV; No. 34 Che Charlotte labor Journal (AND DIXIE FARM NEWS) % . . ~ ' ’’Mf' A Newspaper Dedicated To The Interests of Charlotte Central Labor Union and Affiliated Craft*—Endorsed By North Carolina Federation of Labor and Approved By The American Federation of Labor. Published Weekly CHARLOTTE. N. C., THURSDAY. JANUARY 3. 1916 Price 5c Per Copy Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year Truman Makes Final Plea For Jobs-For-All Bill I LABOR—U. S. A. IUIIII «MU Washington, D. C.—The twenty fifth edition of tlie American Fed erationist of the Air, broadcast on the “Labor, USA” program over pany network, included the follow ing outstanding feature articles to supplement the news: CONGRESS TAKES A HOLIDAY i By Lewis G. Hines, AFL Legislative Representative You may not believe it, but members of Congress work just as hard as the rest of us. They So enjoy this great advantage, how ever. They (an take a holiday v-henever they decide they need one. Apparently, they need one now, because they have voted to recess until January 15. We wish them a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and we hope they will get a good rest. Because they have their work cut out for them whe- •• return. t he' amount of unnnished busi ness left over by Congress is stag gering. President Truman has submitted to Congress in the last few months a comprehensive pro gram dealing with the human needs of all the American people in peacetime. It is no exaggera tion to say that Congress has failed utterly to act constructively on this program. Not a single one of the “must” measures urgently recommei^ed^y the President tot Let’s call the roll. Item No. 1 was the Full Employment Bill. The House and the Senate have each adopted a different bill on this subject, but both are disappointing. Depresentative Matthew M. Neely of West Virginia aptly described the House bill when he said: “This bill is no more like a' Full Employment Bill than the jackass in the lion’s skin was like the king of beasts which the skin had originally adorned.” Then take Item No. 2 — The Unemployment Compensation Bill. The Senate passed a watered-down version of what the President rec ommended and the nation hadly needs, but the House Ways and Means Committe has buried the entire subject in a pigeon hole. Item No. 3 is being subjected to slow death by delay. It is the new Minimum Wage Bill. The Senate Committee postponed furth er hearings until late in January and the House hasn't shown even that much interest. Item No. 4 affects your health and mine. It is the Health In surance Bill. Except for a few progressive leaders, Congress has thus far turned a deaf ear to this badly needed social reform which would make the best medical care available to all the American [lllllltDHIIIIIIItIJQHlIllinillOIMINIIIIIIUtflllllllHinMIlllllllllCO people on a sound insurance basis. I could go 01. with this list to a far greater extent if time per mitted, but I think the point is clear. If Congress could do no better than the record of its last session, it certainly needs a vaca tion. We hope that when the mem bers of Congress go home for the holidays they will hear from you on these subjects and come back determined to fulfill the require ments of the American people. WHEN DOES THE WAR END? By Joseph A. Pad way. Chief Counsel for the AFL The American people thought the war ended last August when Japan surrendered. But, from a legal aspect, the war emergency is still going on — and Congress has just extended it until June 30, 1946, by adopting legislation con tinuing the President’s emergency authority under the Second War Powers Act until that date. Now this ia an exceedingy strange situation—and a danger ous one — but in some respects it just can’t be helped. For instance, if war-time con trols over prices, rents and scare materials were to be suddenly re moved now, chaos would result. Secretary of Labor Schwellenbach told a Congressional Committee wete .Oolish*! ffiecost or Being would burst right through the roof. With every city in the na tion facing a dire shortage of homes, rents would go wild if con trols were taken off at this time. As to materials, we have just ex perienced a startling example in the construction industry. The President was forced to replace government controls over building materials after they had been re moved, because the scare supply was not being used for the na tion’s most urgent need — new, low-cost housing. Therefore, no matter how unfortunate, disagree able and annoying it may be, we must resign ourselves to the ne cessity of continuing oil a war time footing a little while longer. But in some cases it is vitally important to abolish war powers without further delay. This is notably true of the Connally Smith Act, which was supposed to outlaw strikes during the war but served, instead to encourage them. Fortunately, Congress has recog nized its own error and has re fused to permit the National Labor Reations Board to use its funds for conducting strike votes as the Connally-Smith Act provides. The American Federation of Labor is (Please Turn to Page 4) Green Appeal To Affiliated Bodies To Get Vote On Jobless Pay Bill Washington, D. C.—AFL Presi dent Wiliam Green appealed to all State Federations of Labor and City Central Bodies to join in a drive for action by Congress on un employment compensation legisla tion which would provide a nation wide maximum of $25 a week for six months of the year to those who lose their jobs during recon version. -o-'. • • The bill, urged by Pmudhm Truman, is now buried in a pigeon hole of the House Ways and Means Committee, but Rep. Brad ley of Pennsylvania has initiated a petition to discharge the commit tee from further consideration of the measure and force it to the floor for a vote. Mr. Green informed the affili ated organisations that the rules of the House require 218 signa tures on such a petition before the committee can be discharged. • He therefore urged the State and city bodies to prevail upon ,their Representatives during the con* gressional recess to sign the peti tion and put it over. “Insist that they do so, as a mat ter of simple justice," Mr. Green