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VOL. XVL NO. 23
Unionists, Do Everything Within Your Power To I Working For A Better Understanding Between
Aid In the Southern A. F. L. Membership Drive North Carolina A^L Unions and Employers of I*bor
Charlotte Labor Journal
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.
“Were if not for the labor
press, the labor movement
would not be what it is to*
day. and any man who
tries to injure a labor pa
per is a traitor to the
cause.”—Samuel Gompers.
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY. OCTOBER 10. 1946
Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year
Governors Announce
Label Exhibition Days
It is significant that the gover
nors of the neighboring states to
Missouri are issuing proclamations
declaring their respective “Exhibit
tion Day" for the A.F. of L. Union
Label and Industrial Exhibition to
be held October 29 to November
S, 1946, in St. Louis, Missouri.
I. M. Ornburn, Director of Union
Labor’s big “show,” is highly elat
ed over the splendid cooperation
ahown by the chief executives of
Midwestern states. This week, at
the St. Louis headquarters, he
stated that thousands of visitors
would come from adjacent com
munities. Caravans are planned by
Union Label boosters as far away
as Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and
other states to trek into St. Leuis
for the Exhibition.
Mr. Ornburn has made an appeal
to international, national, state,
central and local labor unions, un
ion label leagues and women’s aux
iliaries to send representatives to
the St. Louis Exhibition. He urged
officials of all branches of labor
■■ions to be in attendance'at the
Union Label “show," which will be'
an annual event to be hold ■iekioOhee
cities throughout the United Sjfctas.
The Proclamation of His Excel
lency, Andrew P. Schoeppel, Gov
ernor of Kansas, follows:
"To the People of Kansas,
Greeting:
“During the week of October
St to November S, 1946, in
clusive, the Union Label aad
Industrial Exhibition is to be held
in Henry W. Kiel Auditorium, St.
Louis, Missouri. The committee
in charge has set aside Wednes
day, October 30, 1946, as Kan
sas Exhibition Day for the pur
pose of giving our State recog
nition at the Exhibition. Kansas
firms have been invited and con
template displaying their prod
ucts.
“Pair business and unionised
industry in Kansas will be ac
corded the opportunity of meet
ing and displaying their goods
to the great American consum
er market. The Exhibition will
be of groat interest to manufac
turers, merchandisers, farmers^
workers and all other consumers
alike in Kansas and the Mid-West,
and will add force to the cultur
al and educational progress Of
America.
“Now, Therefore, I, Andrew F.
Schoeppel, Governor of the State
of Kansas, do hereby proclaim
Wednesday, October 30, 1946, as...
‘Kansas Exhibition Day* of said
Union Label and Industrial Ex-_
hibition.”
LEE ELECTED SUCCESSOR
TO FITZPATRICK IN CHICAGO
Chicago.—William Lee, head of
the Bakery Drivers’ Union and
vice president of Chicago Federa-!
tion of Labor, was unanimously |
elected president as successor to'
John Fitzpatrick, veteran midwest
labor leader.
The nomination of Mr. Lee, who
was unopposed, followed a tributa
to Mr. Fitzpatrick by Victor Olan
der, secretary of the federation.
A resolution of sympathy was
addressed to Mrs. Fitzpatrick by;
the delegates to the meeting who
stood for a moment in lilent pray
er in tribute to a beloved leader.
CONCILIATION SEEN AS KEY
TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Washington, D. C.—Conciliation'
is the key to collective bargaining
and is iasuzaace/against prolonged
labor-management disputes,' John
W. Gibson, Assistant Secretary of
Labor, told the Government's con
ciliation corps at a conference
X
DIRECTOR OF LABOR'S
ploymt
Labor
bach.
afforded all
the new procedure and it no longer
will be necessary to separate white
and colored persons and to main
tain separate staffs of interview,
era for each.
This change, Labor Department
officials said, could not be extend,
ed throughout the Nation, in view
of the fact that the USES offices
will be. returned to State control
in November and will not be sub
ject to Federal direction.
JOHNSON WARNS AGAINST
RAN ON OLDER WORKERS
Baltimore. — Warning to em
ployers against refusal to hire
men over 36 years of age was
sounded here by Undersecretary of
Labor Keen Johnson, who declared
that such a policy would result in
large numbers of unemployed next
Addressing welfare groups here,
Johnson said President Truman
and the Labor Department are re
ceiving an increasing number of
complaints from older workers who
say they can’t find work. More
than one-fourth of all Americans
are past 45, he added,1'Sbd those
in the 45-to-65 age group receive
no social security benefits.
