CHARLOTTE
LABOR JOURNAL
VOL. xVll; NO. 6 CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY. JUNE 12. 1947 Subscription $2.00 Per Year
GREEN, MEANY, O’DWYER AND WAGNER JOIN IN
URGING ALL WORKERS TO MAKE VOICES HEARD
IN CONGRESS AND WHITE HOUSE ON VITAL BILL
New York City—~>ne of the greatest mass demonstra
tions ever staged by organized labor—25,000 American
workers packed into Madison Square Garden here—joined
in a tumultuous condemnation of the Taft-Hartley slave
labor bill, an urgent appeal to President Truman to veto
the measure and demands upon their Senators and Repre
sentatives to sustain the veto.
Heading an impressive list of labor and civic leaders who
addressed the vast audience, AFL President William Green
told the meeting:
“Your message to President Truman is:
“ ‘Veto the slave labor bill!’
“Your message to Congress is:
“ ‘Uphold the President’s veto!’ ” '
Mr. Green shared the platform with Mayor William
O’Dwyer of New York, who had issued an official procla
mation declaring today Veto Day and calling on all friends
of labor to urge the President to veto the bill; George
Meany, AFL Secretary-Treasurer; Senator Wagner of New
York, author of the National Labor Relations Act; David
Dubinsky, President of the International Ladies Garment
Workers Union, and Howard McSpeddon, President of the
AFL Building Trades Council. Martin Lacy, President of
the Central Trades and Labor Council, presided.
In a blistering attack on the slave labor legislation, Mr.
Green stressed the imperative necessity for all American
working men and women to make their voices against this
bill “heard in Washington—both in Congress and the White
House.”
Ana nil over America millions
of other free American workers
and their friends will echo year
demands and lift up their voices
to Join oar fight against slavery;
against oppression and depres
sion,” he declared.
MI am proud of the fighting
' spirit of the nation by workers
who refuse today, and will always
refuse, to surrender their heri
tage of freedom.
"You know and they know that
the Taft-Hartley Bill strikes at
your heart, at your pocketbook
and at your hopes of providing
a decent living for your families.
"But the President and Con
gress must know this too. They
must know how you feel. And
the only way they can learn is
by demonstrations of this kind
and by a veritable flood of letters
and postcards, written by you in
your own handwriting and ex
pressing your own thoughts in
opposition to the Taft-Hartley
Slave BUI.
"Make no mistake about it, this
biU is inspired by fear. The en
emies of labor are afraid—afraid
of true democracy, frightened by
the voice of labor demanding its
rights. The National Association
of Manufacturers and its reac
tionary propagandists betray their
underlying fear every time they
make speeches about the labor
unions becoming ‘too powerful.*
But the trouble is, my friends,
that organised labor today is not
powerful enough — not united
enough. That we must and shall
change. Nothing will stop us!
We are going to organise many
more millions of the unorganized
into our movement. We are go
ing to build here in America the
strongest and most united labor
movement in the world. No
threats, no sanctions, no undemo
cratic and unconstitutional legis
lation can prevent us!
"And when our militant and dy
namic organisation attains its full
and necessary strength, we will
fece the frightened little men
who hate us and say:
"The day of your monopoly
power is over.' «
"And, at the same time, lebor’s
grant army of voters will be able
to sweep out of public office the
reactionary Tories and the sub
servient politicians who fawn at
the heels of big business. God
grant that we shall be able to ac
complish this housecleaning of
Congress in 19481”
Declaring the time is fast ap
proaching "when the enemies of
labor la Congress will be forced
to stand np and ba counted,” Mr.
Green asserted he was confident
the President would veto thg Jaft
Hmrtley bill.
“I don’t see how he can taka
any other course in the best in
terests of the American people,”
he said. “This legislation flouts
practically every recommendation
the President made to Congress
in his annual message. If the
President signs this slave labor
bill now he will not only let Con
gress repudiate him, but he will
be repudiating his own high prin
ciples and his own good judg
ment.
“The final test will come, then,
in Congress. It is our job to see
to it that every Congressman and
every Senator who wants the sup
port of labor at election time
casts his vote to uphold the veto.
Otherwise we shall have no choice
but to regard him as our en
emy.”
Citing the consistent champion
ship of labor by Senator Wagner,
over a long period of years, Mr.