wrote. Attempts to get quick action on pending minimum wage legislation designed to lift the floor under wages in interstate commerce to 65 cents an hour hit a snag when the Senate Labor committee decided Jp postpone further hearings on the measure to Jauary 21. Senator Ellender of Louisiana, who opposes the bill blocked earlier action in a secret commit tee session. The bill would lift the minimum wage to 70 cents after one year and to 75 cents after two years. Thus, it would be of tremendous benefit to millions of workers in the low-income brackets and help to swell purchasing power. FIRST OF AFL RADIO FORUMS BEGINS JANUARY 6 How can Labor-Management relations be im^aved? That is the interesting and constructive topic* of the AFL’s first 1946 radio forum, which will be broadcast Sundajr, January 6 on the NBC's “America United” program. Since some local stations on the network carry the program at later dates, by transcription, consult your local newspaper for the exact time of the broadcast The AFL’s guest on the program will be Assistant Secretary of Labor Dan W. Tracy, who formerly served as president of the Interna tional Brotherhood 'of Electrical Workers. Robert J. Watt will represent the AFL on the discussion panel. Other participants will include representatives of the United States Chamber of .Commerce and the National Farmers Union. This is the first of a series of 13 consecutive weekly broadcasts on “America United” under AFL sponsorship. Listen to them reeularlv! President Vetoes “Rider” Returning USES To States Washington, D. C. — Carrying out the urgent recommendations: of the American Federation of La- j bor, President Truman vetoed a Congressional “rider” which would have forced return of control of the United States Employment Service to the states within 100 days. In his veto message the Presi dent said: “So far as the timing of the transfer is concerned, the period designated by this bill—the next 100 days — is the most disadvan tageous that coud have been chos en. It will result in a disrupted and inefficient employment serv ice at the very time when efficient operation is most vitally needed by veterans, workers, and employers. eeapteymuat offices are now and will be during the next several months, in the midst of the peak work load in their history. This is because the offices are new engaged in coun seling and pacing millions of ap plicants "who require individual ized service. These applicants in clude able-bodied veterans seeking assistance in their readjustment : to civilian life, handicapped veter-' ans requiriig even more time and guidance in finding the jobs most suitable for them, and unemployed war workers who are confronted by difficult readjustments because of substantial reductions in job opportunities at their wartime skills and wage rates. “At such a time, any change in management and direction is nec essarily disruptive to the service. A change which would replace our present single and unified manage ment by ftftjMme separate man agements wood he very hstmfnt. Evwr wkh «wsry effort hg that states to promote a sprooth transi tion, the transfer of some 2.'!,000 employes to new conditions of em T Truman Addresses Nation ASKS PEOPLE TO SPUR CONGRESS INTO ACTION President Truman this week in a fireside chat to the Amer ican people asked them to re quest of Congress immediate action on his proposed legisla tion designed to end America’s industrial warfare and conse quently to set the machinery in motion to begin grinding out a program for providing jobs for every man and wom an in this country who wants to work. Mr. Truman has thrown a reconversion program into the hoppers of Congress and charges the two law-making bodies with indecision in meeting the country’s great and immediate needs. He ex pressed concern over present and threatened industrial dis putes, lack of co-operation be tween Congressional mem bers, industry, labor and farm groups, saying war-end promises had not all been kept. “We cannot shirk leader ship in the postwar world. will not be solve<T tjjr tlmra men, mistrustful of each oth er. We cannot face 1946 in a spirit of drift or irresolu tion,” the President said. 1946 Problems To Be Taken Up By A. F. Of L. Executive Council Miami, Fla.—Legislative prob lems vital to labor's interests will form the principal topics of dis cussion at the annual winter meet ing of the Lxecutive Council of the American Federation of Labor, which opens here January 21. Another question which may come up before the meeting dnd which has aroused wide public in terest is the possible reaffiliation of the United Mine Workers Union with the American Federation of j Labor. No official announcement as to whether this subject will be considered has been forthcoming. First among the legisative is sues confronting the AFL leaders is the Norton-Ellender Bill, based upon a proposal by President Tru-1 man fag the authorization of fact-J finding disputes to prevent strikes and make recommendations for settlement after collective bargain ing has broken down. The already has come out, against this bill on the ground that it infringes the right to strike and ties through court injunctions and damage suits. On the positive side, the AFL Executive Council is expected to press Congress for adoption of full woold lay unions open to penal employment legislation, an unem pioymety compensation bill, mini mum wage legislation and health insurance. Support for the efforts of affili fited unions to obtain wage in cseason unquestioned will be voted and a new organising cam* paign undertaken. MINNEAPOLIS LABOR BURNS TEMPLE MORTGAGE Minneapolis— The mortgage on the Floyd B. Olson Memorial La bor Temple was burned at an en thusiastic celebration in the audi torium when the indebtedness on the building, which was started in 1940, was finally paid off. The event, was celebrated by a carni val jubilee grand ball. WILLIAM GREEN President of the American Federation of Labor, w$u> will pre side ever one of the most important sessions of eentive: council to he held in years. The council and pass upon many matters affecting the work ica, and also the matter of accepting the United era of America back Into the AFL may come The meeting is scheduled to open in Miami on J mmm .A.» Asks Congressional Conferees To Adopt Draft Passed By Senate Washington, D. C.