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. XVI; NO. 4
CHARLOTTE. N. C., THURSDAY. JUNE 6. 1916
Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year
Cross Section
AFL
(Featuring Robert J. Watt, In
ternational Representative of the
AFL and member of the National
Wage Stabilisation Beard, and
Philip Pearl, National Information
Director of the AFL, interviewed
at Washington, D. C., by Dwight
Cooke, CBS commentator, after the
mine operators, who had requested
this period to state their side of
the coal dispute, declined to dis
cuss publicly the issues involved.)
Washington, D. C. — Improved
OPA enforcement, the coal mine
shutdown and the issues involved,
a long-range housing program to
aid millions, an expanded social
security program and the prospect
for labor in foreign nations were
discussed in the fifth of a senes
of radio programs entitled "Cross
Section — AFL” when Dwight
Coolce, CBS commentator, inter
viewed two AFL spokesmen here
for the Columbia Broadcasting
System over a nation-wide hookup.
Both Watt and Pearl were
sharply critical of OPA on grounds
that its rules and regulations are
not sufficiently enforced. They
called for an extension of the act,
with strong tightening of its en
forcement.
“We believe there is great room
for improvement in the adminis
tration of OPA,” Mr. Watt said.
“It is my opinion that a great deal
of time is being devoted by the
top officials to propaganda, Instead
of better administration. In fact,
I think the average American
housewife is worse off now, In re
lation to the purchase of basic
commodities, than during the war."
Strong endorsement of the pend
ing Wagner-Ellender-Taft housing
bill was voiced by Pearl.
“The AFL is vitally interested
in this measure,” he said, “which
calls foa a 10-year program of new
home construction, homes that are
very badly needed by so many mil
lions of our people, at the rate or
about a million and a half new
homes a year.
“Another feature which com
mends this legislation very highly
to the AFL is that it has an
amendment calling for the prevail
ing rate of wages on construction
that’s financed by FHA-guaran
teed mortgages. The bill was
passed by the Senate by the over
whelming vote of 50 to 21. Now
it’s in the House and we hope and
expect our members will write to
their Representatives urging sup
port of this measure.”
Watt expressed fervent hope for
passage of the pending amendment
expanding the Social Security Act.
“This isn’t socialized medicine,"
hj explained. “The American Fed
eration of Labor program includes
very definite proposals for the de
velopment of insurance for disabil
ity, old age, unemployment com
pensation and a democratic system
of health insurance.”
Much of the legislative program
supported by the AFL, Pearl told
the radio audience, has been slowed
by the political activities of ^the
V1U.
Watt, discussing AFL foreign
policy, cited prewar opposition by
the organisation to Fascism in
Italy, Nazism in Germany, the
conquest of Ethiopia, Japanese in*
terference in China, the Munich
"sell-out” and totalitarianism gen
erally. Striking out at conditions
in Russia, he said:
"I’m frankly of the opinion tnat
free labor never has existed In
Russia and does not exist there to
day. We realize that the U. S.
Government must deal with other
governments, including Russia, but
the AFL insists that any free, vol
untary association of trade unions
should not, and we do not, deal
with any organisation other than
those that are free, voluntary as
sociations.”
On the other hand, Watt empha
sised the freedom of British trade
unions. British socialism, he said,
is just as free, and places just as
much emphasis on decision by the
democratic process, as in the Unit
ed States.
Omaha, Neb—A drastic step to
eliminate black market operations
in meat has been taken by Local 44
of the Meat Cutters’ Union (AFL).
It adopted a resolution declaring
that “any union meat cutter found
guilty of practicing black market
activities and accepting money on
the side for meat purchases shall
be punished by discharge from his
Job and expelled from our organi
sation.”
SOCIAL SECURITY
I EXPANSION IS ASKED
BY A. J. ALTMEYER
Washington, D. C. — Increased
; Federal aid, under the social se
curity system, to provide "ade
quate aid to any needy person,"
I was urged upon the House Ways
i and Means Committee by Arthur
! J. Altmeyer, chairman of the So
cial Security Board.
Sharply criticizing the limita
tions of the present plan, under
which States, localities or both
carry a heavy share of the bur
den, he proposed Federal entry in
to the field of general assistance
to aid "incapacitated adults other
than the aged and blind, the only
handicapped groups now eligible
under the Social Security Act.”
