Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Dec. 5, 1946, edition 1 / Page 2
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Editorial CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL & DIXIE FARM NEWS Published Weekly st Charlotte. N. C. Address All Communications Telephones 5-8094 Office of Publication: 118 East S’ to Post Offii Office Box 1081 Charlotte. N. C. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 82.00 per year, payable in advance or 6c per copy. . ADVERTISING RATES for commercial advertising reasonable. H. A. Stalls, Editor and Publi^T W. M. Witter. Associate_Editt>r Entered as second-class mail matter September 11. fifi Office at Charlotte. N. C„ under the Act of Congress of March 3,1879 Official Organ of the Charlotte Central Labor Union and Approved by *The American Federation bf Labor and the North Carolina Federation of Labor_ The Labor Journal will not be responsible for opinions of corre spondents. but any erroneous reflecting upon the c’ * .SSlI? m to the attention of the publish •pinions solicited. _ CVIUVI auuii Wiisv rill be gladly con Correspondence SEES KRUG AT FAULT FOR COAL MINE STOPPAGES Responsibility for the soft coal dispute was pinned suuarely upon Secretary of the Interior J. A. Krug by Al' President William Green, in an editorial which he prepared for the American Federationiat, monthly AFL publication. “The Secretary.” Mr. Green asserted, “obviously relied upon the theory that the Krug-Lewis contract was not a contract, but an executive mandate. He persuaded the Ad ministration that in operating production properties, the Government carries into business an attribute of sovereign ty that puts it above he law.” Citing the provisions of the Norris-La Guardia Act de signed to protect labor,' Mr. Green added: “The principle involved is vitally Important. When the government undertakes to operate production facilities or services—activities quite apart from governmental func tions—should the government conform to the standards and procedures found suitable for other employers? If the gov ernment is free to reject principles established as best practice to assure justice for all concerned, do we as citi zens of a democracy wish legislation that permits govern ment representatives to compete with private enterprise and operate without’ regard to the legal rights of employ ers and employes? “Determination of work processes by the injunction pro cess makes workers an underprivileged ‘class’—denied equal opportunity and subject to judge-made laws. The Admin irtration has reverted to discredited methods. “The American Federation oft Labor convinced Congress that such abuse of the equity process was unjust and should r.ot be permitted to deny organized workers their rights. The Administration now makes it necessary to convince Congress that the same law should apply to all employers— public or private. "There always follows in the wage of war terrific impact of conflicting interests, increased because of opportunity for change. Social and political upheavals have frequent ly occurred in these transitional periods. "Against the conflict of opposing conceptions of a way of life in the United Nations which we are witnessing, we have a similar conflict in our domestic economy. We had made great progress before the war in extending oppor tunities for economic betterment to all groups and in estab lishing the idea that workers as well as those managing business had a right to negotiate a contract stipulating terms under which work was performed. , "The reactionaries now seek to establish arbitrary instead of democratic government for workers. The permanent trends in history are for greater freedom for more people. Neither political nor economic despots can permanently stop developmnet toward this end. But whether progress is constructive or bloody depends upon how deeply there is imbedded in the minds and hearts of all an appreciation of the dignity of every human person as well as responsibility for honesty in all our dealings. » "We face a future beset with serious dangers. The ele ments of reaction are doing all possible to destroy labor’s gains. Labor must strive to conserve the ideals of freedom and opportunity that are our rich heritage. Honest devo tion to these ideals will see our nation through this crisis." “LEA ACT DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL The United States District Court in Chicago this week handed down a decision holding as unconstitutional the Lea Act, frequently referred to as the “anti-Petrillo law,” and exonerated James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians (AFL), of criminal charges filed against him under that statute. In declaring the law invalid, a goal long sought by Pe trillo in his consistent battle to erase this act from the books. Judge Walter J. La Buy ruled out an information which charged Petrillo with violation of the statute by call ing a strike of his musicians at a Chicago radio station. Rep. Lea of California, House spnn—r of the act, strong judge La Buy asserted that, in hig opinion, the Lea Act was a violation of the First, FiffH*4nd Thirteenth Amend ments to the Constitution. " - Conceding that Congress is not powerless to act “or that the objectives of this act are beyond the reach of Federal legislative control,” the court ruled, nevertheless, that the legislaiton concerned in the test case sought? to make mu sicians “a class separate and apart from all other employes” throughout the country. The test case began May 28. when Petrillo sought to have three additional record librarians employed by Station WAAF. Two weeks later the Government filed a criminal information against him. During the trial, Petrillo contended that the Lea law was “onesided and discriminatory” because its sponsors “pur posely and intentionally framed