Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / May 30, 1946, edition 1 / Page 1
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Che Charlotte labor Journal (AND DIXIE FARM NEWS) A Nnet paper Dedicated To The tntareet, of Charlotte Central Labor Union and AtUiated Cratte-Bndoreed By North Carolina Federation of Labor and Approved By The American Federation of Labor. VOL. XVI; NO. 3 i ^CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THUR8DA Y. MAY 3«. 1»4« SubscriDtion Prir# *2.00 P*r Y Washington, Juno 1-—Aftci Senate today passed a modi! Truman’s emergency labor pn minus the draft-labor provide era have called the big dub of Much-Changed The Senate then sent the legis lation back to the House hot in quite different form than the oth er chamber whipped through by a 800 to 18 vote just a week ago after listening to Mr. Truman's personal plea for authority to draft those who strike when the Government seizes an industry. Besides this draft clause, the Senate also stripped from the measure a provision which would have denied seniority rights to strikers in seized industries and "just compensation” to plant own-: ers whose property was taken over. This left in the measure a provision arming the Presi dent with seizure authority similar to that he now has under the wartime Smith Connally Act. After seizure he could adjust wages and working conditions, an au thority the Senate upheld by a 54 to 28 vote. Union leaders also would be re quired to take “affirmative ac tion” to call off a strike, with penalties of $5,000 fine or a year’s imprisonment for violation of this section. No-Strike Ban As approved by the Senate, the bill likewise would permit the At torney General to seek injunctions to enforce the no-strike ban, a provision some Senators said would authorize imprisonment of those who violate court orders. The Senate beat off, 61 to 19, an attempt to tsrip this power from the bill. -employees who refused to to attempt to strip this power from turn to work after the Govern ment took over would lose their bargaining rights under the Wag ner Act and the Railway Labor Act. Profits of Government operation would be turned to the Treasury, with owners being as sured of fair compensation under constitution provisions. The Senate voted to make the i bill effective until June 30, 1947,! with Congress or the President terminating it soonor if either ut- j I While Administration lien* tenants said they thought the measure would be at least ac ceptable, if not satisfactory, to President Truman in this 1 form, the Mouse contemplated no move on it until next Thursday at the earliest. Con sideration of all controversial legislation is off in the House until then. The Senate asked that the bill go to a ! Senate-House committee for settlement of differences. The general feeling among House members was that the Sen- j ate had left them out on a limb | by slashing off the strike-draft section they had approved so over whelmingly. Mixed with this was a desire among many House members to have Mr. Truman act on the Case Bill, which officially went to him -yesterday, before they decided what to do finally about the emer gency legislation. By unofficial count the President has till mid night June 12 to veto or approve the latter bill or let it become law without his signature. Case Bill Doomed Best guess among Administra tion leaders was that Mr. Truman will veto the Case Bill, which pro vides mediation machinery, makes unions subject to contract viola tions suit, baps secondary boycotts and outlaws racketeers violence. Senators who have called on him recently to urge that he sign it said they came away without any promises of this nature. A Presidential veto almost '' certainly would kill the Cass Bill, since its supporters ap parently lack the two-thirds in the Senate to override and have only a bars chance of rallying that many Hackers in the House. f a wwl cf bitter Mat* the M wrahn of the President ►gram, by a rote of 61 to 20, n, which administration lead* the program. The only labor legislation then left would be the President’s emer fencjr bill, which a Senate-House conference committee could be ex pected to patch up and resubmit to the two bodies for their final approval. Ia this process, there appeared little likelihood that the Senate would reverse the 70 to IS vote-by which it killed the strike-draft provision last Wednesday. When all the battling was over, there was a round of exchanges over just what was the effect of the bill the Senate had brought to passage. Senator Pepper, Democrat, Flor ida, declared that “for the first time the Congress has chosen to make it unlawful for one indi vidual to quit work if the Govern ment is operating a plant where he is employed." Senator George, Democrat, Geor gia, and O’Mahoney, Democrat, Wyoming, violently disagreed. “The declaration by the Florida Senator is completely and utterly without founda dation,” O’Mahoney asserted. George called it "grossly un fair” But Pepper stuck to that inter pretation. He contended an in junction could be insured against one man for not returning to work after a strike. George and O’Mahoney argued the stoppage must be the result of “concerted action” with other workers. Senator Morse, Republican, Ore gon, closed the early morning de bate by shouting; ,„“Thank God for the Supreme Court, i think this act is clearly unconstitutional.” COMPANIES, FOUND CHISEL ING ON WAGES, ARE FINED Wahington, D. C.