AFFILIATE
WRH YOUR
CENTRAL LABOR
UNION
AND THE
N. C. FEDERATION
NOW!
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 AFL Unions and Employers of Labor
Charlotte Labor Journal
A Sewn paper Dedicated To The Interests of Charlotte Central Labor Union and Affiliated Crafts—Endorsed Bp Sorth
Carolina Federation of Labor and Approved By The American Federation of Labor.
CHARLOTTE. N. C„ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1947
. -
“Were it not for the labor
pres*, 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 th#
cause."—Samuel Gompers.
VOL. XVI' NO. 42
Subscription $2.00 Per Year
Public Hearing To Be
Held Next Thursday
A public hearing on the proposed anti-closed shop bill
for North Carolina, which was passed by the House last
week, will be held by the Senate Labor and Manufacturing
Committee on Wednesday and Thursday, March 5 and 6.
Proponents of the anti-union legislation will appear and
express their views and Labor will be given an oppor
tunity to express the views of Labor. The' committee
has announced that it will not rush the matter through
without giving all parties ample opportunity to be heard.
Hon. Josephus Daniels, edior of The Raleigh News and
Observer, made an able appeal before the House committee
in behalf of Labor and against the House bill, as did also
Frank Graham of the University of North Carolina, E. B.
Jeffries of The Greensboro Daily1 News, Capus Waynick of
Raleigh, and others not affiliated with the Labor move
ment. President C. A. Fink of the North Carolina Feder
ation of Labor led Labor's delegation for the AFL, and
It is believed that the entire Mecklenburg delegation in
the House voted against the measure on the grounds that
neither Labor nor Management in North Carolina should
be shackled in their efforts to continue to work harmo
niously together.
A large delegation of members of Charlotte Unions will
go to Raleigh for the hearing, headed by President Sterling
L. Hicks of Charlotte Central Labor Union, and J. A.
Scoggins, first vice president of the State Federation of
Labor.
By Senate Committee
» Textile Workers Union, CIO, led his
appealing to the legislators last week
before passing the anti-dosed shop
ttfr.
ELECTRIGUUtS WIN RAISE
M PHIUOaPHI* AREA
Washington, D. C.—A report
from the Bureau of Labor Sta
tiatie of the Labor Department
states that union wages for elec
tricians in the building trades in
the Philadelphia area hare been
increased to $2-25 an hour. The
bureau said that the new rate for
electricians was the only increase
in the period between November
10 and January IS in the building
trades.
The report cited that other
wage sealess on January 16 are:
bricklayers $246 per hour; plas
terers, |2.25; plumbers, $240;
carpenters, $1.77; painters, $1.7S
and building laborers $1.0$.
According to the Women's Bu
reau, U. 8. Department of Labor,
the percentage of women workers
in Australia who belonged to
trade unions increased from S3
to SI from 19SS to 1044.
BIG CLOTHING PURCHASES
PREDICTED FOR THIS YEAR
Hot Springs, Vs.—According to
F. Eugene Aokerman, industrial
relatione consultant and executive
director of the American Wool
Council, expenditures for all types
of clothing this year will attain
the enormous amount of between
115,000,000,000 and $17,000,
000 if purchases follow the pat
tern traditional during the last
25 years.
Separate summaries of child
labor and compulsory school at
tendance laws of any 8tate, the
District of Columbia, Alaska, Ha
waii, or Puerto Rico are available
from the Child Labor and Youth
Employment Branch of the Di
vision of Labor Standards, U. 8.
Department of Labor.
Injuries to over 2 million in
dustrial workers in IMS costs
management and labor more than
$2^00,000,000, the U. S. Depart
ment of Labor reports.
fOA WW /‘U-./yi/A
INFORMATION L
Your Unton Social Security Committee,
Ofc the Nearest Social Security Office.
AN EDITORIAL
INTERFERENCE WITH LABOR'S RIGHTS AND PRAC
TICES HOTBED FOR COMMUNISM'
The proponents of an anti-closed shop bill for North
Carolina can be none other than novices in Labor-Manage
ment relationships as are well known today. If they were
well versed in this all-important phase of American life
they would not dare to break down established practices
whereby the Unions of our country have been able to keep
their memberships comparatively free of foreign elements.
With such a law as that proposed by the three veterans
under the guise of protecting the people's right to work,
the seed are being sown for the breaking down of all bul
warks against the phenomenal growth here of foreign
-practices as preached by bolshevik Russia's adherents' in
this and other countries. The three veterans perhaps are
well educated gentlemen in other fields, the extent of
which The Journal doesn’t know, but unless they have had
actual contacts and experiences in Labor-Management prob
lems they are not fit to pass judgment, upon thousands of
well-meaning and patriotic citizens of North Carolina. Their
lack of knowledge also goes into other walks of life, inas
much as anything that retards the progress of the work
ers of the country and the worker’s relationships with
their employers is far more drastic than anything that
could ever result from a strike. If carried to the extreme,
a nation-wide law which would change the present struc
ture of Labor-Management relations opens the door for all
kinds of isms, and we do net mean Americanism. The
democratic processes we Americans have practiced would
be laid liable to being torn apart by foreign teachings.
