Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Nov. 21, 1946, edition 1 / Page 1
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AFFILIATE WITH YOUB CENTRAL LABOR UNION AND THE N. C. FEDERATION NOW! Unloefeta, Do Aid In the Within Yonr Power To A. F. L. Membership Drive Working For A Better Understanding Between North Carolina AFL Unions and Employers of Labor Charlotte Labor Journal A Newt paper 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. 29 “W»r» it not for the labor prcaa. the labor movement would not be what it ia 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. NOVEMBER 21. 1946 Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year I ■— • •• ... . COURT INJUNCTION ISSUED AGAINST MINERS Contract Let For $40,000,000 Celanese Plant In S. C. Washington, Nov. 21-John Lewis’ United Mine Work ers failed to enter the soft coal mines today as the zero hour passed for a previously announced notice of contract termination with Uncle Sam, which exp^ed lait midnight. LAIC IUUAI JLClItCi 1. ALAN GOLD8BOROVGH OF I FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT 1 BEGAN CONTEMPT PROCEED INGS AGAIN8T MR. LEW1WS AND THE MINE WORKERS UNION AND ORDERED THE MINE WORKERS PRESIDENT TO APPEAR IN HIS COURT i ONMONDAY MORNING OF I NEXT WEEK AND SHOW CAUSE WHY HE SHOULD NOT BE HELD IN CON TEMPT. It if understood ben that Pres ident Truman baa issued instruc tions to carry the fight through to a finish with the union and Mr. Lewis and the court order is likely in line with this aim. Mr. Lewis was not In his office today as two men thought to he U. S. marshals visited the United Mine Workers headquarters and asked for him. Not finding Lewis then they left and shortly there after the chief of counsel for Lewis and his assistants left. They had “no comment” to all ques tioners. Associates of Mr. Lewis an said to hare predicted that Mr. Lewis would be in court Monday morning to answer to the charges against him and his mine union. I •AY RAISES GIVEN RESTAURANT AIRES IN SAN FRANCISCO Washington, D. C.—Announce nent was received here at AFL ieadquarters that wage increases averaging 17 per cent were grant d to 12,000 workers in 209 San Francisco restaurants under terms if a new contract negotiated by he Golden Gate Restaurant As ociation and the Culinary Work* rs and Bartenders Joint Execu ive board (AFL). ’ Typical wage increase was that f dishwashers, who won raises anging from $6.75 to $7.50 dily. Other classifications got ncreases ranging from 11 per ent to 24 per cent. At the same time word was re vived here that bar and restau* ant owners at St. Paul, Mfhn., ’ranted wage demands of 1,500 sombers of the Hotel and Res aurant International Alliance AFL). Bartenders won a $7 reekly raise for a total of $55, nd cooks, waitresses and other rorkers were granted a 15-cent lourly increase. LEM 6R0IIP HEMS AFL SPEAKER PRAISE W-E-T HOME-BUILDIHG FUN Washington, D. C.—The prob lem of American home-building can beat be solved by private en terprise, under such a framework as is provided by the Wagner-EI lender-Taft bill, which has had . consistent support of the Ameri can Federation of Labor. This was the statement brought to the recent Special National Housing committee of the Ameri can Legion here by Boris Shish kin, AFL economist, from Richard J. Gray, president of the Budding and Construction Trades Depart ment (AFL), who was unable to attend in person. “The American Federation of Labor, with hundreds of other or ganizations,” Mr. Shishkin quot ed Mr. Gray as saying, “believes the Wagner-Ellender-Taft pro gram is the very minimum essen tial for preventing the present housing shortage from becoming perpetual and chronic. It is also the very minimum essential for the preservation of private enter prise itself against ultimate bank ruptcy and failure. And finally, It it designed to facilitate and stimulate the immediate provis ion of needed homes. "This proposed legislation would provide only for a strictly voluntary program. It is thor oughly American and fully sound, its primary purpose is to ease the cost of home purchase. It pro vides a set of aides and guides to the local community for sound community planning through a representative of the community itself. It is designed to aid pri vate enterprise in serving a wider market by enabling it to reach families of low income which never before had been served by private enterprise. “There is great urgency in the adoption of this program. It will help provide rental housing, so desperately needed by the veter ans, at reasonable rents. At the' same time, it will provide new in centive to home ownership on a basis on which families of modest means can assume the burden of home ownership on an easy pay ment plan.” WASHINGTON, D. C.—In a precedent-shattering move, the Federal government obtained a court injunction re straining John L. Lewis from informing the members of the United Mine Workers that he considered the union’s .contract with Secretary of the Interior Krug terminated. The injunction, issued by Federal District Court Judge Goldsborough on the application of Attorney General Clark, waaao sweeping in its terms that Mr. Lewis and other Uoil* °* un*on re^us*^ to say anything for pujalica However, the injunction was temporary and Judge Golds borough fixed Nov. 27 as the time for a hearing on whether it shttild be made permanent. At that hearing the union cffkuUs will have the opportunity to present their side of the case. The temporary injunction was summarily issued without giving the union any opportunity of contesting it. The position of the government insists ita contract with the union holds