"The amount of assistance
which the Federal Government
shares equally with a State Is lim
ited to a Federal-State total of $40
a month for a recipient of old-age
assistance or aid to the blind, and
$18 for the first child and $12 for
each other child aided in a family
receiving aid to dependent chil
dren,” he said.
"Thus Federal funds may repre
sent no more than $20 a month of
the payment of an aged or blind
person and, for families receiving
aid to dependent children, $9 a
month for one child receiving aid
and $6 additional for each other
child States may, and many do,
make payments in excess of the
Federal matching maximum*, but
they must pay all the additional
amount from State or local funds."
Citing the increase in pleas for
assistance since the end of the war
—a situation marked by increas
ing unemployment and lower earn
ings, Mr. Altmeyer told the com
mittee:
"The number of families receiv
ing aid to dependent children has
increased 12 per cent since V-J
Day. The number of general assist
ance cases has increased 28 per
cent.”
Calling attention to the limited
resources of communities in differ
ent parts of the nation, Altmayer
said:
“In the fiscal year 1944-45, ex
penditures for general assistance
represented $1.68 per Inhabitant
in one State and about 2 cents per
inhabitant at the other extreme.
"The Sociai Security Board be
lieves that extension of general as
sistance, so that adequate aid will
be available to any needy person,
is an essential part of an adequate
program of social security. Federal
financial participation in general
assistance should follow the ar
rangements already existing under
the Social Security Ac.t for special
types of public assistance."
Arguing for special aid to low
income States, Mr. Altmeyer said
that “the poorer States have a
larger proportion of needy persons,
but receive not only less Federal
aid per needy person but also less
Federal aid in proportion to total
population.”
AFL ASKS SENATE
TB KILL PEN0M6
ANTI-LABOR NILS
Washington, D. C.—In the midst
of Senate debate on anti-strike leg
islation, AFL President William
Green tossed a final appeal for
reason and restraint. He urged de
feat of all pending bills to restrict
labors' freedoms.
Obviously referring to the com
I ing election campaigns, Mr. Green
! said in his letter to all Senators
that enactment of anti-union leg
islation "would be greatly resent
ed by laboring men and women
everywhere and all their friends.”
This warning came as the Sen
ate prepared to act on the vicious
Case Bill, which was adopted by
the House of Representatives, and
the milder substitute drafted by
the Senate’s Education and Labor
Committee.
Anti-labor forces in the Senate
were seeking to take advantage of
the hate propaganda which reached
its crest during the coal strike to
push through stringent amend
ments crippling the right to strike
and severely regulating organised
labor.
All labor, including unions with
perfect records of co-operation dur
ing the war, would be affected and
penalized by such legislation, Mr.
Green pointed out in his letter.
He also called attention to the fact
that organizations like the National
Association of M a n u f acturers,
which has constantly sought to de
stroy trade unions, are backing the
new legislative assault on Ameri
can workers’ rights.
Green Asks Truman To Veto Case Bill
THIS IS AMERICA!
Courtesy Appreciate America. Inc.
DR. ELIOT BACKS PURPOSE
OF NATIONAL HEALTH BILL
Washington, D. C.—Medical care
and health services can be brought
within reach of all mothers and
children under the terms of the
proposed national health bill, Dr.
Martha M. Eliot, associate chief of
the Children's Bureau of the Labor
Department, told the Senate Edu
cation and Labor committee.
Urging the bill in its entirety,
Dr. Eliot recommended particular
ly its maternal, child health and
crippled children’s provisions, rec
ognising in the latter a plan to
build uppon existing programs now
in operation under the Social Se
curity Act.
C0N6RESS HOLDING
CLUB OVER LABOR
IN DISPUTES
Washington, D. C.—Congress ts
trying to bold a legislative club
over labor, ready to swing with
new restrictive laws if either the
coal or railroad disputes get out of
hand.
After a week of debate on anti
labor proposals, the Senate is still
engaged in a bitter fight over the
Gass bin and amendments pro
posed by hostile Senators to deal
with specific controversies involved
in the coal strike.
One group of reactionary Sena
tors, ledf by the pettifogging Byrd
of Virginia, has marshalled its
forces in support of an amendment
requiring joint administration of
any health or welfare fund estab
lished through collective bargain
ing in industry.
This amendment is aimed at
forestalling the United Mine Work
ers’ demand for a health and wel
fare fund which would be admin
istered solely by the union.