it” to discriminate against radio stations and to protect the profits of stations. The court found that under the Lea legislation broadcast ing employes have not the same rights and privileges as other employes; they are penalized and prohibited in the contractual negotiations, while other employes enjoy the right which is denied them.” “The Fifth Amendment,” Judge La Buy held, “imposes a restriction upon Congress, not specific, but equally effec tive as to arbitrary classification.! “The guarantee of peaceful picketing is found in the spe cific guarantee of freedom of speech by the First? Amend ment ; the guarantee of freedom to withdraw from employ ment or refuse to accept employment? is found in the spe cific guarantees of the Fifth and Thirteenth Amendments. ly intimated that he would prea Congress for a tightening of tig with the Constitution. U. S. At! nounced his intention of carrying ■. Court. the next session of r to bring it in line JFJ. Albert Woll au to the Supreme 'This statute could be used to deprive the members of the musicians’ union of the right to quit work collectively as a means of enforcing their demands with reference to the making of a new contract. All other employes of this country have the right to quit work collectively in order to use their bargaining power; they have the right to strike in order to enforce their demands.” Informed of the court’s ruling, Petrillo declared: “Thank God for the Federal courts, where they preach and practice democracy, where they say that the Constitu tion applies to musicians as well as to the National Associ ation of Broadcasters, and where they say Congress cannot discriminate against 200,000 musicians.” LABOR—U. S. A. I V ..BUI.IIUKjniMIIIIMU The twenty-first edition of the American Federationist of the Air, broadcast on the “Labor, J USA” program over the Ameri can Broadcasting Company net work, . included the following out standing feature articles to sup plement the news: THB COAL CRI81S By Beds Shishkin AFL Economist The mining of bituminous coal in the United States has stopped,! although no strike has l-een catled. I The miners have individually and voluntarily refused to work with-1 out a contract prescribing and safeguarding the standards of I their employment, in accordance with their long-established tradi tion. The responsibility for this halt in coal mining which vitally af fects every industry and every family in the nation rests square ly upon the government. It is the result of a calculated and de liberate imposition of arbitrary compulsion upon a group of American workers who are re quired to do the toughest and dirtiest job in the nation’s indus try. For such work their peren nial reward has been poverty, in security, accident and sudden death. I am not free to discuss the merits of the issues involved in the coal crisis. The War Labor Disputes Act denies to me and to you and to any other person the right of free speech regarding a work stoppage in a plant or mine 1 seised and operated by the Gov-' eminent. It imposes a criminal I penalty upon anyone who utters1 words that may be interpreted as' an encouragement to workers who refuse to subject themselves to' involuntary servitude. I will tell you, however, some of the facts at the heart of the coal problem. The scheduled workweek in all the mines calls for 54 hours a week, or nine hours a day every day of the week except Sunday. The aver age miner goes down in the shaft when it is stlil dark and comes out of the mine after nightfall. While working underground he is in constant danger, not only to his health, but also his life. But even if he escapes such hasards his strength is sapped and his life is shortened because he works in the dark without fresh air, in haling dangerous gasses and lit erally eating coal dust. He can see sunshine only on Sundays. But the sun does not always shine on Sundays. The labor cost per ton of coal is about $2. The price of coal mined and delivered to the rail road yard averages $3.76 a ton. The retail price for the same ton «f soft coal paid by the average American family this fall was over $12. So you see, the coal miner gets only about one-sixth, or 17 per cent, of what you pay for your coal. The average hourly straight time pay of the coal miner is $1.18 1-2 cents an hour. The comparabe base pay in automo bile manufacturing today is $1.35 an hour for lighter and much less dangerous work. Coal mining is ■ sick industry. Its economic problem is • chronic one. It exists not only in Amer ica bat in every nation where coal is mined. England and Prance and Belgium have recur ring coal crises, too. We will never solve the coal crisis by the unrealistic method of trying to place the blame on any j particular individual or union. Not a single ton of coal can be mined by bayonets or court in junctions. We have to dig deep er than that for the basic solu tion. We have to establish con ditions which will give the coal miners, the industry and the na tion’s consumers industrial peace and economic security, THE HIGH COST OF GIVING By Boraiece Heffner, Secretary Treasurer of the Government Employes With prices still going up and the cost of living continuing to mount, the hard-pressed wage earners of the nation are now confronted with • new problem— the high cost of giving. Never before have the prices of Christmas gifts been set so wickedly high. Anyone who has tried to do some early Christmas shopping, as I have dohe will be able to confirm that statement from personal experience. Especially is this situation true with regard to gifts for the chil dren. Good quality clothing for kids is too expensive for most budgets—and low-priced clothes have disappeared from the store shelves. Toys have also felt the effects of inflation. It takes a good-sized chunk out of a week’s pay to buy a doll. As for a toy train