Green called marked attention to
the attitude of Senator Ives of
New York, who represented himself
originally as a friend of labor,
but voted for the Taft bill in the
Senate.
Declaring that the slave labor
bill is punitive, would promote
industrial chaos, outlaw the closed
shop, authorise damage suita and
anti-trust prosecutions against
unions, prohibit boycotts, weaken
the nation’s economy and create
a dangerous hate philosophy, Mr.
Green concluded:
“We, of labor, want a strong
America, not a weak and impo
tent one. We want prosperity in
our country, not a Taft-Hartley
depression. We want to keep
America free, not to let it suc
cumb to the Taft-Hartley degree
sion. We want to keep America
free, not to let it succumb to the
Taft-Hartley brand of oppression.
“We think it is time that Con
gress refused to be ‘pressured'
any longer by the National As
sociation of Manufacturers and
other monopoly interests who are
trying to line their already fat
pocketbooks at the expense of
every one of us. We think it is
time that Congress gave its at
tention to the things the Ameri
can people really need — decent
housing for the homeless, health
insurance for all, a reduction of
the coat of living by curbing prof
iteers and a full measure of social
security."
i
Attend N. Y. Rally
GEORGE MEANY
“VETO DAY” PROCLAMATION
ISSUED IN NEW YORK CITy
New York City.—The proclama
tion issued by Mayor William
O’Dwyer calling upon all citizens
of this city to join with labor in
demanding defeat of the Taft
Hartley slave labor bill follows:
“Whereas, a free labor move
ment is one of the surest guar
antees of a free nation; and
“Whereas, the American labor
movement has demonstrated an
inspiring loyalty to our democrat*
is form of government in time of
peace and in time of war; and
“Whereas, our free trade un
ions have made incomparable
contributions to the advancement
of democracy in our nation; and
“Whereas, our free trade un
ion movement is presently imper
illed by legislation now before
the Congress of the United States;
and
“Whereas, the legislation,
known as the Taft-Hartley bill,
would emasculate the Clayton
Act, the Norris-LaGuardia Act
and the Wagner Act, laws which
extirpated grave injustices against
the workingmen of our nation;
"Now, therefore, I, William
O’Dwyer, Mayor of the City of
New York, designate the fourth
day of June, Nineteen Hundred
and Forty-seven as a day of pro
test to our national author!tiee
in Washington, D.' C„ against en
actment of this legislation which
would be detrimental to the na
tional welfare and our democratic
system,
“And I further call upon all
citisens of this city to join with
organised labor in making known
to our national authorities that
the surest road to industrial
peace is through friendly co
operation and understanding be-i
tween management and labor."
FACTORY KARNING8 DOWN
Washington, D. C.—The U. 8.
Bureau of Labor Statistics re
ports that average hourly earn
ings Jn manufacturing continued
to rise in April but weekly earn
ings declined because of a drop
in working hours. Weekly earn
ings in all manufacturing aver
aged |47.44 compared with $47.72
per week in Much of this year.
Link aud Fielden Again
Honored By Ry. Clerks
GEORGE HARRISON ADDRESS
ES N. C. MEETING.
Two Charlotte men were
re-elected to high positions
in the' Brotherhood of Rail
way and Steamship Clerks,
Southern Railway System, at
the regular quadrennial meet
ing which opened in the
Brotherhood’s vacation and
recreation center on June
2 at Saluda, N. C. G. A.
Link, who has been general
chairman for twelve ’ years
was again named to that
post, while C. E. Fielden was
re-elected to the position of
secretary - treasurer, which
he has held for seven years.
They are to sene a four
year period, beginning with
July 1, 1947.
Mr. Link »u an employee of
the Southern Railway here in
Charlotte for a number of years
before being elected to head the
organisation. Several yean ago he
moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee,
where headquarter* were then lo
cated. The headquarters were
moved to Charlotte in 1940. Mr.
Fielden was employed by the
Southern Railway at Knoxville,
Tennessee, before being elected as
Secretary-Treasurer in 1940.
