tti
A Newspaper Dedicated To Tbp Interests of Charlotio Comtrol labor Union and Affiliated Craft*—Endorsed By North
Carolina Federation of Labor and Approved By The American Federation of Lebor.
Che Charlotte labor Journal
VOL. XV, NO. 52
Published Weekly
(AND DIXIE FAEM NEWS)
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1946
Price 5c Per Copy Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year
AFL SOUTHERN LABOR MEETING OPENS IN
ASHEVILLE TO MAP SOUTH - WIDE CAMPAIGN
Outstanding leaders of the American Federation of Labor,
including most of the Executive Council and International
Presidents, wilfbe on hand at Asheville, North Carolina, Sat*
urday and Sunday (May 11 and 12) for the Third Biennial
Southern Labor Conference.
The conference will he by far the most important ever held
in the South on behalf of labor. Its purposes and achieve*
ments will not only affect every member of the American
Federation of Labor but it will be equally important to every
wage earner in the South. •
The program, as announced by George Googe, Southern
Representative of the American Federation of .Labor,
although subject to change, would indicate that every phase
involving the future of Southern Labor will be thoroughly
discussed and a formal plan of procedure adopted.
Keynote speeches will be given by President William Green,
Secretary-Treasurer George Meany, Director of Organixation
Frank P. Fenton, and Executive Council Vice Presidents
William Hutcheson and John L. Lewis.
Others listed as speakers are
Honorable Wayne Morse, United
States Senator from Oregon, for
mer Vice Chairman of the Na
tional War Labor Board; Honor
able Wilson Wyatt, former Mayor
of Louisville, chairman of the Na
tional Housing Commission; Hon
orable Ralph McGill, editor in
chief of the Atlanta Constitution;
and Gerald D. Reilly, senior mem
ber of the National Labor Rela
tions Board.
Prominent leaden from the Na
tional offices Vf the American
Federation of Labor listed fie
John Frey, president of the Metal
secretary of the Union Label De
partment; Nelson H. Cruikshank,
director of Social Insurance Ac
tivities; and ohn Connors, execu
tive secretary of Worken Educa
tional Bureau.
Michael Widman, director of
Organisation for District 60, Unit
ed Mine Worken of America will
be a principal speaker on Saturday
afternoon’s program.
The conference will be well ad
vertised throughout the nation.
Twice on Saturday proceedings
will be broadcast to the entire
country. The Columbia chain will
broadcast on Saturday afternoon
from 2:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the
United America program. Speak
en on a round table discussion
will be Moderator Phillip Pearl,
President Green, Mr. Googe and
two delegates to be chosen at the
conference. President Green’s prin
cipal address will be given on Sat
urday night at 6:46 p.m. over the
nation-wide National Broadcasting
aynem.
The Conference will open Satur
day morning at 8 o’clock with the
registering of delegates and the
issuance of badges. It will convene
promptly at 10 o’clock with the
opening address by James F. Bar
rett of the Asheville Central Labor
Union. There will be addresses of
welcome by Major L. Lyons Lee,
Mayor of Asheville; R. R. Wil
liams, president of the Junior
~ Chamber of Commerce; and C. A.
Fink, president of North Carolina
State Federation of Labor. The
opening invocation will be by the
Rev. Arthur W. Farnum, Rector
of St. Mary’s church and chaplain
of the Central Labor Union for the
last lb years.
Dr. Ellis Fuller, president of
the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky,
will deliver the devotional sermon
at the opening of the Sunday
morning session. In addition there
will be Gospel singing by the Gos
pel Singers from the Birmingham
Laundry Workers Local Union.
In a final message to all State
Federations, Central Labor Unions
and all local unions, Mr. Googe
stresses the importance of each
group bringing as many delegates
as possible to Asheville.
“Our members in the South can
not afford to miss a single ses
sion,’* Mr. Googe emphasized. “The
growth of the American Federa
tion of Labor from a few hundred
thousand |lo neatly two mf lion'
within the past ten years is the
best indication that we cannot re
lax our efforts at this time. 1
think there are about 1,000,000 ad
ditional workers in the South who
are potential members of the
American Federation of Labor if
We properly present the benefits
of strong, militant trade unionism.