—Chiseling on wages is still widespread despite vigorous efforts by the govern ment to discourage the practice, L. Metcalfe Walling, administrator of the Wage-Hour and Walsh-Hea ley Acts, revealed in a report. In the nine-months period end ing April 1, Mr. Walling an nounced, more than 15,000 firms were required to repay 212,000 employes more than $15,000,000 in wages which had been withheld il legally. In all, 30,000 concerns were In spected during that period. Some were selected for a checkup be cause of complaints lodged against them, while others were picked be cause conditions are bad in the industries of which they are a part. One of- every two inspected establishments was found to be a law violator, Walling pointed out. Some chiseling on the Wage Hour Act, which calls for a 40-cent minimum wage and time and a half pay for .overtime after 40 hours in industries engaged in in terstate commerce, and which pro hibits use of child labor. Others “cheated” on the Walsh Healey Act, which requires pay ment of prevailing local wages In plants producing materials under contract for the government. Still others violated both laws. Many fleeced their employes out of even the 40-cent minimum. Also, 121 firms, Walling said, were found to have falsified their records to cover up their crooked ness. ARCHITECTS, DRAFTSMEN TRANSFER TO NEW OFFICES Washington, D. C.—The Interna tional Federation of Technical En gineers, Architects and Drafts men's Unions (AFL) has moved from the AFL building here to its new headquarters, Room 726, at 900 F street N. W., Washington 4, D. C. Foster J. Pratt is inter national president. Charlotte Unions C ondemn Case Rill; Truman Labor Proposal Also Scored AFL Policy Board Set Up; Googe Is Chairman Atlanta, Ga.. May 30.—(Special)—-George L. Googe, South* ern representative of the American Federation of Labor, and a group of 40 representative leaders, all of whom are native Southerners, have been appointed by the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor to the Southern Cam paign Policy Board, according to an announcement by Presi dent William Green. Mr. Googe was named chairman. The new policy board will meet in Atlanta on June 3, 4 and 5 for the first time. Details of policy as adopted by the Southern Labor Conference at Asheville and since approved in entirety by the Executive Council will be discussed and augmented while actual plans for the welcoming of an addi tional 1,600.000 new members into the American Federation of Labor within the next year are worked out. This statement was releasee! by the Executive Council following its recent m'^ing in Washington. “’The Executive Cotmcil gives its unanimous approval to the plans now underway for an extensive organizing campaign by the Amer ican Federation of Labor in the South. “Our mission as a labor organ ization is to organize the unorgan ized workers of the nation and to raise their working and living standards. There is no section of the nation which needs organiza tion more acutely than the South. We believe that the success of our organizing efforts will prove bene ficial not only to Southern work ers, but also to Southern indus try and agriculture. “Tl\p projected Southern organ izing drive will be guided by these basic principles: 1. Its primary objectives will be economic, rather than political. 2. It will offer the benefits of unionism to all workers, regardless of race, creed or color. 3. It will be carried on by an organization with an undeviating loyalty to the United States of America. “The Executive Council directs that a Co-ordinator be appointed to direct all organizational efforts In the South. j “We further direct that a. policy committee, composed of outstand ing American Federation of Labor leaders in the South, be appointed to work with and advise the Co-or dinator. "We authorize the extension of full assistance to the Organization drive by the American Federation j cf Labor. “We urge all affiliated national j and international unions to co-op erate by assigning organizers to supplement and support the Amer ican Federation of Labor’s cam paign. “We call upon all local unions in the South to join with city centralj bodies and State Federations of Labor in making this a united and i successful effort.” “Our program is to greatly ac celerate the one on which we have been embarked during the last 16 years when our membership rose from 393,000 to 1,800,000,” Mr. Googe stated in releasing the pol icy board names. "With the war over and transportation difficulties somewhat lessened we can reach every worker in the Southland and offer membership in a free trade union, divorced from political or Communistic taint, and devoted solely to matters directly af fee tin* the worker; lumuftfh —*»»■» hours and working conditions. Every man or woman on this board is from the South and is entirely familiar with our problems. We are going to work on the policy adopted at J the Southern Labor Conference in ' Asheville a few weeks ago, when ; we pointed out that no progressive ; employer in the South will at- ■ tempt to prevent the organization ■ of his employees in free American ■ trade unions, because it has a!