—President Truman continued his fight this week for full employment legislation by asking the con gressional conferees to adopt the draft passed by the Senate with its provision for Federal investments and expenditures to take up any slack in private employment. Tragically the President demand ed of Congress “a declaration of the ultimate duty of government to use its own resources if all oth er methods should fail to prevent unemployment.” The proposition was defeated overwhelmingly in' the House and received Senate ap proval only after several inhibit ing amendments were added. In identical letters to Senator “In my opinion nq bill which provide* substantially less than the Wagner and Representative Man asco of Alabama, as manages* of j the legislation. President Truman asked final passage of the Senate version, explaining that while It modified the langauge of the orig-1 inal bill, it did not rendsre its es-1 sential provisions. Recalling how the ftousc* had sent to conference “a wholly new measure lacking the essential fea tures of the full employment bill as passed by the Senate,” Mr. Truman said be believed many Representativea had supported It “in the belief that the conferees would have an opportunity to re store the essentials of the Senate bill.” the President conferees to iup|J5ct the essential characteristics of the Full Em ployment Bill adopted by the Sen ate ny a vote of 71 to 10. “The essential characteristics of effective legislation to establish a national policy in respects to employment opportunity as I see them, were described In my mes sage to the Congress on Septem ber 6 as follows: ‘“A national reassertion of the right to work for every American* citizen able and willing to work—> a declaration of the ultimate duty of government to use its own re sources if all other methods shdtfci fail to prevent full employment. “ T ask that full employment legislation to provide these vital assurances be speedily enacted.***4 “I hope that the Congress will adopt a (nil substantially in the form passed by the Senate.” Prior to final Senate passage of the measure a provision was in serted under which any program of federal investment and expend^ ture for the fiscal year 1948 or late# while the country was at pea<A “shall be accompanied by a pro gram of taxation designed and cal culated 'to prevent any such C crease in the national debt” othet than a debt incurred Tor seir-uq uidating projects and other rein* bursable expenditures over a •'reasonable” period. The Senate version of the bill, completey stricken by the House hut still befoe the conferees, de clared it to be the responsibility of the federal (government “to v* sure continuing full employment that is, the existence at all times of sufficient employment oppor tunities for all Americans able to work and desiring to work." However, this asserted federal rosponsibiity was modified by oth er language which stipulated that the responsibility should be consis tent with the needs and obligations of the government and other es sential considerations of national policy. The b^l also emphasises the re sponsibility of the federal govern ment to foster free competitive private enterprise and the invest ment of private,capital, and other steps to attain the “full employ ment” goal. The House committee on expen ditures in the Executive Depart ment challenged the whole eon , It sakUt ment never has been and never will he maintained under our sys tem of free competitive enterprise except in wartime under huge defi cits.” TROIAN SIGNS RIG I’N'NRA FUND MEASURE 1 Washington, D. C. — President Tiuman signed the second United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration bill, authorizing appropriation of an additional $1, 350,000,000. The measure stipulates UNRRA spending must end in Europe by December 31, 1046, and in tha Orient by March 31, 1947. I The UNRRA measure cootains a House amendment under which the President is requested to seek free access of American news cor respondents into countries receiv ing aid. The AFL vigorously supported increased appropriations for UNRRA as a humanitarian meas ure. w J Have you paid your subscriptiow to The Labor Journal for the new year? If not send it in today. Plans Being Pusted To Reorganize Vital Labor Department Services Washington, D. C.—The adminis tration has plans ready for ovj hauling its employment, wage bilization and labor conciliation % services. All are under jurisdiction <£ Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach, whose aides havg quietly proceeded with the reoff ganization. 1. The United States Employe ment Service is ready to go aheaA in earnest with placing workers n peace-time jobs and orderly diraos tion of the nation-wide shift in em ployment. Doubt over the employ^ ment office’s future was largely dissipated-by President Truman’^ veto of a bill, which would hav% returned control to the States next April. / 2. The War Labor Board has al most cleared its docket as its lif* expired December 81. It up the National Wage Si tion Board to carry out pro’ of the Stabilisation'Act until next June 30. ' 3. The re-employment end re training administration has begun operating under Maj. Gen. Graves B Erskine. It has tackled the job of co-ordinating Federal employ ment and training services for veterans and war worker* and will work partially through local cen ters. 4. Reorganization of the coaeill- - ation service is nearing completion or paper. Some new men have been made, but this remains one of the biggest jobs to be completed, by Schweilenbach in 1946. The government counts on this service to avert or settle labor-manage ment disputes before they result in work stoppages. 5. Truman has signed the Fed eral Reorganisation Bill passed by Congress and is expected to carry out further consolidation, of labor agencies in the labor department. 'ji Y- - i
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 3, 1946, edition 1
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