Making contracts with employers by Labor unions is
an extremely democratic process. It has been practiced
by American labor for more than a hundred years and
has been found workable. No man is asked to join a
Labor union if hf doesn’t see fit to join af labor organiza
tion of his own choosing. Those who have joined labor
unions have joined in efforts to better their working and
living conditions. Labor organizations are -nothing more
and nothing less than societies set up by the workers.
These societies are always formed for the various trades
by tradesmen who desire to express a higher degree of
human progress. The progress made by American Labor
certainly stands out as a brilliant chapter in the history
of our country,
The organization of Labor/hag been due to many factors,
and chiefly was brought about through the pitiful working
conditions which prevailed during the early history of our
nation, when the sweatshop was in its full-orbed glory.
Long hours and low pay stood out as the reward of the
workers more than a hundred years ago when the print
ers of America got together and formed a society of
printers. This society grew into bigger and bigger pro
portions and later resulted in the formation of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor. Man’s outlook became brighter
—and as the years passed he found himself enjoying
shorter hours and his pay had been increased somewhat.
Today westiave Labor Unions, Employers’ Unions, Law
yers’ Unions, Medical Unions—in fact, there is no kind of
worthwhile organization in the United States which does
not nave its particular brand of Union; whereby its mem
bers caa get together and formulate ideas for human bet
terment, not only for themselves, but for their fellowmen
aa well
If we are to continue to make progress in America all
of our splendid organizations MUST get together and
formulate some workable plan of advice and assistance.
We cannot pit class against class, farmer against laborer,
management against labor or labor against management,
lawyers against doctors, and an of these against the
people’s welfare. North Carolinians can do themselves
greater good by keeping the statute books freefrom Hers
that will restrict the progress of either Labor or Manage
ment.
Should such a restrict^’* measure as that which was
pasaed in the North Carolina House last week glide through
the Senate and become a law, it no doubt will open wide
the doors of our institutions and allow the free entry under
State protection of Misms” which we have seen spring up
in other countries. This would not be of Labor’s choosing
and The Journal does not think it would be of Manage
ment’s choosing. However, the danger is glaring us in
the face. We as citizens of North Carolina must face it
for what it really is—and means—the sacrificing of our
traditional liberties of doing business in the North Caro
lina way—around the conference table. It is there that
things may be worked out satisfactorily % and peacefully.
We North Carolinians do not want to go back to condi
tions that prevailed a century ago. Conditions are much
better now, if this newspaper has learned anything from
history books on American life from the inception of Pil
grim days. V,
It is too late to appeal to members of the House, but it
is not too late to appeal to the wise judgment of the
members of the Senate and The Charlotte Labor Journal
/■■ (Continued on Page 2)
COURT UPHOLDS
IXSURIUICE AGENTS
Washington, D. C.—F. of L.
insurance agents, members of
Industrial and Ordinary Insurance
Agents’ Council, have climaxed a
two-year battle with complete
victory over the Home Beneficial
Life Insurance Co. under the Na
tional Labor Relations Act.
The struggle began in 1944
when the insurance company dis
charged agents who had partic
ipated in a strike, and following
the refusal of the company to re
instate these agents the Insurance
Agent Council (AFL) filed charges
of unfair labor practices against
the company with the NLRB. The
board ruled that the company had
been guilty of unfair labor prac
tices and ordered the discharged
men reinsured with full back
pay. v
The Beneficial company refused
to accept the decision of the
NLRB and appealed the case to
the U. S. Circuit Court of Ap
peals, which now hass handed
g upholding th#
NLRB ruling.
Under the court's decision. In
addition to receiving reinstate
ment in their former or compar
able jobs, the agents involved are
entitled to receive an estimated
half million dollars in gross in
come as back pay. This figure
will be reduced considerably in
the final settlement, after deduc
tions of amounts earned by the
agents in other jobs during the
time they had been oflj the com
pany’s payroll. However, • the
amount involved is believed to be
one of the largest awards ordered
by a NLRB ruling.
The men involved in the strike
numbered 228 agents who were
employed in the offices of the
company in Baltimore, Md.;
Washington, D. C.; Norfolk,
Portsmouth, Petersburg, Lynch
burg, Staunton, Va.; and Knon
ville, Tenn.