The Brotherhood is the largest
of the standard railroad labor
organisations and has more than
300,000 members in the United
States and Canada. The South
ern Railway unit in addition to
representing the clerical, office,
station, stores and watehouse em
ployees over the Southern Rail
way System, have wage and
working agreements with the
Piedmont and Northern Railway
Company, Baltimore Steam Pack
et Company, Atlanta Terminal
Company, Chattanooga Station
Company, Birmingham Terminal
Company, Columbia Union Sta
tion Company, Birmingham Term
inal Company, Columbia Union
Station Company, Durham Union
Station Company, Meridian Ter
minal Company, Winston-Salem
Terminal Company, Danville and
Western Railway and Yadkin
Railroad.
International Grand President,,
Geo. M. Harrison and Vice Grand
President J. P. Jesse from Cin
cinnati, Ohio and Louisville, Ky.
were present and addressed the
convention.
Seventy-five or more delegates
from all of the principal points
throughout the entire southeast
ern part of the United States
served by the Southern Raihraj
System were present sutd partici
pated in the meeting which lasted
for three days. A number of im
portant matters of vital concert
r1111 —.———
G. A. Link
to the organization were dis
cussed and action was taken con
cerning these matters in estab
lishing the policy to be followed
in the future.
The following officers were
elected to serve until July I,
1961:
G. A. Link, General CfcairnMNfc
Charlotte, N. C.
C. E. Fielden, General Secre
tary-Treasurer, Charlotte,- N. C.
R. S. Safrit, Vice General
Chairman. Salisbury, N. C.
F. B. Brouner, Vice General
Chairman, Washington, D. C.
J. L. Tyler, Vice General Chair
man, Birmingham, Ala.
N. E. Brenner, Vice General
Chairman, Atlanta, Ga.
A. E. Cates, Vice General Chair
man, Knoxville, Tenn.
W. C. Fletcher, Vice General
Chairman, Knoxville, Tenn.
C. C. Miller, Chairman, Board
of Trustees, Spartanburg, S. C.
H. S. Orrell, Member, Board of
Trustees, Winston-Salem, N. C.
F. H. Anderson, Member,
Board of Trustees, Cincinnati, O.
Scrapp Maffett, Chairman,
Board of Directors, Mountain
Honm^^Greenville, South Carolina.
J.Vj Ross Hodges, Member,
Board of Directors, Mountain
Home, Knoxville, Tenn.
D. Leckie, Member, Board of
Directors, Mountain Home, Co
lumbia, 8> C.
N. E. Broom, Member of Di
rectors, Mountain Home, Atlan
ta, Ga.
C. E. Fielden, Secretary, Board
of Directors, Mountain Home,
Charlotte, N. C.
HEADS JEWELRY UNION
Atlantic City, N. J. — Joseph
Morris of Wallingford, Conn., was
elected president of the Interna
| tional Jewelry Workers’ Union
(AFL) at its 11th anneal conven
tion here.
DANGER!
There is danger ahead . . . danger to you and to all
other Americana who work for a living.
You must stop and take notice, or get hurt! _
Congress has now passed and sent to the President
the most dangerous bill of our times. It is called the
Taft-Hartley Bill.
There have been other bills pressured thiaogh the
Congress and laid on the desk of our Chief Executive—
but never one with more one-sided intent—never before
one designed to weigh down the scales of justice on the
side of privilege and power—never before a bill written
to punish millions of working people simply because they
are union working people.
The Slave Labor £01 is a travesty and a mockery
of our. American heritage. It is a threat to a free
P*What can you do about it?
Write or Wire President Truman to Veto the
Taft-Hartley Bill!
AFL SPtTRS BIG DRIV E FOR VETO MANDATE
AGAINST BILL
Washington. D. C.—It’s up to President Truman now—
the crucial decision whether to veto or sign the “mild as
murder” Taft-Hartley Bill.
Congress has completed action on the legislation and
the Taft-Hartley Bill was rushed to the White' House this
week.
President Truman will have ten days in which to act
after the hill reaches his desk.
During this ten days, the American Federation of Labor
will launch a final drive to roll up an overwhelming jieople's
mandate for a veto.
Through nation-wide radio programs, newspaper adver
tisements and mass* meetings, the AFL will do its utmost
to bring home to the American people the truth as to how
the Taft-Hartley Bill will hurt them and weaken the entire
nation, along with labor. i
The AFL’s urgent appeal to all its memliers and to all
its friends is to write or wire President Truman at the
White House, Washington, D. C., asking that he veto
the bill.