Friends of labor in the Senate
were carrying on a last-ditch fight
to prevent enactment of this
amendment and even more sweep
(Please Tara to Pago 4).
TRUMAN SIGNS BILL
FOR 3,000 AIRPORTS
Washington, D. C. — President
Truman signed a bill under which
$500,000,000 will be spent by the
Federal Government in the next
six years for construction of 3,000
new airports throughout the Na
tion. The program will give the
United States an air network far
outranking any the world has ever
seen.
The vast fund will be used to
help any state, city or local agency
that desires to build an airfield
and is willing and able to put up
half the funds needed.
The Federal program will be ad
ministered by the Civil Aeronautics
Administration, which will channel
the funds primarily to small fields
suitable for private flying and
feeder air lines.
The money will be apportioned
to the states according to area and
population. From this it is be
lieved the bulk of the funds will be
allocated to Texas, California,
Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois,
and Ohio.
NEW LOCAL SET-UP
FOR COLORED WORKERS
An American Federation of
Government Employes local was
set up this week for the Negro
government workers of Charlotte
and vicinity, under the direction
of E. M. Belch, president of the
Charlotte local of the A. F. G. E.
President Belch reports that
much interest is being shown by
the Colored workers in the new
local, which will have its own of
ficers, but will operate under the
laws of the parent local union. The
union will also have its own meet
■ ing dates.
Meetings are being held at
Bethlehem Community Center at
First and Caldwell Streets on the
first and third Wednesday nights
each month.
The meeting this week was
largely attended and many new
members were taken with the
union.
MEDIATION BOARD AVERTS
37 N. Y. STATE STRIKES
Albany, N. Y. — Thirty-seven
threatened strikes throughout New
York State were averted by efforts
of the State Board of Mediation
iii March, the State Labor depart
ment announced. Fifteen other i
disputes which reached the strike I
stage were ended during the month
with the help of the board.
Wages were the focal point in
nine of the strikes occupying the
board’s attention in March. The
other cases centered about such is
sues as union recognition, contract
renewal, closed shop, and layoffs.
EQUAL PM FOR
WOMEN VOTED OY
SENATE GROUP
Washington, D. C.—A declara
tion for equal pay for women in
industry and for giving the Secre
tary of Labor the task of seeing
that they get it was voted by a
Senate Education and Labor sub
committee.
Reporting to the full committee,
the subcommittee asserted that a
wage differential "based on sex is
1 an inequity in compensation stand
ards and constitutes an unfair
labor pactice." The report stated
further that such differentials lead
to labor disputes, lower wages of
men as well as women, prevent
maintenance of a proper standard
of living, endanger national secur
ity and obstruct commerce.
HOURLY EARNINGS AT PEAK
Washington, D. C.—A new peak
of $l,145ti in average hourly earn
ings in 25 industries was reached
in March, a study by the National
Industrial Conference Board re
vealed. This, the board reported,
was 60.9 per cent above January,
1841, 68 per cent above August,
1938, and 84.1 per cent above the
average for 1828.
New \ork City—AFL President William Green publicly
called upon President Truman to veto the obnoxious Case
Hill which is designed to destroy the labor movement in^
America.
In a challenging address to the fifth biennial convention
ef the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers Interna
tional Union here, the AFL chief warned:,
“If the President signs this bill, the seven million mem
bers of the American Federation of I.abor will be rebels as
long as it remains on the statute books of the Nation.
“We will never accept it willingly. We will carry on an
unyielding fight to have it repealed.
“We will use our political strength to the utmost to elect
members of Congress who will vote to repeal such abhorrent
legislation.
Discussing the effects of the Case Bill, Mr. Green declared:
“I do not see how we can function successfully if it be
comes law.”
Mr. Green delivered these two stinging indictments against
specific provisions of the Case Bill:
1— He charged ^hat Congress is making “permanent” its
‘monumental, temporary mistake” contained in the Smith
Connally Act by. providing for compulsory so-called “cooling
[iff’’ periods which foment strikes instead of preventing
them.
2— He alleged that the Case Bill, by authorizing damage
suits against labor organizations, proposes to re-enact in
America a thousand-fold the oppressive practices which
shocked the American people in the Danbury Hatters’ case.