for junior, it’s almost nec essary to float a railroad loan to purchase one. Now people are naturally in clined to be generous at Christ mas time. Even ordinarily care ful shoppers don’t like to look a! price tags when it comes to gifti for those they love. But the heavy tide of holiday buying at exorbitant prices is bound to be come part of an inflationarj sweep which will effect the cost of everything all of us need ii our daily lives. So you will be doing yourseli and the entire country a favor it you don’t buy luxury gifts thii year. Competitive bidding foi scarce articles will only push prices higher. I am not advocat ing a buyer’s strike — but I do think it will be wise to buy only useful and economical presents this year. And I might add that it will pay you to look for the union label before you ^uy. The union label guarantees that the article is made in America by skilled workers under decent and sani tary conditions. There is one gift that is always appreciated and which ^ has not gone up in price, a gift which will increase in value as the years gc by. I refer to United States Sav ings Bonds. That kind ol giving does not add to the cost of liv ing. FALSE ECONOMY By Frank Fenton. AFL National Organisation Director The Department of Labor an nounced the other day that forty men will have to be dropped from the staff of the United States Conciliation Service before the end of the year for economy rea sons. This is one of the worst ex amples eft false economy in the Government service which has ever come to my attention and 1 am certain that the, American people will agree with me. At this moment, the nation faces a period of serious labor unrest. The reasons for it arc obvious. When prices for the necessities of life keep going up, workers are forced to seek higher wages. It is not my purpose here to argue the merits of the disputes which are looming be tween labor and management in many fields. I merely want to emphasise that such differences are bound to arise unless condi tions change suddenly in the months ahead. The American Federation of Labor believes that disputes over wages and other labor-manage ment problems can and should be settled by collective bargaining without resort to strikes. Bat frequently collective bargaining is thwarted and cannot even bo gin to operate for various rea sons—including the beat normal ly generated by a dispute.' That is where the Conciliation Service stqps in. Aa a neutral party, with the prestige of the United States Government behind him, the De partment of Labor conciliator can almost always prevail upon tne employer and the union represen tatives to sit down together and listen to reason. The Concilia tion Service has a magnificent record in avoiding strikes. It also has a good record in bringing about prompt settlement of strikes that otherwise might have be come seriously prolonged. Under these circumstances, it become! evident that to cripple the staff of the Conciliation Serv ice at this time would be a track mistake. As a member of the labor-man agement advisory committee to the Conciliation Service, I hSve consistently urged that, the num ber of conciliators be increased and that their standards be im proved so that the highest type of men and women can be at tracted to these vitally important jobs. It is high time that Congress stopped treating the Department of Labor as a step-child and pro vided ample funds for its effi cient operation. Then the nation would be far better equipped to establish and to preserve indus trial oeace. tPOK mt this Siam tsfl tkhSiga StkiiBaUl* RATCLIFFE’8 FLOWERS . 131 b. Trymm Phoac 718* II Pays To Trade With DOGGETT LUMBER CO. 211 E. Park Art. •172 START - ^ ScUH+Uj i /icccu*t JV' HQyi THE COMMERCIAL NATIONAL BANK Charlotte, N. C. New and Reconditioned PIANOS For the best value in NEW1 or reconditioned pianos, select yours from our stock of nearly 100 instruments. Setinway, Mathushek, Winter, Howard, and many others. Prices to suit everyone. ANDREWS MUSIC CO. “Oar 51st Year" ' "Steinway Headquarters" Ml North Tryon Street Wwilitf tnLaffa - wW vpiVvC ■ i® • Ml nos PARKER-GARDNER CO. US W. TrSr* '^Phene «7 DeVONDE Synthetic Cleaners. Dyers Hatters, Farriers Seres Petals Why We Are One of the South's Leading Syathetic Cleesers 1. Restores original freshness and sparkle. 2. Removes carefnDy all dirt, dost and grease. 8. Harmless te the poet deli cate of fabrics. A Odorless, thorough cleaning. 5. Garments stay clean longer. A Press retained longer. T. Reduces wardrobe upkeep. De VONDE Can 8-5125 884 N. Tryon St The Charlotte Labor Journal covera the entire State in labor reader coverage. A FRIENDLY CHURCH PHTCHJIflD MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH 1117 Baath Boakvarl Landay Scbaol t:4f a. a. IWonhlD Service* 11.*00 a. m. 7:30 p. m. Training Unioa 8:00 p. M. Dr. William Harrison Williams, Pastor > For Indigestion, Sour Stomach and Gas, Taka NA-CO TABLETS MONET BACK GUARANTEE SELWYN CUT RATE DRUG STORE NEXT TO POST OFFICE \ Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. Sixth Stmt “KNOW THE ICE CREAM YOU EAT* OUR PLEDGE OF QUALITY ON EACH PACKAGE I C t C U F A m *• health food" PET DAIRY PRODUCTS CORP. yandla. - UJaathahA. TflidbuoL JunnkoL CtAHodedtum. Ambulance Service • ♦ • •* * 820 E. Morehead Street t'hone 6129 One of Charlotte's Fastest Growing Organizations Big Star Little Star f—4 Stars* SUPER-MARKET- PRICED, M S«mm. YmI U |U fN M BIG STAR S///WMARKETS ^umismgpto ^COLONIAL STORES The Labor Journal la a Choice Advertising Medium Martin’s Department Store RELIABLE MERCHANDISE ALWAYS AT LOW PRICES Shop at Wloudiri and Soon SHOES—CLOTHING—FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY AT CORNER TRADE AMD COLLEGE
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 5, 1946, edition 1
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