Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Oct. 16, 1947, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
NIK WHITE M Twr GMirnnn i* Pretest Aid ist All AITI-LABOI Bills! C H A R L O T T E LABOR JOURNAL VAT r VII. NA 9* CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY. OCTOBER 1*. l!M< Subscription $2.00 Per Year AVORS AUDITORIUM ^nd NLRB Decision Unions From Denham Ruling NEW CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ELIMINATING OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT RECOMMENDED FOR ACTION BY AFL CONVENTION San Francisco.—Solution of the most pressing immedi ate problem affecting members of the American Federation of Labor under the Taft-Hartley law was announced by President William Green. He said the Executive Council had decided to recom mend to the annual convention in progress here an AFL; constitutional amendment under which the president and secretary-treasurer will be the sole officers of the federa tion and the 13 vice-presidents will lose those titles and be 'Considered soley members of the Executive Council. It is considered a foregone conclusion that the conven tion will approve this amendment by the necessary two thirds vote. As soon as it does Mr. Green said he and Mr. Meany will sign the non-Communist affidavits required under the Taft-Hartley law as a condition precedent to un ions being permitted to utilize the services of the National Labor Relations. Board in election and complaint cases. The amendment was needed primarily to -protest the 300,000 members of directly affiliated i federal labor unions. Previously the National Labor Relations^ Board by overruling its owh chief counsel Mr. Denham had wiped out the requirement that all members of the AFL Exec utive Council must sign the af fidavits before the local unions of any national or international union could qualify to use the board’s services. This development which came after several prolonged meetings of the Executive Council high lighted the first week of the con vention. Other major convention news included: 1— A program for a nation- ] wide and well organised political campaign by the American Fed eration of Labor in 1948 was drafted for submission to the delegates. 2— Recommendations were made to the convention that further efforts be made to settle the long standing Hollywood jurisdictional dispute along the lines previously urged by the Executive Council and its special committee which made an arbitration award two years ago and later interpreted and clarified that ward. 3— Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey of Minneapolis urged the dele gates »n an eloquent address to adopt a positive progressive program that will appeal to all American people if labor wishes to defeat reactionary forces in the coming elections. A negative approach calling merely for re peal of the Taft-Hartley law and other anti-labor legislation he warned will be doomed to failure. 4— General Mark W. Clark, world war hero and now Com manding General of the U. S. 6th Army, charged that the So viet government has blocked every constructive proposal for the speedy rehabilitation of Europe and establishment of world peace. 1 5— National Commander James F. O’Neil, of the American Le ii voiced a solemn warning that aU”''the progress made by labor and all its hopes for the future may be wiped out over night if war breaks out again. He urged a strong and modern national defense program lo safe guard against such a catastrophe. Business sessions of the con vention were tragically inter rupted by the collapse at the speakers platform of Joseph A. Padway, chief counsel for the AFL, and his death in a local hospital a few hours later. President Green and many of the leading delegates paid the highest tributes to Mr. Padway at a mass Funeral service held in the convention hall. More than 2,000 persons passed the (Coatinsed ea Page 4) Ministers And Labor Groups To Meet Monday Regular monthly luncheon meeting* of members represent ing the Ministerial Association of Mecklenburg county and members of organized labor unions are now being held, the second of the luncheons to be held at Thacker's Monday at 1:30 o'clock. Ministers of Mecklenburg coun ty and members of AFL and CIO unions participate,in these affairs. John Ramsey, religious lecturer, was chairman of the first meet ing and Father Lynch of St. Patrick’s Catholic church will preside . over the Monday noon luncheon. A member of the Labor groups will preside over the November meeting. The purpose of these meetings is to foster a closer relationship between the various churches and the workers in this vicinity and much enthusiasm is being mani fested by both ministerial and labor groups apd a nice attend ance is expected Monday. Pi LIBOR UNIONS HOLD EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE Lancaster, Pa.—The first edu cational institute sponsored by the Eastern Pennsylvania Confer ence of Central Labor Unions was held here in conjunction with the 9th annual convention of the Pennsylvania Union Labor League. About 125 persons, represent ing 12 central labor unions, at tended the day-long institute ses sion held at Franklin and Mar shall College. They participated in' discussion of current problems such as union operation under restrictive Federal and state labor laws, trends in social security leg islation, and ways and means of carrying on effecive political ac tivity. Included among the speakers at the discussion groups were Nel son Cruikshank, the AFL’s Di rector of Social Insurance Activi ties and Lewis G. Hines, National Legislative Representative for tht ! AFL. William C. " Doherty, president of the National Association of Let ter Carriers and an AFL vice presidentj made the principal ad dress at ^ joint banquet for the CLU delegates and the state Un ion Labor League. -l Workers in durable goods aver | aged $62.39 a week, slightly above j their July income but not as high i as the postwar peak reached in > June. The department pointed out, however, that hours of work in August amounted to 39J per i week,' a alight decrease from the jjune work week. Charlotte Central L.ihtr Un ion at its regular weekly bin! ing Thursday night of this week adopts! a refw>lut:on en dorsing the proposed bond is sue. which provides a $2,500. 