good as long as it continues to operate the but the union- on the other hand, contends it nhs complied With the legal procedure necessary to termi nate the contract. The traditional UMW slogan is “no contract, no work.” The union’s purpose in seeking to end the contract was reported to be to reduce the back-breaking 54-hour week now in force in the coal mines and to obtain a reduction to 40 hours a week without loss of pay. The government refused to bargain on this issue and in stead suggested a 60-day truce during which the union should try to negotiate a new agreement with the coal mine owners. Since the mine owners have not yet even subscribed to the Lewis-Krug contract, the union felt it would be a waste of time to try to induce them to agree to better terms. In hts letter to Secretary Krug, Mr. Lewis said in part: “Your statements to the contrary notwithstanding, the mine workers constantly from November 1 to and including November 11 made concrete proposals to you on the matter set out in the notice of October 21. You, cavalierly, now propose a 60-day freeze of the existing conditions on terms which you have first negotiated with the operators, who are strangers to the Krug-Lewis agreement. You ar bitrarily assert the right to designate that 60-day period to begin on November 16 and prescribe the method of con ducting a conference between the mine workers and oper ators during that period. You, likewise, assert that the Krug-Lewis agreement can be ‘modified by mutual consent.’ Then, sir, where do you find a legal or moral right to deny to the mine workers their plain contractual right to reopen the contract, as we respectfully requested on October 21? “You now, at the last hour, of the last day, yield to the bmndishmenta and soothing siren voice of the operators to place the United Mine Workers of America and its members between Scylla and Charybdis. This course we refuse to follow. "The Government of the United States seized the mines and entered into a contract. The mine workers do not pro pose to deal with parties who have no status under the con tract. We do not propose to be driven like dumb beasts to the slaughter of slow strangulation envisioned by your pro posal ami the operators’ well known and long-used tactics of evasion and delay. We call upon you to honor your contract. "This, therefore, Mr. Secretary, constitutes our reply in the negative to your proposal.” ; UNION BRICKLAYERS BUIL0IN6 OWN HOUSE AS MAJOR PRICE LESSOR TO CONTRACTORS Yonkers, N. Y.—Convinced that s first-rate, five-room brick bouse can be built within th« price ceil ing of $10,000, members of the Yonkers APL Bricklayers* Union are building one themselves here to prove their point. The union is paying union scale to its members working on the house, paying ceiling prices for materials and is keeping a strict accounting of the cost. Members of the AFL carpen ters’ union will also have to be hired, but only to build the roof—, the house is almost wholly of brick and masonry, even to its new-type concrete floors. And to make its venture into building contracting complete, the union is letting contracts for plumbing and heating and lighting. Garrett Fitzgerald, 89, president of Local 22, explained it this way: “Contactors here say this kind of house can’t be built for less than $12,000 to »14,000—the ceil •n* price is $10,000,” Mr. Fitzger ald said. “So,” he said, “there isn’t much new brick construction going on.” Fabricated houses costing $8,500 (on which there is little work for bricklayers) are being construct ed in relatively large numbers, he said. Belittling the relative value of this kind of house, Mr. Fitzgerald said the men in Local 22 felt con fident they could erect a top flight, five-room brick house with out exceeding the ceiling price. “And our house will be strong and (Continued On Page 8) / AFL TRIO DENIED RIGHT TO VISIT MAINZ AREA Frankfurt. Germany. — The three members of the Ameri can Federation of Labor dele gation visiting Germany to study labor unionism in this country have been “denied permission by the French mili tary authorities’* to visit Maim in the French occupation zone at this time. Because of this denial, Wil liam C. Doherty, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers and' a vice president of the AFL, told newsmen he and his eeileagusn had “declined the French Invi tation to visit the French tone at later dates.“ Mr. Doherty is accompanied by Israel Fine berg, vice president of the In ternational Ladies Garment Workers Union, and Anton Jakobs, international represen tative of the Butchers and Meat Cutters Union. NLRB EXAMINER UPHOLDS PRINTERS IN FLORIOA CASE Washington, D. C.—The Inter national Typographical Union (AFL) was upheld by an exam iner of the National Labor Re lations Board in its year-old strike against the St. Petersburg (Florida) Evening Independent and The Times. Thomas S. Wilson, the trial ex aminer, said the union’s refusal to arbitrate was not a refusal to bar gain, and recommended that the NLR& direct the publishers to bargain on request with the un ion. He further recommended the reinstatement, on request, of all employes who were on strike on January 12, 1946, to their for mer or substantially equivalent employment. A five-day hearing was held on a complaint that management had refused to bargain with the un ion and had interfered with the right -of self-organisation. Thur man Arnold, former judge and one-time chief of the Department of Justice’s anti-trust division, represented the newspapers. The companies contended it was the union which refused to bar gain. On that point the trial ex aminer said: “The strike of November 20, 1945, was caused by the deadlock reached between the parties in their negotiations and by the re fusal of the union to arbitrate that issue in order to break the impasse. ... In the process of collective bargaining there is no duty on either party to arbitrate their differences in the absence of an agreement to do so reached through direct negotiation be tween the parties. ... “It is, therefore, clear that the respondents (companies) are in error in claiming that the strike was caused by the union’s ‘refusal to bargain.’ Although the union was not willing to arbitrate the difference, the facts show that it was at all times ready to bar gain on that issue. Although the union hps refused to arbitrate, it has not refused to bargain.” A contract was let a few days ago for a $23,000,000 celanese plant to lie constructed at Rock Hill, S. C., by the Celanese Corporation of America, according to information reaching The Charlotte I>abor Journal through building tradesmen. It is understood a Greenville, S. C„ contractor was successful bidder on the project. Several Charlotte contractors are said to have bid on the plant. Such a huge plant as that proposed by the Celanese cor poration will employ several thousand building tradesmen for many months and it is said that thousands upon thou sands of pounds of construction steel will be required for the job. This plant will add greatly to the financial stand ing of the entire Rock Hill community, thousands of dol lars trickling into the tills of Rock Hill merchants from the pi y envelopes of the large number of workers to be em ployed in the plant after its completion. Rock Hill certain ly is to be congratulated for receiving such a huge enter prise for its section of the State. ATTORNET GENERAL CLARK ASSA&S MOMPOUSTIC INTERESTS WHICH HOLD DOWN LIVING STANDARDS Boston, Mats.—A vigorous at tack upon industry and business leaders who would stifle competi tion to fleece the public and hold labor in a halter was delivered here in a recent address by' At torney General Tom Clark before the Associated Industries of Mas sachusetts. Lashing out in no uncertain terms at “these greedy men who clamor loudest for free enterprise and opportunity,” Mr. Clark said “they would have freedom to in sulate their business from the uncertainties of competition and freedom to gorge themselves with monopolistic profits.” Outlining methods pursued by monopolistic groups to suppress inventions and smother discover ies which, given free rein, would go far toward raising the Ameri can standard of living, Mr. Clark told his audience: “You know about the match trust and its miracle match which would light one thousand times— but which never reached the mar ket. No conventional monopolist^ would think of allowing such a match to reach the consumer. The consumer might be benefited but match sales would be drastic ally reduced. “The introduction of fluorescent lighting was retarded. Here, power, company revenues were at stake. Again, so that more elec tric lamps could be sold, the man ufacturers built them with short er life." Vitamin D was deliberately withheld from sufferers from ric kets, a disease of the undernour ished, by monopolists, Mr. Clark asserted. “Some years ago," he said, “pat ents for producing vitamin D by ultra-violet ray came into the hands of the university foundation located in a butter-producing area. The sole right to use this artificial method of producing vi tamin O in foods belonged to the foundation. “The foundation denied licenses for irradiating oleomargarine with vitamin O to manufacturers of (Continued On Page S) AFL Will ACCEPT ARGENTINE INVITATION IF ORGANIZED LABOR THERE BACKS BIO Washington, D. C.—The Amer ican Federation of Labor will send a delegation to Argentina if Ar gentina’s invitation to such a mis sion is supplemented bp a similar invitation from the Argentine Confederation of Labor, it was an nounced here by jtFL President William Green. In reaching this decision, Mr. Greeen said, the AFL was influ enced by the fact that at the re cent conference of the Interna tional Labor Organisation at Mon treal, all of the Latin American trade union delegates presented a resolution unanimously supporting the Argentine Confederation of Labor. Mr. Green accepted the invita tion extended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Argentina to assign representatives to visit Ar gentina as the guests of that gov ernment with this proviso: “In conformity, however, with a traditional policy which we have ever scrupulously followed, we 'respectfully ask that the very kind invitation extended by the reprt-j sentatives of the government of Argentina be supplemented by an invitation from the representa tives of the organised labor move ment in Argentina. If such supplemental invitation is extend ed, be assured the American Fed eation of Labor will designate a delegation of capable representa tives to visit Argentina as the guests of the Argentine govern ment at the earliest possible mo ment.” Discussing the significance of the AFL’s decision in this matter today, Mr. Green said: “Our willingness to send a dele gation to visit Argentina under the proper circumstances does not imply either approval or dis^> approval of the present Argen tine government and its policies. We regard the invitation as an opportunity to determine the facts at first hand and then we will be able to decide for our selves whether the charges made against the Argentine government are well founded.”’ M
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 21, 1946, edition 1
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