VOL. XV; NO. 36
m Caarlottr labor Journal
(AND DIXIE FAUM NEWS)
• A
A Newspaper Dedicated To The Interests of Charlotte Central Labor Union and Affiliated Crafts—Endorsed Up North
Carolina Federation of Labor and Approved Up The American' Federation of Labor.
Publishd Weekly
CHARLOTTE. N. C., THURSDAY. JANUARY 17. 1916
Price 5c Per Copy Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year
AFL Backs Drive To Bring GIs Home From Overseas
* * * ¥ * * * * ¥ * ★ ★ ★ ★
Truman Praises AFL Record In Keeping Down Strikes
Green Warns War Dep’t To Speed
Up Discharges Or Face Censure
Washington, D. C.—The American Federation of Labor
joined the drive of overseas veterans to get home more
quickly than the confused policies of the War department
permit,
AFL President William Green, responding to appeals from
large groups of GIs stationed in the Pacific and in Europe,
warned the War department that unless it speeds up its de
mobiliation program Congress will order it to do so.
Confirming Mr. Geeen’s prediction, the Senate Military
Affairs committee ordered an immediate investigation of
the stuation and summoned Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, Army
chief of staff, as its first witness.
Mr. Green called upon the War department to reduce the
size of American occupation forces abroad to the lowest pos
sible figure consistent with safety and to speed the return of i
surplus troops eligible for discharge.
Mr. Green revealed receipt of a
radiogram from 7,500 AFL mem
bers stationed in Manila asking
the American Federation of Labor
to assist in the fight to speed de
mobilization. Another message
was received from a GI group in
Manila charging that the “unwar
ranted and drastic revisions of the
demobilization program announced
by the War Department January
5” constitute a “complete break
ing of faith with army pmmmmL"’
“Lack of shipping is no longer
a feasible excuse for slow demob
ilization,” said the message. “It
is obvious that the ancient argu
ment of military necessity is being
foisted upon the public and Con
gress.”
Responding to these appeals,
Mr. Green declared:
“Now that the war is over, there
can be no justification for main
taining our armed forces at an
excessively large figure. The
American Federation of Labor is
aware of the fact that the United
States will have to keep occupa
tion forces in Germany and Japan
for an indefinite period. These
are conquered and presumably
hostile. But the same considera
tions certainly do not apply to the
Philippines and France, where
many thousands of American
troops are still stationed. Let's
bring them home at once.
“The War Department has not
lived up to its promises to the
servicemen. They have lost con
fidence in the sincerity of ita ex
pressed policy of rapid demobili
zation. Their morale is shaken.
“The American people here at
home are in no mood to tolerate
such a state of affairs. Unless the
War Department promptly im
proves and speeds up ts demobili
zation program, it may find itself
in the position of receiving orders
from Congress to do so.”
I AFL RADIO FORUM HITS
FACT-FINDING PROPOSAL
Washington, D. C. — The
AFL inaugurated its 1946 radio
forum series over NBC’s
“America United” program
with a highly interesting and
informative discussion on “How
Can Labor-Management Rela
tions Be Improved?”
Representatives of the AFL,
U. S. Chamber of Commerce
■ and National Farmers Union
agreed that the President’s
fact-finding proposal won’t do
the trick; nor will any other
new legislation by Congress to
regulate labor-management re
lations. They came to the con
clusion that the only real so
lution is sincere collective bar
gaining and an effort by labor
and management leaders to
come together on basic poli
cies.
Robert J. Watt spoke for the
AFL, Thomas W. Howard for
the Chamber of Commerce, and
Russell Smith for the National
Farmers union.
GREEN URGES DONATIONS
TO CLOTHING COLLECTION
.Washington, D. C.—AFL Presi
dent William Green appealed to
al AFL members in a Christmas
message to support t the Victory
Clothing Drive which is trying to
collect 100 million new and old
garments for distribution among
the millions of destitute war vic
tims of Europe and Asia. He
also urged that each donor write
a letter with his gift.
“Your help,” Mr. Green said,
“will again demonstrate very
deary the deep-rooted desire of
AFL men and women to strength
en the fraternal bonds between
themselves and the working men
and women all over the world.”
