Editorial
CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL & DIXIE FARM NEWS
Published Weekly at Charlotte, N. C.
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Entered as second-class mail matter September 11, 1981, at the Post
Office at Charlotte, N. C.. under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870
Official Organ of the Charlotte Central Labor Union and Approved by
The American Federation of 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 character, standing or
reputation of any person. Arm or corporation which may appear to
the columns of The Labor Journal “will oe gladlv corrected when called
to the attention of toe publisher. Correspondence and Open Forum
opinions solicited. ^______
. V?
PRODUCTION IS ONE KEY TO AVERT INFLATION
“There is a [Sressing need for expanding production and
increasing consumer purchasing power if we are to avoid
a period of boom and bust and danger to our free private
enterprise system,” says George M. Harrison, president of
the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and Fifth Vice Presi
dent of the AFL in an article prepared for the American
Federationist. ......
“Greater production is essential if we are to avoid furth
er inflation and its destructive consequences. Full produc
tion and increased consumption is the key to real prosperity
for all.
“To get the needed production, the first step is to re
move all governmental wartime restraints and controls that
interfere with the full exercise by our people of their
democratic rights, so as to give industry and labor the
opportunity to cooperate in the national interest. Supply
and demand must be brought more nearly into balance.
“While recent price increases will cut demand to some
extent, the real cure is more production, accompanied by
a reduction in prices and greater consumption.
“At this critical period we need a larger appreciation of
our national interest, our respective rights and mutual
responsibilities. Our system of private competitive capi
talism must continue to be the foundation of our nation’s
peaceful and expanding economy. We must re-establish
the rights of private property and free choice of action.
Free competition and free men are the strength of our free
society. • Management of industry must enjoy the inherent
right to fulfill the responsibility of directing the opera
tions and securing a reasonable profit.
/ “American private industry faces the opportunity of a
century to produce on a scale greater than ever hereto
fore attained. It is an opportunity to establish an econ
omy of plenty in America instead of scarcity; an oppor
tunity to supply jobs and provide increasingly better liv
ing conditions and advantages for the American people—
in short, the opportunity to justify the advantages of our
free enterprise system. But freedom of enterprise implies
no license to exploit the people and to engage in practices
destructive of our economy and national interest.
“ We have passed from that period in our national life
when many owners of industry and property believed that
free enterprise and private ownership vested in them the
power to dominate and control those who work for them.
Freedom of enterprise cannot be enjoyed by the owners
and managers of industry and denied to labor under our
democratic form of government.
“If we are to maintain free enterprise in America with
all that the term implies, we must also maintain freedom
cf labor with all that it implies. Certainly there is a clear
and inseparable relationship between the two which makes
the maintenance of one contingent upon the maintenance
of the other.
“If we claim for the owners of industry and management
the right to own and manage property, to earn a fair re
turn upon their investment, and to risk and explore in the
field of industry and financial activities free from govern
mental interference and domination, it appears clear we
must recognize that labor possesses the right to work and
serve as free men and women, to organize for mutual pro
tection, to bargain collectively and to exercise its economic
strength and power just as management and owners of
industry control their finances and their investments.
“The independence and dignity of the individual and
the enjoyment of his democratic rights are inherent in
our free American society. Labor does not agree with
those persons in America who hold free enterprise in con
tempt or who would seek to deprive the working people
of their liberties and freedom of action. Increasing pro
duction can only be achieved by that spirit of tolerance
cf the full rights of all and by co-operation in the national
interest.”
GOVERNMENT BOARD FAVORS GUARANTEED WAGE
A guaranteed annual wage can help
importantly in stabilizing the American economy and in
pointing to an enduring prosperity, according to the conclu
sion of a special Government study.
The formal report, made at the request of the White
House, was presented by a group headed by Murray W.
Latimer, former chairman of the Railroad Retirement
Board.