100,000 LOST LIVES
II 1946 UQRHTS,
LITE REPORT REVEALS
Chicago, HI. — The National
Safety Council has added up the
price Americans paid for aeel
dents during 1946 and summed up
the total of 100,000 lives. The
economic loss amounted to $6,
600.000. 000. One out of every
16 persons in the United States
suffered some disabling injury.
The highest score of "deadly
dangers’* came from homes and
on the highways. Home accidents
killed 64,000, motor-ear accidents,
33,500, and the traffic toll was
19 per cent over that of 1946, a
heavy contributing factor in the
four per cent increase in acci
dent deaths from all causes.
Railroad accidents claimed 89
lives, a 26 per cent drop from
the preceding year, and air line
crashes took 76 lives. Both these'
lines of transportation improved
their safety showing in 1946.
Preliminary information, the
Council indicated, showed the aii
line passenger death rate per
100.000. 000 passenger miles was
1.2, equaling the previous low
mark of 1939, and 43 per cent
below the 1946 rate.
Fatalities, despite the sharp
jump in traffic deaths, were 6,50(1
short of 1941’a all-time high
39,969.
News Editorial Suggests
Evasive Action On Bill
No. 229 By N. C. House
OPEN SHOP AND CLOSED RECORD
It seems to us unfortunate, but altogether fitting that
the anti-closed shop bill passed the House of Representa
tives without a record vote. That faint-hearted action,
designed expressly to prevent the fixing of responsibility
for the passage of a highly controversial piece of legisla
tion was in keeping with the irrelevant and evasive debate
that preceded it.
Our criticism! of the Legislature’s action has nothing to
do with the merits or demerits . of the closed shop, but
with the methods used to obtain the passage of this bill.
Both opponents and proponents, it seemg to us, are guilty
of bad judgment, if not bad faith. Not a single member
of the House arose to demand a roll-call vote (a fifth of
the members present could have sustained such a motion)
or even to demand a standing vote (which must be granted
on the motion of a single member). The Raleigh News
and LIU*1? 1*11 on x
ment to avoid an embarrassing record vote since passage
seemed assured anyway.
This, as we say, was entirely appropriate. Ever since
the measure was first introduced there has been a studied
effort to avoid debate on the only real question before the
Legislature—the need for such legislation in North Caro
lina. Proponents of the measure based their arguments
on high and lofty ideals-—the preservation of the laborer's
"right to work.” But did they cite examples to show how
that right has been abridged in this state? If they did
none found their way into the reports we saw. Instead
we |tad Representative Fisher of Buncombe arguing along
this line: "John L. Lewis is public enemy number one.
He Was during the war and he is today. When a man can
turn his country into a shivering shambles, prevent in
dustry from operating, and deny a man the right to work,
hat’s dictatorship.” Granting that Mr. Fisher’s indict
ment is valid, what has it go to do with passage of *
closed shop bill in North Carolina? We can imagine John
Lewis’ discomfiture when he learns that members of his
coal miners union have been denied the closed shop in a
state that has no coal mines.
If the labor unions in North Carolina have the dicta
torial power to turn this nation into “a shivering sham
bles,” we would think that every member of the House
of Representatives would be proud to have his name re
corded as voting to bring them to heel. The fact that the
gentlemen didn’t care — or didn’t dare — to record their
'otes would indicate that they themselves have grave
doubts concerning the propriety of the measure they seek
to enact into law.
In edging away from the bill as though it might explode
in their faces, and debating it in terms of conditions prv
•oiline in West Virginia, the gentlemen of the House of
Reresen tatives may very well have overlooked the heavy
•Harare of dvnamite it does contain. Consider the preamble,
which would be adopted as State policy: "The right to
live includes the right to work. The exercise of the right
fo work must be protected and maintained free from un
1ue restraints and coercion ...” This has a fine Declara
tion of Independence ring, and in this season when any
man who wants a job can have one it obviously applies
nrimarily to the restrictive activities of the labor unions.
But suppose there comes a day, as once there did, when
<ome hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians are
ready, willing, and able to work and private enterprise
cannot supply sufficient jobs. ' What then of the right to
work solemnly guaranteed by the {gate of North, Carolina?
7r suppose that even in this time of plenty an employer
iecides for reasons of his own to Are a man who is capable
ind willing to perform the duties required of him. A
awyer, it seems to us, might make out an impressive
rase to show that the employer is abridging his right to
work in defiance of the Legislature.
There are two sides to the closed shop question, but
so far we haven’t even heard one of them. Instead a tew
that appears fauicy even to a good many of those who
support its objective was shoved through the House in a
sort of emotional stampede. This, as we hope the Senate
will recognize when it begins its deliberations, is no way
to guarantee sound and stable labor relations in North
Carolina. „
(Reprinted from The Charlotte News. Charlotte, N. CL
Tbunday, February 27, 1947) t