-.-*
Job Picture Less Serious
Than Expected On V-JDay
Washington, D. C.—A. F. Hin
richs, acting Commissioner of La
bor Statistics, said that unemploy
ment is far less serious than was
expected before V-J day, but that
production in many lines is pick
ing up “only slowly”.
Expansion in 1946, he declared,
would be stimulated by construc
tion mainly of residential building
and by increases in business in
vestment and in the flow of con
sumer durable goods.
Delays in reconversion he
ascribed chiefly to business cau
tion, saying that neither strikes nor
lack of interest in current sales
on the part of businessmen subject
to excess profit taxes in 1946 op
erated as more than minor factors.
Other points in the survey were:
1— New jobs will develop some
what more slowly than men are
demobilized.
2— It is almost certain that un
employment in the spring will not
even spproximnte the 8,000,000
figure that “is still frequently
quoted”.
3— Employment in the durable
goods industries was much better
sustained after V-J day than any
one had any right to hope it would j
be.
4— Labor turnover figures in
dicate that workers are not afraid
to quit a job.
6—There are comparatively few
centers in which unemployment is
a serious problem today.
6—There is no evidence of a
general surplus of workers, the
pickup of employment being dis
couragingly small in industries
like textiles, apparel, boots and
shoes and the building materials
industry, earning opportunities in
these industries being unattractive
to workers laid off from munitions
factories.
The AFL Presents.
“AMERICA UNITED**
At 1:15 P.M., EWT. Over NBC
Date
Jan. 20
Jan. 27
Fet. 3
Feb. 10
Topic
Problems of Gov’t Workers
America’s Housing Emergency
Nedd for Health Insurance
Long-Range Home Plans
Panel Members
James B. Bums, AFL
Rep. Biemiller, Wis.
Russell Smith, National Farmers Union
Boris Shishkin, AFL
Wilson Wyatt, Housing Expediter
F. S. Fitzpatrick, U. S. Chamber of Commerce
Nelson Cruikshank, AFL
Senator Pepper, of Florida
Russell Smith, 'National Farmers Union
Boris Shishkin, AFL
Senator Wagner, of New York
Russell Smith, National Farmers Union
•*>/
New Wage Board Appointed
As NWLB Ceases To Exist
Washington, D. C.—President
Tru-nan issued an executive or- i
der terminating the National
War Labor Board and creating
a National Wage Stabilization
board to pick up the tangled
threads left by the former body.
The President named the fol
• !r . members to take over:
Public—W. Willard Wirtz,
former general counsel of the
WLB, and Sylvester Garrett, for
mer chairman of the Philadel
phia Regional board.
Labor—Robert J. Watt of the
American Federation of Labor and
Carl J. Shipley of the CIO.
Industry—Earl Cannon, vice j
president of the American Truck
ing association, and R. Randall Ir
win, assistant to the president of
the Lockheed Aviation corporation.
Mr. Wirtz, who was named chair
man of the board, said it would
soon make public detailed stand
ards applying to conditions under
which wages may be increased or
decreased in accordance with gov
ernment stabilization policy.
The board will determine whether
wage increases requested may be
used as a basis for seeking price
relief. One branch of the board
will continue to administer con
trols over wage adjustments in the
building industry which also con
tinue to require advance approval.
The new agent? has no author
ity to settle any labor-management
disputes.
President Truman accepted the
resignation of 21 men who have
served with the WLB, and in doing
so, wrote Chairman Garrison a let
ter of appreciation for their serv
ices and for the whole personnel
of the WLB. The Chief Executive
extended his “thanks for the out
standing wartime job they have
done in the last four years, under
the most difficult circumstances,
in helping to maintain industrial
peace, maximum production and,
wage stabilisation.’’
He said that the board members
and the WLB personnel had “earn
ed and thoroughly deserve the
gratitude of their fellow citisens.”
Chairman Garrison also praised
the record of the WLB in a report
to the President.
“The board has had its short
comings, he readily admitted. It
has made mistakes. Its tripartite
procedures have been at times dis
appointingly slow. He added:
“But all things considered, I sub
mit to you, Mr. President, that the
board has served the country well
and that from its experiments much
haa been gained and much can be
learned.”
At a news conference, Mr. Gar
rison revealed that the board had
a record of dealing with nearly
20.000 disputes.