Discussing the current demand for guaranteed wages as
r “normal and perhaps inevitable result of the sequence
of economic events since the First World War, the report
said in part:
“During and for a brief period following the First World
War, the level of economic activity reached new and un
precedented heights. Following a severe but short-lived
depression, a still higher level of activity was achieved in
the twenties, followed by the most severe depression of
modern industrial history.
“The demand for wage guarantees is a response to ex
perience. On the one hand, the response regards the high
levels of economic activity achieved as proving that large
production and security earningss can be maintained; on
the other hand, it regards the economic fluctuations of the
past as establishing the need for assurance that earnings
and living standards will bd maintained. The demand for
wage guarantees is essentially a demand for the security
of substantial and regular earnings.”
Projecting firmly into the picture the conviction that un
employment insurance has not proven the answer to the
workers' hunt for security, the report declared:
“Unemployment insurance benefits are no substitute for
pay. They are, one the average, less than half pay. The
durations of benefits are almost everywhere briefer than
is desirable.
“Employment experience rating in unemployment in
surance has not acted, to any substantial degree, as an in
centive to employers to stabilize employment. Instead,
experience rating has encouraged employers to seek means
to avoid paying benefits and has produced competition
among employers to seek means to avoid paying benefits
and has produced competition among the States to lower
contributions and benefit standards."
All unemployment insurance reserves, the report pointed
out, “have accumulated huge reserves—reserves sufficient
to pay benefits for the maximum duration to a large per
centage of au covered workers. The possibility that any
such reserves will be required is extremely remote.”
Although he made the point that the group making the
study recognized that a guaranteed wage constituted no
immediate panacea, Mr. Latimer added:
“On the other hand, it recognized that it is quite clear
that widespread wage guaranteed systems can be made a
substantial contribution to the stabilization of the economy
through the stabilization of wage-earner income, and,
hence, consumer expenditures."
LABOR—U. S. A.
-~.-.—.-.- -- —. .
The twenty-second edition of
the American Federation ist of the
Air, broadcast on the “Labor,
USA” program over the American
Broadcasting Company network,
included the following outstand
ing feature articles to supplement
the news:
LABOR LOOKS AHEAD
By Irving Brown, European Rep
resentative of the AFL
Europe today is a sputtering
fuse which, if neglected and left
unguarded, may touch off an
other world-wide explosion with
in our time.
The one hopeful factor in post
war Europe is the great resur
gence of its labor movements.
Free trade-unionism is the most
powerful force for the revival of
democracy among the nations of
Europq which are not completely
dominated by Soviet Russia.
We must face the facts. Free
enterprise or capitalism, as we
know it in America, has practi
cally disappeared in Europe. The
political and economic struggle in
Europe is between the totalitarian
socialism of Russia and the demo
cratic socialism of Great Britain.
Today the Russian brand of col
lectivism holds sway in Eastern
Europe up to the Elbe. It pre
vails also in the eastern sones of
Germany and Austria, which are
under Russian control. In France
the Communists are the strongest
single political party but strong
opposition is developing to end
their domination of the French
trade union movement. 1
uur hope for the future of
Europe lies elsewhere. It lies
with the newly reorganized trade
unions which are being rebuilt in
the western sones of Germany and
in other nations now freed from
Nasi oppression.
The American Federation of
Labor firmly intends to help the
free and democratic unions of
Europe to get back on their feet
because they represent the last
hope of rallying the people of
Europe effectively for the pres
ervation of peace and freedom.
To that end, the recent AFL
convention authorised the opening
of * permanent office in Europe.
I am leaving for the other side
next week to take charge of It.
Through this office relief and
assistance, provided by AFL
members throughout America, will
be channeled to the workers of
Europe and their free trade un
ions. This is a continuation of
our war-time program. Her will
endeavor to keep American union
leaders informed on labor devel
opments in Europe and bring to
European workers the latest in
formation on economic advances
in America. The European of
fice of the AFL will publish and
distribute a monthly international
bulletin in four langauges—Ger
man, French, Italian and English,
to spreak this information far
and wide.
We will also keep tabs on all
international conferences and
trade union conventions in the na
tions of Europe.