STANDARD WORK SHIRTS
SOON TO COST MORE
Washington, D. C.-asThe OPA
announced that standard work
shirts will soon coat about 10 per
cent more as henceforth manufac
turers may compute selling prices
on a flexible basis. For example,
a work shirt formerly selling for
61.43 retail will sell now for $1.58.
The manufacturers are allowed to
charge 613.51 1-2 a dozen for the
work shirts they formerly sold for
$12.24.
This increase, according to the
OPA, similar to those recently al
lowed on other work clothing and
work gloves, is required by the
cotton textile provision OPA ex
act. which tied an cotton
to the
market price
Wide Publicity Uncovering Black
Market Manipulators Called For
Charlotte Central Labor Union at its regu lar meeting Thursday night took time out
during its regular business session to discuss the local meat situation to considerable
extent and wound up by condemning the black market operations in meats in the Char
lotte area and calling upon the law enforcement agencies to begin an immediate in
vestigation into the illegal traffic in meats.
It was the sense of the discussion of the delegates that the Charlotte meat situation
has reached a critical point' and that something must be done about it immediately. A
telegram was ordered sent President Truman and wide publicity of the local black
market conditions was called for.
Charlotte Central Labor Union
in its resolution solicits the co
operation of all Charlotte citizens
in airing: out the conditions pre
vailing here, saying that it will
soon affect the health of all local
citizens. The Central Body invites
the co-operation of every civic,
fraternal, business and church
organisation in Mecklenburg coun
ty in uncovering the black market
traffic.
Jfiaa Mary Price of N. C. Com
mittee for Human Welfare, was a
visitor and spoke of the activities
of her organisation in its work
to foster a better school system,
better living conditions for the
poorer classes, and other features
having to do with the improve
ment -.of ihf ways of 1Mb in per
commonwealth. Her talk was
warmly received and the matter
ef acting upon her request for
the co-operation and support of
organised labor will be acted upon
at the next meeting of the Cen
tral Body.
Reports of local dnion delegates
were received and several were
made asking for the support of
sll organised labor in combatting
the bitter anti-union campaign
that is being waged in Charlotte
and vicinity by some of the firms
now in process of organization.
Several AFL representatives
were present and gave the meet
ing first-hand information on
what is being done in the way
of organising the unorganized lo
cally, and Charlotte Central Labor
Union passed a motion extending
its wholehearted support in the
work that is being done here.
Dan Anderson of the local Team
sters and Chauffeurs and Ware
house Employes Union, made an
address. Donald Hunt of the Pa
per and Sulphite Workers Union
also gave an interesting outline
of his union’s activities in this
section of the South, saying that
some employers in the paper and
sulphite manufacturing industry
sre conducting vigorous cam
paigns to keep their employes
from joining labor organisations,
by putting out pamphlets ana
other literature in their - plants
discouraging union membership.
“Despite this,” Mr. Hunt said,
“our union is growing by leaps
and bounds. The workers of the
South are waking up to realise
that they have been manipulated
over a long period of years and
this opposition on the part of
greedy and evil-minded employes
is .only the dying groans of
spoiled businessmen who th.'na
that they can enforce their will
upon the intelligent workers of a
new era in America. That day
will soon have passed into the
discard and Mr. Paper and Box
Plant Manufacturer will awake te
realise that the workers have
been awakened to the Extent that
they can take steps to protect
their interests in this fast trav
eling age,” he said.
Representative Turner of the
Hod Carriers and Common Labor
ers Union made a talk that was
interesting to listen te. He stated
that the Hod Carriers Union is
rontributing its part in the or
ganisation work nil over the
Booth. He is setting up a re*
fovenated local in Charlotte and
(Caotiaaed on Page S)
State Executive Board
Holds Meeting Here
The executive committee of the
North Carolina Federation of La
bor held an all-day meeting in
Charlotte Sunday. October 6, for
the purpose of transacting the
regular quarterly business of
North Carolina Labor. Principal
ly the meeting received reports of
local affiliated unions from all
over the State and matters having
to do with the current organisa
tion drive of the AFL were gives
full considcratieft.
All members of the executive
board with the exception of Vice
President Dew of Wilmington
were present, as follows:
President C. A. Fink of Spen
cer, N. C.; J. A. Scoggins, first
vice president, Charlotte, N. C.;
H. G. Fisher, secretary-treasurer,
Salisbury, N. C.; John Lovett,
vice president, Charlotte, N. C.;
Arthur M. Debruhl, vice president,
Asheville, N. C.; E. J. McCoy,
vice president, Durham, N. C.;
R. D. Apple, Sr., vice president,
Greensboro, N. C.; John Maugh
tin, vice president, High Point,
N.' C.; F. M. Newton, vice presi
dent, Morganton, N. C.; R. G.