Mr. Garrison said that before
V-J day the body had disposed of
17,807 disputes involving about
12.300.000 workers.
On V-J day there were pending
3,042 disputes, most of which were
disposed of before the WLB closed
up shop.
“With very few exceptions, em
ployers and unions voluntarily
complied with the board decisions
and vigorously supported the war
time no-strike, no lockout agree
ment on whose foundations the
board was set up,” Mr. Garrison
said.
Charlotte Applies For
Housing Assistance
It appears likely that relief, to
some degree, will soon be had in
Charlotte’s acute housing short
age, for the City Council this week
gave permission for submission of
an application for government as
sistance, this having been pre
pared some time ago by Harold J.
Dilleay, executive director of the
Charlotte Housing Authority.
Through this appication the city
is seeking to take advantage of
provisions of the Mead Bill, which
provides relief or temporary
dwelling facilities in areas of acute
housing shortage. The fund, if
granted, will be used to pay for
dismantling, rererection, etc., of
surplus housing and for re-con
verting' barracks buildings into
family dwelling units.
City officias do not think that
sufficient funds can be obtained
from the Federal Government to
do the whole job at Morris Field.
For this reason, a conference was
held Wednesday at City Hall by
City Manager Flack, Councilman
Henry Newson and Coleman W.
Roberts, chairman of the Citixens
Emergency Housing Committee.
Mr. Roberts was informed of
the City’s plans and was asked if
his committee would undertake to
raise the money to complete the
reconversion of Morris Field bar
racks after whatever funds the
(Continued on Page 3)
Ford Hits Laws To Ban Strikes
Detroit—Henry Ford, 2d, youth
ful president of the Ford Motor
Company, called for industrial
statesmanship — by both manage
ment and labor to eliminate indus
trial strife without "impairing or
diminishing the rights which both
management and labor must con
tinue to enjoy.”
In liberal vein, Ford said solu
tion of the problem of human re
lations in industry would lower
coats to consumers and help make
the nation prosperous. He insisted
the solution can be found through
closer understanding between man
agement and labor.
“We cannot expect legislation to
solve our problems,” he said.
“Laws which seek to force large
groups of Americana to do what
they believe is unfair and against
their best interests, are not likely
to succeed In fact, such legisla-,
tion can lead to exaggeration of
the very problem it is designed to
solve. And when free men give
up the task of trying to get along
with each other, and pass the buck
to government, they surrender a
substantial measure of their free
dom.” >
i
DU BRUYNE NAMED
IISES DIRECTOR
Raleigh— Robert M. du Bruyne,
chief of placement and actually
State director of the United State*
Employment Service in North Car
olina during the period while it
was under the War Manpower
Commission, headed by Dr. J. S.
Dorton, has been named acting
State director of the USES by Re
giona Director Henry E. Treide
and has assumed the duties since
the resignation of Dr. Dorton be
came effective November 30.
Mr. du Bruyne’s appointment is
subject to the expected return of
Major R. Mayne Albright, on mili
tary leave and just back in Ra
leigh on terminal leave from 28
months with AMG in Italy, to his
post as State director, probably
early in 1946. ,
With a background of eight
years in employment service work,
Mr. du Bruyne will continue to
carry on independently work he
has done many months under di
rection of Dr. Dorton. He has func
tioned as chief of placement, as
sistant director and director since
coming to the State office August
16, 1943. Previously he had been
area supervisor in the North
Piedmont area, manager of the
High Point, Fayetteville and Le
noir local employment offices. He
joined the State UCC December
16, 1937, as claims interviewer at
Rockingham and served almost a
year as field investigator in Ashe
ville.
Mr. du Bruyne resided at
Morganton for a; decade, serving
(Continued oa Page S)
Green Reports Only Tiny Fraction
Of AFL Members Have Quit Work
Washington, l). C.—AFL President William Green report
d to President Truman at a White House conference on Jan
uary 11 that only a fraction of one per cent of the 7,000,000
members of he American Federation of labor were out on
strike.
President Truman, Mr. Green told newsmen later, said he
was conscious of the fact that not many* AFL unions were
engaged in strikes and thanked Mr. Green for backing up the
nation's reconversion program.
The newspapers, apparently intent on playing up strike
news in scare headlines, ignored for the most part Mr.