Finally, we hope to promote
the exchange of trade union del*
er at ions so that both American
and European labor movements
can become better acquainted with
their mutual problems and reach
broader international understand
ing.
REMEMBER THE VETERANS
By Lewis G. Hines, Legislative
Representative for the AFL
Organised labor will not permit
American war veterans to become
forgotten men and women of this
country. Veterans’ problems did
not end with V-J Day. Ii^ fact,
their problems are a long way
from being solved even now, more
than a year after the war’s con
clusion. That is why the Amer
icpn Federation of Labor will par
ticipate along with 40 other large
organisations in the National
Conference on Veterans Affairs
which begins here in Washing
ton next Tuesday.
Even a casual glance at the
subjects to be considered at this
conference makes it painfull
clear that our nation as af whole
has failed to meet the needs of
our returning veterans in many
important respects. Especially is
this true of housing. Also, too,
many veterans still are unem
ployed. Partially disabled vet
erans have met heart breaking
obstacles in trying to obtain jobs
which they can perform effici
ently if they were only given a
fair trial. The whole question
of Government responsibility for
the welfare of veterans must be
more clearly defined than it has
to date in the GI Bill of Rights
and other legislation.
About 1,800,000 members of our
affiliated anions served with the
armed forces during the war. So
our concern with veterans’ prob
lems is not merely an academic
question with us. It is a respon
sibility. |
The records will shdtr that our
unions have helped hundreds of
thousands of veterans to get their
jobs back without loss of sen
iority. New jobs were found for
many others at good pay and
under the finest working condi
tions. Veterans were welcomed
into the unions without being re
quired to pay initiation fees. Of
an estimated 100,000 union ap
prentices last October, nearly 85,
000 were veterans and this num
ber is being stepped up every
day. More than any other or
ganisation in the country, our un
ions have succeeded in securing
suitable jobs for disabled veter
ans.
When it comes to housing, I
can truthfully report that the
Building and Construction Trades
Department of the AFL has la
bored unceasingly to get adequate
legislation adopted by Congress
and to speed up home construc
tion. Our workers are ready to
build millions of new homes the
moment materials become avail
able.
These are some of the tangible
ways in which the labor move
ment is trying to get a break for
the veterans
FACTORIES* INVENTORIES
PLACED AT <400.000,MO
Washington, D. C.—A report by
the Commerce Department re
vealed that the value of manufac
turers’ ’inventories rose another
<400,000,000 in September to to
tal nearly <18,800,000,000. This
advance just about equaled that
of August and this increase has
been maintained since the first of
the year.
The Department declared that
inventories are now $2,600,000,000
above January l, with the third
quarter accounting for a $1,600,
000,000 increase. Higher prices
had an important effect on the re
cent increase in dollar value of in
ventories, the Department pointed
out. Every major industry had
higher shipments, with the dur
able goods industry’s daily aver
age rate up 7 1-2 per cent over
August and its inventories up
$300,000,000 with the exception of
the food industry, the only group
in which the shipping total was
below that of August.
NEW YORK 8TAGE ARTISTS
GIVEN , 75-CENT INCREASE
New York City.—A wage in
crease of 75 cents an hour, bring
ing their hourly rate to $3.75,
was granted to the United Scen
ic Artists, Local 829 (AFL), by
the rheatrical Contractors’ associ
ation.
Immediately following this
agreement, work was resumed on
stage settings for 28 forthcom
ing Broadway theatrical produc
tions.
OVER 2,000,000 IN COLLEGE
Washington, D. C.—Marking an
increase of 50 per cent over the
previous peak, more than 2,000,
000 students were attending the
colleges and universities through
out the United States at the
opening of the fall terms this
year, it was revealed by the Fed
eral Security Agency.
AIR MAIL FLOW RISES
Washington, D. C.—Recent re
duction to a 5-cent air mail
charge has boosted transporta
tion of mail by that method by
40 per cent, former Representa
tive Ramspeck reported at a
meet here. He is now executive
vice president of the Air Trans
port Association.
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