Three progressive Congressmen
—Representatives John Lesinski,
of Michigan; Arthur G. Klein,
of New York, and Ray J. Madden,
of Indiana—paid a personal visit
to President Truman at the
White House to suggest that he
veto the Taft-Hartley Bill.
They came away greatly en
couraged by the President’s at
titude.
The optimism of the Congres
sional delegation was enhanced
by a highly unusual step taken
read to newspapermen at a press
conference of the price policies
Voiced by Senator Robert A.
Taft, one of the sponsors of the
Taft-Hartley Bill.
The President called Senator
Taft's position on prices as re
lated to international policy “fal
lacious and dangerous."
The Congressmen were quick to
point out that the Taft-Hartiey
Bill is even more "fallacious and
dangerous.” It poses as a ‘‘mild”
reform measure but it contains
deadly poison to labor and to the
entire nation in the hidden form
of legislative “jokers” and re
strictive technical provisions.
For instance, Senator Taft was
forced to admit on the Senate
floor that one provision in his bill
would prohibit union publications
such as “Labor,” organ of the
railway unions, from issuing spe
cial editions in support or in op
position to political candidates in
election campaigns. |
Likewise, Representative Fred
Hartley, of New Jersey, co-spon
sor of the legislation with Sen
ator Taft, while complaining to
newspapermen about big business
gripes over slight modifications in
the bill, said:
“I am their best friend.”
During the debate in the House,
Representative Lesinski, leading
the opposition forces, declared:
“Real danger lies in this bill,
not only in its potential effects,
but ill its subtlety. Congress is
being misled. But the hope of
America is in tomorrow and,
mark my word, this evil thing
will shortly be undone.”
This implied warning of polit
ical retribution at the polls in
the 1M8 elections because of the
support Repubtjpaa leaders have
given the Taft-Hartley Bill was
further developed by the Congres
sional delegation in thefr confer
ence with President Truman.
They told him he could never
hope to carry the biff city met
ropolitan districts in 1M8 unless
he vetoes the legislation.
If the Preeident does reject the
Taft-Hartley Bill, the final test
will come on whether Congress
will uphold the veto. It is ex
pected that a combination st re
actionary Off-Mi*™* sad South
ern Democrats can muster enough
votes in the House to override a
veto. But the Issue reoly *W
be decided in the Senate. Only
one-third of the Senate—or a
maximum of 33 votes—is neces
sary to uphold a veto and to kill
the Taft-Hartley Bill.
Surveys made by the Legisla
tive Committee of the American
Federation of Labor indicate that
the prospects are bright of being
able to sustain a veto in the Sen
ate. The more mail and tele
grams received by members of
the Senate urging them to up
hold a Presidential veto, the
4I1# Uk#li)i#od of cuccMf*
So do your parti Sit down right
now and write the two' Senators .
from your State, calling upon
them to uphold a Presidential ve
to of the Taft-Hartley Bill.
Contract
Signed
PULP, SULPHITE AND PA
PER MILL WORKERS SIGN
WITH DURHAM CONTAINER
COMPANY—GET RAISES.
An agreement has been nego
tiated and signed between the
International Brotherhood of
Pulp, Sulphite ft Paper Mill •
Workers, AFL, and the Durham
Container company of Durham,
N^ C., according to an announce
ment made by Don W. Hunt, in
ternational representative, at last
week’s Charlotte Central Labor
Union meeting. The new agree
ment was signed on May IS and
was retroactive to April 22. It
involves 66 workers.
Representative Hunt stated that
the new contract provides for in
creases running up to 40 cents
per hour with an average increase
of 22 2-3 cents per hour through
out the plant No employe, male
or female, receives less than 80
cents per hour after 30 days em
ployment, with time and one-half
for overtime worked, which In
cludes Saturdays and holidays.
Sunday work provides for dou
ble time.
The Durham Container em
ployes will receive one week’s
vacation with pay after sis
months service and two weeks
after three years employment
with the firm and also will re
ceive three paid holidays. Mr.
Hunt stated that the company,
pays for hospitalising its em
ployes. |
. The Durham contract with the
container company Is said to ha
with a paper bos plant in North
Carolina. Jfce election held on
| April 10 was unanimous for union
representation.
Lewis Price assisted Mr. Hunt
in negotiating the agreement, j