Green’s highly constructive report, copies of which were
made available to the daily press.
In the re|x>rt, Mr. Green emphasized that AFL unions
were obtaining wage increases for their members through
collective bargaining with employers and challenged claims
that collective bargaining has broken down in America.
The text of his report to the President follows:
GREEN URGES MEM BESS
MAINTAIN BOND PLANS
Washington, I). C. — AFL
Prt'.sident William Green issued
an appeal to all AFL workers
to continue purchasing Victory
Bonds under the pay roll sav
ings plan.
Mr. Green said in a letter to
all affiliated unions that he
had discussed the matter with
1 Secretary of the Treasury Vin
son who expressed the hope
that AFL members will not
abandon pay roll savings plans
in peacetime.
Secretary Vinson praised the
leading part which AFL offi
cers and members played in
the successful outcome of the
Treasury's war finance pro
gram.
PROMOTION OF
SAFETY URGED
Chicago — “Promotion of safety
should bo as definite an objective
of labor as wages and working
conditions,” said Ned H. Dearborn,
president of the National Safety
Council, recently.
As guest speaker on “Labor,
U S. A.," the American Federa
tion of Labor’s ABC broadcast, Mr.
Dearborn said more Americans
have been killed by accidents since
Pearl Harbor than were killed by
the armed forces of Germany and
Japan—355,000 as compared to
261,608.
“This squandering of lives at
home is as unnecessary as it is
tragic,” declared Mr. Dearborn.
“Labor, management and profes
sional safety people must co-ordi
nate their efforts to apply our
knowledge of accident preven
tion. Safe working environments
must be supplemented by an end
(Contiaued on Page 3)
As of this date, only a fraction
of one per cent of the membership
of the American Federation of La
bor and its affiliated unions is on
strike. Out of a total of close to
7,000,000 members, only about 40,
000 have quit work as the result of
disputes. The figure is approxi
mate, byt it is the most accurate
we can obtain from our own
sources and from the Department
of Labor.
“That is not an excessive strike
total for the largest labor organi
zation ike nation, it im not
more than can be expected even
in normal times in a free country
where the right to strike is a fun
damental part of the law of the
land.
"Nor are the comparatively few
current strikes by American Fed
eration of Labor unions dangerous
to the nation’s reconversion pro
gram. For the most part, they are
small and scattered shutdown#.
"Mr. President, the members
of the American Federation of La
bor are busy—working.
“In every part of the nation
they are bargaining collectively
with their employers, seeking their
goals in an intelligent and reason
able way. They want wage rate
increases and need such increases
because their takehome pay has
been sharply cut since the war
ended and living costa are still
climbing.
“Through collective bargaining
new agreements and new contracts
are being negotiated and signed
every day by American Federation
of Labor unions and employers.
“Those who assert that collec
tive bargaining has broken down
don’t know what is going on in
America. On the contrary, collec
tive bargaining is functioning suc
cessfully wherever it is put into
practice sincerely.
“Unfortunately, strikes make
the headlines while agreements are
not considered news. For this rea
son, a large part of the public may
gain the impression that labor
(Continued on Page 3)
McCarren Seeks Action On
30-Hour Week Proposal
Washington, D. C.—Senator Mc
Carren of Nevada said he intends
to press for a complete congres
sional study of proposed 30-hour
work-week legislation for govern
ment employees after Congress re
turns to Washington.
McCarren’s proposed bill, intro
duced in early September, would
retain the five-day work week now
in force in the government service,
but it would cut the working day
from 8 to 6 hours.
Although aimed specifically at
Civil Service personnel, its goal
is to provide a precedent for in
dustry in general to cut working
hours so as to open up more jobs
when and if unemployment looms
as a national problem. Labor or
*
ganizationx have widely indorsed
“Right now, of course, th'ere is
no great demand for a general 30
hour work week in view of the fact
that the country still lacks man
power to fill all available jobs. But
the time is coming when this will
be the only course we can take,
and before that time comes, I want
Congress to have obtained all pos
sible information on the subject,”
the senator said.
McCarren said he had been prom
ised hearings by Senator Downey
of California, chairman of the
Civil Service committee to which
his bill was referred, and added
he feels sessions should be held
“from time to time” during the
year.