AFGE^To Meet
\t Chamber Of
Commerce Hall
A meeting of the American Fed
eration of Government Employes ,
nil he held next Wednesday night
it 8:00 o’clock at the Chamber of
Commerce, at which time several
r.ternational representatives will
>e present to address the gather
»g.
Much activity is taking place in
this new organization and the
membership is growing rapidly ac
cording to Secretary C. E. Knight,
i.ho is making plans for a large
meeting next Wednesday evening. 1
All Federal employes with the
i xception of postal workers, are
eligible to join the A. F. G. E.
and President .Belch and Secre
tary Knight request that all who
desire to affiliate with the Char
lotte Union be present at the
Chamber of Commerce next Wed
nesday night.
The change of meeting place
from the Labor Temple next week
was made in order to get a large
meeting hall in anticipation of a
large gathering.
25 PER CENT WAR
WORKERS FOUND
OUT OF JOBS
Washington, D. C.—In a formal
report on workers’ experiences in
the “first phase of reconversion,”
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the Labor department declared one
out of every four former war work
ers was involuntarily unemployed
five to seven months after V-J Day,
an even larger proportion had
moved from the communities - in
which they held war jobs, and those
who still had jobs had taken sharp
cuts in weekly earnings sufficient
to cut their purchasing power be
low that of 1941.
In contrast to the experiences of
war workers, non-war workers held
their jobs and maintained their
earnings much more generally, the
survey showed. Only five per cent
of these were unemployed and less
than aeven per cent had migrated.
More than three-fourths continued
at work in the plants where they
were employed last spring. War
workers who kept their jobs or
found new ones were earning 31
per cent less s week than on war
work, while weekly earnings of
non-war workers were down only
10 per cent over the same period.
NON-FARM JOBS INCREASE
Washington, D, C.—So rapidly
did industry expand last month
that the number of non-agricultur
al employes throughout the nation
increased to 36,721,000, the highest
level since the dose ol the war, the
Labor Department reported.
in mat cast', ne toiu me union
delegates, members of their own
organization had their homes sold
out from under them in order to
satisfy judgments found against
the hat workers in Danbury, Conn.
Employers could harass unions
to extinction, if the Case Bill be
comes law, by tying them up with
litigation and forcing them to
spend all heir funds and time in
defending damage suits, Mr. Green
said. Lawyers would have a
year-’round "open season” in
pressing-such damage suit, wheth
er they had any justification or
not. ‘
Mr; Green also leveled severe
criticism against .the prpvisions of
President Turman’s emergency
strike control bill, but said its ef
fects would be limited because it
applied only to cases where the
Government had seized industries.
Nevertheless, Mr. Green de
clared that even with the amend
ments adopted by the Senate this
this bill would permit the Attorney
General to revive Government by
injunction and jail union leaders
and strikers. He said the measure
was “ill-advised” and unnecessary
because the strike emergencies it
was intended to cope with have
passed.
After reviewing labor’s contri
butions to victory in the war and
noting the drop in “take-home"
pay after V-J Day, Mr. Green re
marked that strikes must be ex
pected in a period of drastic eco
nomic changes, although "all of
u» deplore strikes.”
The AFL aims to minimize
■trikes in favor of conferenwe
tcble settlements, he said. But,
he added, when employers "sit as
a negative force in a collective
bargaining wage conference and
refuse to yield even to the slight
est degree, what can the workers
' do?”
"I think a clear investigation of
many of the causes of these strikes
will show that the employers who
participated in the conferences
were as much or more to blame
for the strikes than were the
workers who participated in the
■trikes,” Mr. Green remarked.
I “And now as a result of it all we
have before Congress some most
vicious legislation.”
Mayor O’Dwyer, arriving to
greet the 160 delegates as Max
Zaristsky, president of the union
was expressing views similar to
those of Mr. Green, drew pro
longed applause by declaring; "La
bor insists on holding its gains.”
The Mayor urged the convention
to go on record in favor of ex
tending the Office of Price Ad
ministration’s life with its present
powers and of establishing a per
manent Fair Employment Prac
tices Commission.
Mr. Zaritsky, whose annual re
port to the convention calls for
continuation of the union’s war
time no-strike pledge during the
reconversion period, held that an
“old and familiar pattern” is evi
dent in current anti-strike and la
bor-control legislation.
He Mid that "enemies of the
(PleM* Them to Pag* 4).