“Within the pass several weeks
the CIO, in seder to further Ha po
litical program, has decided to go
after the scalps of the rspssase
tattoos we hare elected to repre
sent ns to Washington 1 think
too fate of tear ngweSeaUtioss
should be left ip the hands of the
7^SETrf"aktoe
Communist party.
‘These political manipulators,
who wish to undermine oar pres
ent American form of geeenuaeat
as well as life, are catling their
invasion of the Southland a "Holy
Crusade.” The last tints the Com
munist party entered upon a "Holy
Crusade” was when Russia entered
the side of the Allies during War id
War Two. Previous to that the
Communist loaders of the CIO dia
all they could to hamper our Unit
ed States of America’s participa
tion in the war which they termed
a “Capitalistic War.” They hin
dered production, they picketed the
White House and they refused to
enter our armed forces. Then over
night they embarked on the “Holy
Crusade” with Russia’s advent invo
the hostilities. Today they are on
another, this time to wreck the
labor movement, to wipe away
Southern idustry, to regiment Ire
the entire country, to place politi
cal control of the Nation in the
hands of a few ambitious men
whose first loyalties are to a for
eign government.
“The Labor movement, which is
the American Federation of Labor
in the South cannot stand idly by
while they attemptt his. To date
they have been unable to make
appreciable gains and they won't
in the future if we all unite to do
our share. Let labor organisations
represent workers in the field of
wages, hours and working condi
tions, and keep collective bargain
ing and freedom of enterprise upon
their present levels. Permit our
members to vote as their conscien
ces dictate, create no class war
fare, and hasten industrial activi
ties in thsi time of reconversion
it, order that Unon and Manage
ment co-operate for our mutual
welfare.”
ILGWU PLEDGES *100,000
FOR SCHOOL IN PALESTINE
New York City—A pledge et
*100,000 to thy Federation of La
bor Unions in Palestine for con
struction of a vocational school in
Haifa, Palestine, has been ssade by
the International Ladies’ Garment
Workers (AFL), David Dubinsky,
ILGWU president, announced.
Unions in Palestine have agreed
to raise an additional $140,000 to
meet the total cost of the project.
The Haifa vocational school is the
fourth overseas enterprise of this
kind undertaken by the ILGWU.
A.F.L. Officials Pledge Co-operation
President Creen
Secretary Meaney
of Labor effktela km W*
Aaheville Saturday
tbo imtiuUmI wo,
■ Ml to right: William Groan,
who will ha tha directing hood
tmerfega Federation of Ubar.
Ulamf toward making the Southern Labor
May 11 and 13, a huge aecceaa. At tkia meeting
_ in awry city, village and hamlet in Dixie and
Aahevihe will ho ddjbgfd for hotel reoervatioaa for tha gathering.
ant of it American Federation; George Lb Googe, aenth
aaoeati director, who will be the directing head of the ana
iML
t
J«SS?I£iSFSS
broadcast each Saturday at 8:45
y-, Eastern Tima, over tha na
tion-wide Columbia Broadcasting
System, art listed below (or the in
formation of trade unionists every
where so that they can make ad
vene- plane to tone in:
May 11—Printing Trades. John
B. Haggerty, president of the In
ternational Allied Printing Trades
Association; and Oscar White
house, secretary of the union em
ployers of the Printing Industry of
America, will talk from a printing
plant in Washington, D. C.
May 18 — Garment Workers.
Members at the International La
dies Garment Workers Union will
tell a graphic story of how union
oiganisatioa has benefited workers
in the industry.
May 25—Report from the South.
George Googe, AFL Regional Di
rector, and David Lilienthal, TV A
chairman, will describe the ad
vances Won by AFL organisation
of Southern workers.
CONCILIATOR’S BOX SCORE
Washington, D. C. — A “box
score” presented by Edgar L. War- ;
ren, chief of the U. S. Conciliation
Service, shows that nearly 90 per
cent of the nation’s labor disputes
submitted to conciliators wind up
in settlements.
In 448 of the 524 cases where
strike votes had been taken in
March, the report declated.
- •
JOHN L. LEWIS
President of the United Min*
Workers el America, and aa AFL
vice president. Mr. Lewis will at*
tend the Baathsra Laker Confer
ence meeting la Asheville Map 11*
12 sad addrsss the gathering.
