Editorial
CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL & DIXIE FARM NEWS
. , , Published Weekly at Charlotte, N. C._
Address AH Communications to Post Office Bo* 1061
n Telephones 3-3094 and 4-6802
Office of Publication: 118 East Sixth Street, Charlotte, N. C.
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H. A. Suits, Editor and Publisher _W. M. Witter, Associate Editor
Entered as second-class mail matter September 11, at the Post
Office at Charlotte, N. C., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879
Official Organ of the CharlotU Central Labor Union and Approved by
The American Federation of Labor and the
North Carolina t Federation of Labor_
The Labor Journal will not be responsible for opinions
spondents. but any erroneous reflecting upon tha chwacter, stw^ng or
renutation of any person, Arm or corporation which may appear in
the columns of The Labor Journal will be gladly corrected when called
to the attention of the publisher. Correspondence and Open Forum
opinions solicited. ____
■ AFL OFFICIALS CONDEMN TARIFF POLICY
Officials of the American Federation of Labor, appear
ing before the State Department’s Committee for Reci
procity Information, have been sharply critical of the pol
icy followed by this government and bluntly charged the
department with a "lack of interest in the welfare of Amer
jcan ^ork6r8»” *
John B. Haggerty, chairman of the Board of' Governors
of the Allied Printing Trades Association and president of
the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, told the com
“The printing tradesmen of the United States, highly
skilled and likewise highly organized, realize the very
apparent efforts of State Department officials to deprive
them of their work opportunities.”
Mr. Haggerty told the committee that the workers in the
printing trades are not seeking any monopoly, that they
want only a fair wage under American living standards,
and a fair profit for their employers, but are being in
creasingly annoyed "by efforts of the State Department to
have the manufacturing provisions of the Copyright Act,
modified, repealed or nullified.” . _ , .
Concluding a strong statement on the entire issue of
tariffs and the competition of cheap>Jabor, Mr. Haggerty
called for a careful study of the changed conditions in many
foreign countries and of cornetitive conditions prevailing
in the production of books and other printed matter.
James M. Duffy, president of the National Brotherhood
of Operative Potters (AFL>; another witness before the
committee, cited reports of the Tariff Commission, show
ing that competitive pottery articles produced in Germany
and Japan were being delivered into the American market
at from 40 to 60 per cent of American costs of comparable
items. _
He stated that with a labor cost of some 60 per cent,
and, with wages paid to American workers of $1.20 per
„ hour compared with wages of 24 cents per hour paid to
British workers and six cents per hour paid to workers in
Japan a tariff rate which will equalize the difference in
labor costs was necessary if we were to maintain work op
portunities for American pottery workers.
Conceding that It was good military strategy to prevent
Japan and Germany producing munitions of war for many
years, but insisting that these countries be allowed to pro
duce articles which could be sold in other countries, includ
ing the United States, in order that the peoples of those
countries could feed and clothe themselves, instead of being
a drain on the American taxpayers, President Duffy in
sisted that, unless tariff rates are placed in effect which
will equalize the difference in costs of production that jobs
cf American workers will be transferred to the workers in
these and other countries, due to the difference in wages
paid. ~ •
President Duffy insisted that competitive imports which
are delivered into American markets at total costs which
are less than American costs of production in fact nullifies
the intent and the purpose of the Asiatic Exclusion and the
Restrictive Immigration laws.
Harry H. Cook, Ohio, president of the American Flint
Glaap Workers’ Association (AFL), told the committee the
State Department has agreed to tariff rates which findings
of the Tariff Commission did not find were equalized in
production costs.
Stripping aside all veneer, Mr. Cook bluntly told the com
mittee:
“When we examine the situation of American and Czecho
slovakian products, it is quite clear that our own govern
ment has .knowingly sold our American glassware workers
down the river.’’ . • . '
President Cook quoted a statement of William Green,
President, American Federation of Labor, on Trade Agree
ments, as follows: * . A .
“We are certainly committed to the protection of Ameri
can standards, and we could not be influenced by anybody
to support legislation that we believed would lower Ameri
can standards of living; wq. still possess the power to
handle our own domestic affairs so far as Tariff and Recip
rocal Trade Agreements are concerned, and when efforts
are made to eliminate obstacles to trade between nations,
workers must be assured that lower tariffs do not mean
lower labor standards. Labor thinks that it should be a
fixed and determined policy, on the part of the govern
ment, to protect labor against lower standards of living and
lower standards of wages in the negotiation of reciprocal
trade agreements, and that in all these agreements con
sideration should be given to the degree of protection that
ought to be accorded to labor and industry in our own
country.”