000 Civic Center and Aud'tori um for Charlotte. Consider able discussion was had on the resolution before its passage and the favorable vote indi cates that local American Fed eration of Laltor Unions are highly civic minded and are for the things that contribute to the progress and growth of the Queen City of the South. The general thought as record ed brought out that many large national conventions can lie invit ed to Charlotte and with the new and larger facilities will he taken care of in grand style. The delegates of one of the unions stated that they had to notify their, internaional union that they were no in position to entertain the annual convention here after the convention had been invited and had accepted the invitation to hold its session in Charlotte. Thia convention was the Interna tional Typographical Union con vention which went to Miami because of^lacji of facilities to en tertSfim^ocaJly. Usually about 15 hundred delegates and visitors go to these conventions. Other local union delegates expressed similar thoughts. A report was heard from each affiliated local union and Sterling L. Hicks gave a report relative to his recent appointment on the Charlotte Parks commission. A resolution was adopted to approve a letter to be sent to The Observer Open Forum col umn in answer to a news article •which apjieured in The Observer on September 17 in which a lo cal speaker was quoted as having said wage increases throughout the United States had increased 314 per cent since 1939. A nice attendance was present. PUBLIC WORKS CONSTRUC TION PROJECTS VALUED AT $594,000,000 FOR SIX MONTHS Washington, D. C.—Federal and state construction projects begun during the first six months this year are valued at $954,000,000, according to a report of the Fed eral Works Agency. The total dollar value does not include residential building. Ac tivity for this year represents a 43 per cent increase over projects initiated during the same period in 1946. Preliminary figures indicate that contracts let during July, August and September will be 30 per cent greater in value than those awarded for the preceding three months. Fortv states aad the District of Columbia recorded increases in their public works contract totals for the first half of 1947. The five leading states in local public works contract awards were New York, California, Penn sylvania, Texas and Illinois. Their combined values represented 38 per cent of the national total. By type of construction, the agency said that the most pro nounced gains over the first half of 1946 were: Utility construc tion, up 129 per cent to $50,000, 000; nonresidential building, up 123 per cent to $220,000,000, and airfields, up 146 per cent to $33, 000,000. A more, moderate increase was shown in highways (which include Federal aid projects) up 18 per ceot to $496,000,000.. Carpenters Set Up State-Wide Council W. Claude i o>er. kir-i1 ■irp**n- j ters’ iriion business agent, in forms The Labor Journal that a State Council of Carpenters has been set up for NorlJh ' Carolina, the first meeting having been held in Durham on September 7. Officers were named at this meeting and plans ait in motion to make the Council a parlia ment part of the Ngrth Carolina »uor movement. The meetings will be held once each month in cities to be named by the Council. The aecond meet ing, was held in Gregnshoro last Sunday with carpenter represen tatives from all sect'ons of the "Stute present. Ellis Wright of Asheville is president; A. N. Hut&hinson, Jr., I of Durham is vice president, and W. C. Nolen of Charlotte is secre tary-treasurer. The Carpenters at the first meeting in Durham decide! that each body of Carpenters in the State should lie represented on the Council by a vieg president and the following vice presiden cies were created and, vice presi dents named: H. P. Gllespie, Burlington; W. H. Hoyle. Asheville; J. T. Land, Sr., .Wilmington; J. B, Aimas, j Charlotte; J. T. Hobson, Greens boro; L. H. Earnhardt, Salis bury; H. A. McGill. Durham; W. R. McBee, Winston-Salem. A. E. Brown, organiser for the North Carolina Federation of La bor, delivered an address. Bui'ding Trades To Hire Business Agent For Full-Time Basis Chs-'otfce Building A Construc tion Trades Council at this week’s meeting- voted to set machinery in motion looking toward the em ployment of a full-time business agent to keep up with the ever increasing volume of business coming before the building trades men of Charlotte and vicinity. The BT executve committee was em powered to devise ways and means of setting up the Busi ness Agent's office and was di rected to report back to the meet ing next week. The Building Trades Council is to be congratulated on this new step forward. Brother Herny Eddins, who has hai considerable experience fn building trades activities, has been mentioned for the position. He is a hard worker and ' quali fied to take over tkis new work. FACTORY WORKERS’ PAY 1 $49.29 WEEKLY IN AUGUST Washington, D; C. — Factory workers earned an average of $49.29 a week in August, the La bor Department reported. It said that additional wage increases boosted average hourly earnings to a record $1,238. Judge Pad way j | San Francisco.