Presents
• • 9
of the Ni
Office Clerks; Mrs. Banks Heff
aer, secretary sf the Aasertcaa Fed
eration sf Gswiant Eaflsfo,
and Jerome Keating, assistant sec
retary of tbs Natieafe! Letter Car
Hen* Association. APL leaden
representing a quarter ml a million
AFL members, iaterriewed at
Washington. D. C. by Dwight
Cooke. CBS eommeetater).
Problems of Federal government
employes, their straggle through
the war period and aacertalnties
in meeting postwar conditions
were placed before the country in
the third of a aeries of radio pro
grams entitled “Cross Section—
AFL" over the Columbia Broad
casting System.
Firat to be interviewed by Cooke
in the round-table discussion, Mrs.
Heffner emphasised that the three
unions represented before the mi
crophone are made up Solely of
men and women whose employer is
the people of the United States.
"Uncle Sam should be the model
employer,” she added. "He should
set the pace for wages in industry.
We can’t say that he is the model
employer he should be.”
Mrs. Heffner pointed out that,
though her union has 42,000 mem
bers scattered over the United
States and its possessions, of whom
60 per cent are women, the aver
age wage for the typical American
girl is $33 a week.
“Taking out fixed charges, in
cluding taxes," she said, “she is left
with about <25, and out of this she
must pay her board and room,
transportation, church donations,
amusements and also her noon
lunches.”
Mrs. Heffner urged strong sup
port for pending legislation which
would increase the wages of her
group and the postal workers.
George, discussing problems of
postal workers, exproaaod hope that
Congress will approve ponding leg
islation to aid this group in its
fight for a wage increase.
“Our bill, as passed by the
House,” he said, “provides an in
crease of <400 * >'®»r P0*1*1
workers. That’s to asset the in
creased cost of living and to make
up for the loss in take-home pay
caused by the elimination of over
time. The average pay now is
around <2,400 a year.”
George told Cooke the Senate
favorably and that ha hopaa wou
to sea it enacted.
Keating, explaining the handi
cap* under which latter carrier*
are obliged to work, pointed out
that mail hags, when filled, weigh
up to 50 pounds and are carted on
foot over routes as long as 20
miles in rain, snow or blistering
heat.
“A pair of shoes will probably
last a carrier two weeks,” he aaid.
“Happily, the OPA recognised our
difficulty and let us have the ration
stamps we needed for extra shoes.
One thing that has always im
pressed me in the government
service is that our people are im
bued with the idea of giving serv
ice—it’* fundamental in the gov
ernment.”
All three speakers made it plain
to their listeners that they are
obliged to turn to Congress for
their raises “because we are work
ing for the government, which
means the people, and can’t strike
like other unions” to enforce wage
demands.
As Ceorge summed up:
“Wages in private industry have
been rising steadily since 1936. We
had no increase in 2D years until
last year, and even if we got this
increase approved by the House
and a Senate commitee, we’ll still
be far behind in the parade as far
as wages are concerned. And I
would like to say that the Ameri
can Federation of Labor is 100
per cent behind us in this effort.”
MINE OWNERS SCARED
^ BY AFL BROADCAST
Washington, D. C.—So effective
did the April 27 “Croat Section—
A FL” radio program prove in pre
senting the coal miners' case for a
health and welfare fund that the
coal operators demanded and ob
tained equal time from the Colum
bia Broadcasting System to offer
a reply.
The program, broadcast from
Charleston, W. Va., was largely
made up of the true life stories of
victims of coal mine accidents and
their widows.
Since the AFL’s May 4 time *as
turned over to the coal operators
for their reply, the neat "Cross
Section—AFL" program, dealing
with the printing trades, was post
poned until May II.
Washington, D. C.—The Executive Council plans to mobil
me the fuH strength of the American Federation of Labor in
support of the southern organizing drive at its Spring meet*
ing here beginning May 15.
Pushing toward a goal of a million new members within
the coming year, the Executive Council is expected to call
upon all affiliated unions to assign additional organizers to
southern cities and have them work as a team with the AFL’s
own increased staff in that field.
Many members of the Executive Council wiH attend the
Southern Labor Conference in Asheville. N. C., May 11 and
12, when they will have an opportunity to study ail phases
of the program to be adopted there by delegates representing
1,800,000 AFL workers in 12 southern states.