Powell, vice president, Reidsville,
N. C.; Furman Wishon, vice pres
ident, Gastonia, N. C.; John H.
Langley, vice president, Pittaboro,
N. C.; Paul Etheridge, vice pres
ident, Raleigh, N. C.; F. N. Cud
dihy, vice president, Salisbury, N.
C.; Burt L. Fields, vice president,
Winston-Salem, N. C.; W. A.
Hodges, vice president, Durham,
N. C.; B. -Luford McNair, vice
president, Plymouth, N. C.
COOPERATION SEEN KEY
New York City.—Close coopera
tion between labor and manage
ment in reviving the New York
millinery industry has increased
its annual volume of business from
$77,000,000 to $176,000,000 in 10
years, Nathaniel Spector, manager
of the New York joint board of
the Millinery Workers Union
(AFL), announced.
Send in your subscription to The
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Sinokey Safa:
> &SL? !
I
rowing a match or eigaiwtt* cm**
lowly to dry »»* *t*rt •
Hr* in tb« wood*. B* ■ *portim*n
—• good ono—be sore your match
or cigarette it out—dead oat. Fir*
destroy* gam* as w*H as timber!
VETERANS STILL NEED
THE GI BILL LOANS
A $56,665,000 increase in GI
loans is noted in the Veterans Ad
ministration report for the week
ending September 7. GI loans now
have risen to approximately 11-2
billion dollars.
VA’s report revealed that 304,
363 exservicemen and women have
negotiated home, farm and busi
ness loans totaling |1,485,907,012.
than 87 per cent of the total, num
bered 296,741 and amounted to $1,
369,209,619. Business loans, con
stituting 9 per cent of the total,
numbered 27,194 and totaled $81,
566,938. Farm loans, accounting
for about 4 per cent, numbered
10,428 and totaled $35,220,663.
The report disclosed that 2,436
loans were repaid in full on which
the VA guaranty was $3,669,111.
Of this figure, 1,595 were home
loans on which the VA commit
ment was $2,681,780; 822 were
business loans, guaranteed for
$781,622, and 119 were farm loans,
guaranteed for $105309.
Loans on which VA paid claims
to lenders increased by two for
the week ending September 7 to
bring the total to 212. Business
loans led this list with 174 de
faults on which VA paid $146,529;
27 were defaulted home loans on
which the cost to VA totaled $32,
037, and 11 were farm loans on
which $6,370 was paid.
OPERATION KEEPS LEWIS
FROM UMW CONVENTION
Washington, D. C. — John L.
Lewis, president of the United
Mine Workers (AFL), is recover
ing here from an emergency ap
pendectomy. ••
Stricken suddenly at his home in
neighboring Alexandria, Mr. Lewis
v.as rushed to Emergency Hospital
here where the operation was per
formed immediately. Dr. John L.
Lewis, Jr., a graduate of Johns
Hopkins and a former Naval sur
geon, was an observer to the op
eration upon his father.
Announcement was made later!
that the operation was successful
and that Mr. Lewis was resting
comfortably.
The operation precluded any pos
sibility of Mr. Lewis attending the
annual convention of the UMW
in Atlantic City.
CAR MEN ELECT BARNEY
TO SUCCEED FELIX KNIGHT
Chicago. — Irvin Barney was
elected president of the Railway
far Men (AFL) at the brother
hood’s recent convention here. He
will succeed Felix H. Knight,
whose voluntary retirement will be
effective at the end of the year.
He had been serving as Mr.
Knight’s assistant.
Arthur J. Bamhardt of Toledo waa
elected assistant general president:
Thomas EL Howie son wan re-elect-;
ed secretary-treasurer, and D. B.
Huggins wss re-elected editor and
manager of the Car Men’s Jour
nal.
Florida Man Appointed
As Assistant To Googe
KNIGHT, CARMEN’S CHIEF
TO RETIRE AFTER SEALING
BIG GAINS FOR HIS HOI
Chicago.—Felix H. Knight, pres
ident of the Brotherhood of Railway
Carmen (AFL) and oae of Anari*
can labor'a leading champions over
a long period of years, announced
to the national convention of hia
union here that he plana to retire
in December.