-, ways been the viewpoint of the j American Federation of Labor that j freedom of enterprise and collec- J tive bargaining go hand in hand ] with prosperity. We believe that wages commensurate with those paid in other parts of the coun- j try will bring prosperity to busi-: ness, the worker and the farmer | who depends upon high wages to | recompense him for his farm prod uct. “The drive has been underway for several weeks. Even before the Asheville Conference we received many requests from the working '< groups in the South asking that they be taken into the American Federation of Labor. In many in stances this has been already ac complished. We face the tremen dous problem of reaching the many others scattered throughout the Southern States but with this Pol- j icy Board now in action and with . the proper utilization of all our al- i ready established facilities I am of the opinion that we will reach our potential membership in the South.” SPECIAL GROirTO STUDY CARTES AND MONOPOLIES New York City.—A group of Outstanding businessmen, econom ists and leaders in labor and ag riculture will serve as a special committee to supervise an inves- j tigation of cartels in intemation-' al trade arid monopoly in domes.se business, the Twentieth Century Fund announced. James M. Landis, recently nam ed chairman of the Civil Aeronau tics Board, will head the funds Cartels and Monopoly Committee. Marion Hedges, research director , of the Brotherhood of Electrical ! Workers (AFL), will represent i labor. i GEORGE L. GOOGE WYATT GRATEFUL - _ TO AFL LEADERS — I Asheville, N. C.—Deep apprecia tion for the vigorous co-operation demonstrated by the AFL in the Veterans’ Emergency Housing Pro gram was expressed by Emergen cy Housing Expediter Wilson W. Wyatt in an address before the AFL Southern Conference here. Decrying efforts in some quar ters to label the Veterans’ Housing Program “some sort of nonsense cooked up in Washington,” Mr. Wyatt cited a letter addressed to President Truman by AFL Presi dent William Green and Harry Bates, chairman of the AFL Hous ing’committee, which said in part: “Mr. Wyatt’s program requests that we do what seems to be im possible. The records show that we did what seemed to be impossible when we were fighting to win the war. Organized labor shared un stintingly with others in the all-out effort to reach and surpass what Please be assured that we will do what seems to be impossible again to meet the gravest emergency of peace. Expressing confidence that the goal of starting construction on 2,700,000 houses and apartments can be begun .within the next two years with the co-operation of the AFL, Mr. Wyatt told the meeting of AFL southern leaders: “We are counting on business to lick the building materials short age, aided by intelligent help by labor. We are counting on you m organised labor to see to it that enough workers are trained or re cruited and ready to build the houses as the material becomes available. “There are now about 650,000 workers employed both in off-slte activity in materials production and distribution and on-site in actual construction of homes. To meet our goal a peak of 2,50,000 workers will have to be on the job.” PHARMACISTS WIN RAISE Ran Francisco — The Pharma cists Union (AFL) has signed a new contract with all major San Francisco drugstores giving li censed pharmasists a raise from 1275 to $325 a month and clerks from $155 to $185, all raises retr» sctive to November 1. President Truman’s “Slave Labor*’ proposal was bitterly taken to task Thursday night at the regular weekly meeting of Charlotte Central Labor Union when the delegates repre senting A. F. of L. Unions in this city ad vicinity called upon Charlotte Central Labor Union officials to send a telegram to Presdent Truman urging that he veto the Case bill which has been passed by Congress and sent to the White House for the President’s acceptance or rejection. The delegates vigorously scored the Congressmen and Sen ators from North Carolina who voted for the Case measure, saying that the action of Congress was made while the coun try was in a state of hysteria. L. P. W illlams, representative or the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, in