On their return to Washington from Asheville, the Execu
tive Council is scheduled to get down to work immediately
on implementing the southern drive.
many otner important matter*
are due to come up for considera
tion at the council meeting.
The political policy to be fol
lowed by the AFL in the 1946 con
gressional elections will be drafted
by the Executive Council with the
objective of electing members of
Congress favorable to labor’s leg
islative aims.
Decisions will be made by the
council on outstanding legislation
now pending in Congress and also
on go varment policies affecting
labor.
It is expected that the Executive
Council will seek to rally nation
wide support for the adoption by
the House of the long-range Wag
—Hu whig bill an
passed by the Senate. Particularly,
a fight will have to be made to
{revail
ing wage amendment, which re
quires the payment of prevailing
wages on FHA-financod construc
tion.
The council also will be asked
by President William Green to act
for the continuation of price con
trols, without the crippling amend*
ments adopted by the House.
If the OPA is not continued, the
cost of living may shoot up as
much as 60 per cent within a few
months, thuSiriping out the pur
chasing power of the wage-earn
ers’ dollar and nullifying the pay
gains won by labor since the war
ended.
Failure of Congress to act
promptly for the lifting of mini
mum wage levels will probably
draw a stiff rebuke from the ex
ecutive Council, which has con
sistently advocated such legisla
tion in order to lift the nations’
vtindAnb*
Another vigorous denunciation
of antilabor legislation such as the
will le voiced by the Executive
Council which const d e r s such
mores hostile to the best interests
of American democracy.
Besides legislative matters, the
Executive Council will consider the
trend of court decisions affecting
labor and draft programs for ex
tended labor aid to returning vet
erans.
Green Asks Senate to
Restore OPA Control
Washington, D. C. — AFL
President William Green
forcefully appealed to the U.
S. Senate to protect the earn
ings of the nation’s workers
from conscienceless profiteer
ing by extending OPA for
Another year without crip
pling amendments.
Denouncing the action of
the House in approving
amendments sponsored by the
“price control death-lobby,”
Mr. Green told the Senate
Banking and Currency com
mittee :
“I plead with the Senate to
reject these amendments
promptly and unhesitantly.
Hesitation will only breed
chaos. Delay will only multi
ply confusion.
“Every day of postponement of
the decision will help the profiteer
and hearten the speculator. If the
Senate defers its final decision un
til £he last minute, it may be too
late—Congress will already have
embarked the nation upon a jour
ney into economic chaos.”
Declaring he spoke for 25,000,000
Americans—the 7,000,000 members
of the AFL and their families —
Mr. Green painted a frightening
picture of what may happen to
wage earners if price control is
suddenly tossed out the window.
“Experience with the removal of
price controls to date is replete
with examples of what would hap
pen if the Congress legislated OPA
out of existence now,” he said.
“There are dozens of items already
decontrolled on which prices have
jumped as much as 100 per cent in
a matter of days. „
“If the lid is taken off prema
» * i -
turely, this upward movement
would be widespread and the cost
of living would swiftly rise. That
rise America cannot afford and
Congress must not permit.”
Mr. Green emphasised that the
AFL does not favor permanent
price controls. But the termina
tion of controls must be an “or
derly demobilization, not a hap
hazard stampde,” he insisted. He
warned that OPA has been moving
too fast in relaxing controls, citing
the fact that it has granted 200 in
dustry-wide increases since V-E
Day in order to spur production
and has allowed price adjustments
to 20,000 business firms.
The “most dangerous” amend
ment passed by the House, Mr.
Green declared, was the Gossett
decontrol amendment which would
compel lifting of price controls on
the basis of a production formula
which would automatically kill
ceilings on half the entire list of
consumer items.
A second, “cost - plus - profit”
amendment ,Mr. Green said, would
wreck price control and guarantee
high profits to manufacturers on
every article they produced. The
red tape involved in trying to de
termine what would constitute a
“reasonable profit,” he warned,
would completely paralyze OPA.
Mr. Green launched a vigorous
attack on still another amendment
designed to liquidate subsidies on
meats, dairy products, flour and
certain canned vegetables. This is
a deliberate attempt to force a
sharp boost in the cost of living, he
charged. Subsidies should be ter
minated as soon as conditions per
(Please Tara to Page 4)
1