The announcement came in the
last page of a 62-page report de
tailing the great growth of the
organisation since Its last conven
tion in 1M1. Since then, the re
port showed, the membership
jumped by 41,000 and 111 new
lodges were added.
Commenting on his plan to re
tire in December, Mr. Knight re
ported to the convention that he
has served the union, in one capac
ity or another, for 44 years—for 13
years with his Violet Lodge in St.
Louis, for 22 years as assistant
president, and for the last 11 years
as president.
He explained that, “due to that
long service” he is “glad to comply”
with the spirit and intent of a reso
lution adopted at the 1935 conven
tion. That resolution calls for re
tirement of Grand Lodge officers
at 65, with the exception of the
president, who is to step down at
70.
Though Mr. Knight is only 67
and still hale and hearty, he let the
delegates know he prefers to give
up the reins at this time. He added
that he is “appreciative, beyond
expression, of the friendship and
co-operation of all)’
“I have given in a full measure,
consistent with my qualifications,
capabilities and experience, to this
organisation,” he declared, “and I
feel that effort has been appreciat
ed, due to the fact that I have been
unopposed in conventions since
1913.
“Officially and fraternally, I
shall not say good-bye, but au
revoir—as I expect and have great
hopes of meeting many of you
again in the years to come.”
At the outset of his report,
President Knight cited the fact
that the five year* since the last
convention “have included one of
the most terrible wars in our his
tory and with it our organization
has been confronted with many
difficult problems.”
“Not only have we met them
successfully, but I am glad to say
that in meeting its responsibilities
to its membership and the nation
ear Brotherhood has grown in size
and prestige,” he said.
“It would be no exaggeration to
state that we have increased wages
■ace and see med greater improve
I
Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 10.—J. L.
(Lew) Rhodes, Jacksonville, Fla.,
has been named by President Wil
liam Green of the American Fed
eration of Labor to the position
of Vice-Chairman of the Southern
Policy Board it was announced in
Atlanta today. Rhodes, a member
of the Soulhern Organizing staff
of the American Federation of La
bor will assist George L. Googe
in a dual capacity as vice-chair
man of the Southern Policy Board
which is in charge of the current
membership drive in fourteen
southern states and also as his
permanent assistant as Southern
representative for the American
Federation of Labor in the Soutn.
Mr. Rhodes, for the past 20
years a member of Local 2224,
United Brotherhood of Csrpentgi
and Joiners of America, has been
an organizer for the American
Federation of Labor in the Sonth
since 1909. In 1945 he was named
as director of organization for the
state of Florida. He has served
the Federation in various other
capacities throughout the nation
from time to time. Previously he
had been a volunteer organiser
since 1930.
“Lew,” M he is bettor known to
nuuiy thousands of trade unionists
throughout the Southland, has eW
become familiarly recognised as
the "Flying Organiser,” the only
one in the history of the labor
movement in this or any other
country. He flies his own plans
in the interests of the labor move
ment, usually "covering anywhere
from 60,000 to 70,000 miles per
year in trouble shooting.
He was the founder and publish
er of The Labor Journal in Jack
sonville, Florida, and conducted its
policy for 14 years until he sold
his interest in May, 1944.
“Lew” velunteered in the Air
Corps Reserve in September, 1942,
and for 18 months served on the
dangerous C.A.P., antisubmarine
patrol. He spent another year
towing targets, and on tracking
missions for radar and search
light missions from Portland, Me.,
to Key West, Fla. He returned to
the staff on January 1, 1945.
He had many close shaves dur
ing his war time career not the
least of which was a crash landing
?t> miles off the coast of Florida,
caused by engine failure. “Lew”
and his bombardier on submarine
patrol were floundering for three
hours before being picked up by
a Navy P.B.Y. sent to their rescue
from the Naval Air station at
Jacksonville.
He has had more than 3,000 fly
ing hours on his log and has
flown between 3,000,000 and 4,
000,000 miles since taking to the
air.
Chairman Googe announced that
he will have full authority as Vice
Chairman of the Southern Board
»nd as his general assistant on all
organizational activities. He will
assist in co-ordinating the work
with all regional, state and staff
members in the Southern area.
WALTER BARNES DIES
San Diego, Cal.—Walter Barnes,
veteran AFL leader here, died of a
heart attack with which he was
itricken in the offices of Local S33,
Brotherhood of Painters (AFL).
Ur. Barnes, former president of
the San Diegro County Central
rrades Council, was a delegate to
the council session for 33 coneecu
live years, a local record. Offices
>f other locals here were closed
luring the funeral services.
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