CLOTHING INDUSTRY BACKS AFL STAND
Employers in the Nation’s 800-million-dollar-a-year men’s
clothing industry have thrown their wholehearted support
behind the stand of the American Federation of Labor
against legislation to outlaw the closed shop. v
The stabilizing influence obtained»through the closed
.shop and collective bargaining are clearly demonstrated
throughout the clothing industry, declared Victor S. Ries
enfeld, who has headed the bargaining committee of the
U. S. Clothing Manufacturers’ Association since it was
founded in 1939.
Asserting that legislation which would impose important
curbs on collective bargaining would represent “a back
ward step” in the opinion of doting manufacturers, Rieeen
feld said that industry-wide bargaining has proved an im
portant factor in ending cut-throat competition in the cloth
ing field. *
As Riesenfeld was issuing his statement, the General Ex
ecutive Board of the Internationa) Ladies’ Garment Work
ers Union, meeting in New York, ended its quarterly ses
sion with a sound warning that anti-labor measures now
being studied in Congress could result only in "provoking
new bitterness, resentment and discontent” and toss into
a questionable balance all peaceful labor relations through
out the country.
The views of the board were clearly set forth in a tel
egraphic message to Senator Taft of Ohio, newly elected
chairman of the Senate Labor and Welfare Committee. It
was signed by David Dubinsky, president of the union and
a vice president of the AFL. It contained a strong appeal
to the Senate to eschew "hysteria and vengefulness” in its
approach to labor legislation.
The message from the ILGWU took sharp issue with the
Ball bill, which would outlaw the closed shop and bargain
ing on an industry-wide basis.
Employer groups animated by a desire for industrial
peace, accept the union shop as "the only effective and
mtional method of maintaining it,” the union asserted.
Taking issue with the argument that the closed shop made
unions monopolistic, the garment workers likened the re*
nnirements that workers join unions to the obligation of
citizens to “forego certain prerogatives for the sake of the
community as a whole.”
Industry-wide bargaining was defended as a ’“logical and
natural” method of carrying on stable relations between
organized workers and employers in modern industry.
Contributions totaling $470,000 were voted by the ex
ecutive board for domestic and' overseas relief activities.
Included w.as a donation of $75,000 for construction of a
trade school at Palermo, Sicily, and a four-year mainter
nance fund of $100,000.
The Joint Distribution Committee and *he Jewish Labor
Committee were voted $100,000 each. The Federation of
Jewish Philanthropies received $50,000 and the Organization
for Rehalibitation and Training (ORT) $45,000.
Subscribers to The Journal should send in their renewal
subscriptions immediately. The price is $2.00 per year.
Much is happening in Dixie in the labor world and you
should not miss a single issue. Address Charlotte Labor
Journal, J*. Q. Box 1061, Charlotte, N. C., and remit by
either money order or check.
AFL UNIONS IN BALTIMORE
ORGANIZE POLITICAL UNIT
TO PUSH LABOR AIMS
Baltimore, Mo.—Delegates from
most of Baltimore’s 130 Ameripaofl
Federation of Labor’s locals, in 1
what was described in the press j
here as organised labor’s most
important bid for a strong voice
in politics, voted unanimously to;
form the Nonpartisan Political
League of Baltimore. The meeting
at which the decision was reached !
was held in the Plumbers’ Hall, i
Robert J. Buxbaum, president
of the Baltimore and District of
Columbia Federation of ■* Labor,
urged all members of the new
group to take an active interest
in all legislative proposals affect
ing labor. |
The Nonpartisan Political
League, which intends to be well- |
enough organized to participate
strongly in the May city elections,
will be composed of five delegates
from each AFL local and the Bal
timore Federation of Labor.
*if. ---
CONNOLLY PICKED TO HEAD
LABOR STANDARDS OFFICE
Secretary of Labor Schwellen
bach has appointed William L.
Connolly as Director of the La
bor Standards Division. Mr. Con
nolly is a member of the Inter-!
national Typographical Union. He
was president of the Rhode Island
State Federation of Latter for 10
years, and for the past 6 years j
was Directorr of Labor for the1
State of Rhode Island.
DOCK TKUCKERS GAIN
New Orleans, La.—The Team*
ster Local 966 here has organised
Terry Smith ft Son, Inc., em
ployes. These are truck drivers
and helpers whose work is haul*
ing and stevedoring for long
shoremen in loading and unload
ing ships. The hourly rate for all
workers before organisation eras
66 cents an hour. The new con
tract established a minimum of
80 centa to fl.10.
AFL TEXTILE UNION WINS
Nashville, Tenn. — United Tex
tile Workers (AFL) here have
won an election at Southern Spin
ning Mill. The company em
ploys over 300 workers in pro- I
diction and maintenance.