addressing the session, touched briefly on the Case bill and said, In part: “It is a shame and a disgrace that labor has been betrayed by our Congressmen and Senators from North Carolina. Their actions! should awaken us to our duties and responsibilities and I know from the amount of interest manifested jjeaUsnigbt that you are going to educate, agitato and organise t ’ such an extent that yo"r economi cal strength will be felt in-Char lotte, Raleigh and Washington.” Mr. Williams told a Labor Jour nal representative that he is great ly impressed with Charlotte and vicinity and that he is making a survey here preliminary to setting up organization plans in co-opera- j 1 tion with the South organization j campaign soon to get underway by j the American Federation of Labor, j “I am highly pleused with the in- j terest shown by Charlotte Labor people1 in the Southern campaign j and I know that if this prevails j throughout the State that North j Carolina will be well organized in ; every industry by the time the j AFL drive closes. Charlotte Central Labor Union appointed a Public Relations com- j mittee and this committee will: [ work with the press and civic I groups in an endeavor to enlight- - en the public as to the principles j and policies of the American Fed eration of Labor and the construc tive work that the Council is now i doing in the reconversion period. It was also reported that the American Federation of Labor will soon open a regional office in Char- , lotte and that President Earl Brit- ; ton of the South Carolina Federa tion of Labor "will be in charge. *j Many international representa- [ tives are already in Charlotte and j . AFL leaders in Charlotte predict j | that Charlotte will soon be the ■ | strongest Labor center in the j South. j The telegram ordered sent to > President Truman reads as fol lows: Hon. Harry S. Truman, President United States of America, White House, Washington, D. C. “The Charlotte Central Labor Union, representing 12,000 mem bers, who are patriotic Americans, vigorously protest the passage of the Case Bill by Congress and Sen ators during the heat of excite ment. The provisions of this Bill if signed into law will penalize the rank and file members of organised ! labor who contributed their all to , the war effort and who have work ed long and hard to advance the j standards of living in the comma- ■, nity of which they reside. We do i not feel that you will support the i opponents of labor by signing this t Case BUI, passed by hysterical leg | iflators. We strongly urge you to exercise your calm judgment and ! veto this vicious anti-Labor legis | lation aimed at the destruction of organised Labor. CONGRESS IeST PRESIDENT MOO P.0. PAY RAISE Dia Washington, D. C.—Unanimous passage by the Senate of the House approved bill giving some 400,000 loftal workers a $400 salary in crease sent the measure to the White House for President Tru man’s signautre. In addition to the annual raise, the legislation provides 20 cents per hour boost for daily or hourly workers and a 20 per cent Jump m pay for fourth-class postmasters. It will be retroactive to January 1, will add an estimated $162,000, 000 to the basic $712,000,000 pay roll of the Post Office and amount to an average of 17.6 per cent in crease for the service as a whole. The salary increase was design ed to meet the increased cost of living and to make up for the .losa of take-home pay caused by the elimination of overtime. Average pay of postal workers before pas sage of the bill was estimated at $2,400 a year.. .. “ ~ unanimous ,"senate approval or the salary increase came as no sur prise, as it encountered no opposi tion in committee. Earlier it had been approved by the House over whelmingly, with only a handful of "noes.” Commenting on the action of Congress approving the legislation, President Leo E. George of the Na tional Federation of Post Office Clerks (AFL), said: “Enactment of the Burch-Mead bill to provide a horizontal increase of $400 per year to all postal em ployes, is an act of retarded justice to employes of the United States Government whose service is uni versally recognized as efficient and dependable under any and all ad verse conditions. * “The regard in which their serv ice is held is best illustrated by the fact that in the entire Senate and House of Representatives only one vote was registered in opposi tion to the measure. “The result could not have oeen attained, however, without the fine support given by such men as Rep resentative Burch and Senator Mead who sponsored the legisla tion in the two Houses of Congress and Representative O'Brien of Michigan whose bill was eventual ly incorporated into the final draft md the public support aroused through the co-operation of the seven million members of the American Federation of Labor."
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 30, 1946, edition 1
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