AFL UNION IN W. VA. WINS
Richwood, W. Va.—Members of
Federal Labor Union 88103
(AFL) won an election here at
the Wallace Corporation, This
election involved US company
employes. I
GOVERNMENT PLANS
TO .DROP 110,000 FROM
PAYROLL BY JULY 1
Washington, D. C. — Plans to
drop at least 110,00 more em
ployes from the Federal payroll
by next July 1 were revealed by
Joseph E. Winslow, personnel ad
viser of the Budget Bureau, in
testimony before the Senate Civil
Service Comittee.
Winslow explained that this
figure referred to people who will
be laid off in the United States
and overseas fend not merely to*
jobs discontinued. Then he went
on to point out that the number
of people to lose their jobs prob
alily would be greater than 110,
000, since “part-time equivalents”
of full-time employes were in
cluded. That is, he said, two
part-time employes might be laid
off instead of one full-time work
er.
In executive session after its
Hearing's, the committee agreed
to launch an immediate investiga
tion into agencies operating cafe
terias and lunchrooms in Fed
eral buildings.
Winslow told the committee,
seeking to reduce Government
costs by streamlining employment,
that the 110,000 slash would bring
the number of employes down to
2,176,600 from a wartime high of
3,722,000 June 30, 1946.
In the last six months of 1946,
he said, 435,000 employes were
dropped. He said that savings,
“if any," would have to be made
in the War, Navy, Postoffice and
Treasury Departments and the
Veterans Administration, which
employ 78 per cent of the totaL
WASHINGTON TYPO UNION
GETS SUBSTANTIAL RAISE
Washington, D. C.—An increase
of 34.1 cents an hour was ac
cepted overwhelmingly by mem
bers of the Columbia Typographi
cal Union here. The raise will be
retroactive to August 10.
Under terms of the new agree
ment, the hourly rate of printers,
machine operators and proofread
ers in job shops will he boosted
to $1.87 per hour on a 37H-hour
week.
Newspaper printers settled
their scale several weeks ago and
the scale of the Government
Printing Officd was approved al
so by the Joint Printing Commit
tee. Under the new agreement
an increase of 20 per cent was
approved for some 2,800 in the
GPO.
W the Quality of leadership
that makes Leaderf
M*
INSECURITY INCREASES
TENSION AMONG GROUPS
IN U. S, PARLEY IS TOLD
Rising economic insecurity since
the end of the war has increased j
tension among groups in the
United States, Howard E. Wilson,
chairman of the Commisssion on
Educational Organisations of the
National Conference of Christians
and Jews, said yesterday.
The aim of his organisation is
to have all groups in America
“properly adjusted” to one an
other, Mr. Wilson said. The com
mission concluded * its annual
meeting here yesterday in the1
Willard Hotel.
Dr. Hilda. Taba-, of Chicago
University and director of inter
group education in co-operating
schools, said promises made dur
ing the war aiM?t not lived up to
since have caused some tension.
She said this was particularly
true of veterans from minority
groups of the population. t
The commissioners recently
completed a survey of textbooks
used in school and concluded they
are “not guilty of planned deroga
tion of groups, but are guilty of
failing to come to grips with bas
ic issues in the complex problems
of human relations.” j
i It advocated a change in the
! course of studies in schools, con
tending that “only as those
courses of study demand the in
clusion of topics on inter-group
! relations, some of which are in
evitably controversial,^ will the
textttooks be substantially im
proved." •' •
Other projects now under way
ana discussed Dy tne commission
in their closed meetings here in
clude work in 18 public school
i systems being performed by a
staff of experts in human rela
tions, a teacher training program,
and a program for college stu
dents.
RECORD GLASS OUTPUT
New York City—An unprece
dented demand for glass in the
building industry last year
brought into play reserve produc
tion facilities boosting output tn
a new peak, it was reported here
by the Libbey-Owens-Fard Glass
Company. The company announced
production of a record volume of'
polished plate glass and window j
glass, in addition' to safety glass
for automotive requirements.
Uncle Sam Says
Abraham Lincoln’* birthday ahonld
he a reminder to my niece* and
nephew* that they have the oppor
tunity to emancipate themaelve*
from future Insecurity by baying
United State* Savings Bends regu
larly. Every time yen bay a bead
yen've added something to the fa
tare yon’re creating—a heme, an
education for year children, a secure
eld age for year self. Every signed
payroll savings antherisatioa card Is
ft pertftftftl emftftcipftilftft pfftclftnift*
tion—emancipation from the slavery
Every regular purchase «f a Sav
er nibeie yen work is another step
•award future happiness.
V.S. Tfw ry Dtfvtmm!
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