—Joseph A. Pat ! way, chief counsel for the Amer ica! Federation of Labor, col lapsed toward the close -of an impassioned address before the AFL convention here and died seven hours later in Stanford University Hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage. The delegates to the convention, saddened by the sudden passing of their friend aid co-worker. | suspended the scheduled conven tion proceedings the following morning and joined in impromp tu but heartfelt tributes to Mr. Padway. After brief funeral services at the convention hail, the body was shipped to Milwau kee for burial. AFL President W iliam Green, voicing the sentiments of Mr. Pad way’s friends and associates in the American Federation of Labor, said: “Judge Padway died as he I lived, fighting for the cause of labor. His loss is a serious blow to the labor movement which he served so faithfully and brilliant ly. The delegates to the con vention of the American Feder ation of Labor, who admired and j respected and loved him, will join in services to his memory. ‘I cannot express my own feel ings of profound sorrow.” Mr. Padway had been suffer ing from hypertension and a stomach ailment for several years, but he did not let his ill ness interfere with his work and, in fact, has been under a more Revere strain during the past \ year than in any previous com parable period. His address to the convention, reviewing the legal highlights of r»47 and labor’s battles in Congress, the state legislature and the courts against anti-labor leg islation, told the story of work ing under high pressure to head off recurring legal crises. The prosecution of James C. Petrillo, president of the Amer ican Federation of Musicians, the can Federation of Muscicians, the libel suits against the Interna tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, the contempt proceedings against the United Mine Workers of America and the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act were some of the high spots mentioned by Mr. Padway before he collapsed at the speaker’s platform. Mr. Green and Secretary-Treas urer George Meany noticed that the 56-year-old lawyer, was, be coming unsteady on his feet as he spoke and persuaded him to sit down for a few moments white a convention announcement was read. Although he protested he wa» ready to go on and com plete his address, it became ap parent that he was too ill to do so, and the convention session was adjourned. Accompanied by his wife and his brother, I. B. Padway, a San Francisco at torney, the stricken lawyer was taken to his- hotel, where a doc tor was summoned. Bes^oved to Stanford Hospital, Mr. Padway lost consciousness and passed away a few hours later. His Jait words to the conven (Continued Oa Page 4) BOARDS’ 4-TO-l DECISION FLATLY REVERSES EDICT REQUIRING TOP AFL OFFICERS TO SIGN OATHS DISCLAIMING COMMUNIST BELIEFS Washington, D, C.—The National Labor Relations Board, in a 4-to-l decision handed down in a test case, ruled that top officers of the AFL and the CIO are not required to sign non-Communist affidavits under the Taft-Hartley law Bowing to the ruling by the NLRB, Robert N. Denham, general counsel for the board, announced1 the new decision would apply in unfair practice complaint cases as well as in representation cases brought before the NLRB. Denham originally issued a regulation requiring affi davits by all AFL officers before anv AFL unions could appear before the board. The NLRB’s decision flatly re versed him. COUNCIL RENEWS OFFER TO MEET WITH CIO TO PUN UNITY OF UOOR GROUPS San Francisco. —The Executive Council announced it stands ready to meet with the CIO at any time for. the purpose of achieving or ganizational unification of the two labor organizations. In its report to the AFL con vention the Council declared: “We believe that this is the first and primary requirement which should be met All other things are incidental. "We cannot have peace and war at the same time. We cannot pre tend to work together in the leg islative field while engaged in fighting and raiding each other in another field. “We believe the rank and file in both the American Federation of L/ihor and the CIO favor the establishment of .organisational unity immediately, and the term ination of strife, division, hatred and bitterness. “The Executive Council stands ready to carry out the commit ments it has made in favor of organizational unity within the ranks of' tabor, and to join in laying the foundation for the establishment of such a united movement and to honestly and sin cerely work out the details in cidental to the creation and es tablishment of such a united la bor movement." The Council’s report delved into the history of prior negotiations between committees representing the AFL and the CIO,and charged the CIO with misrepresenting the terms of a resolution adopted last May. The resolution stated that “it is the unanimous opinion of the representatives of the CIO and the AFL that organic unity should be established within the American Labor Movement.” The Council said: ' “This declaration can only be interpreted as meaning that the establishment of a solidified labor movement is a primary require ment to the development of co operation and united action in the legislative, economic and indus trial fields. “Proceeding upon this assump tion a communication dated July lfi, 1947, was sent to the Presi dent of the CIO in which there was expressed the willingness and desire of the committee represent ing the Executive Council to meet again for the purpose of carry ing out the declaration made at the meeting on May 2, 1947, as herein quoted. The committee un derstood this to mean that inas much as all had unanimously agreed that organic unity should be established within the labor movement, that the realization of this objective would now be our united purpose, that we would now proceed to lay the founda tion for the establishment of or (Continued On Page 4) . (In, San Francisco, AFL Presi dent William Green heralded the NLRB decision as an AFL vic tory. Commenting on the board’s action, he asid: “The decision sustains our position. The au tonomous status of AFL affili ated unions has now been fully recognized. Each union may now decide if it wishes to process cases before the NLRB.”) The NLRB’s majority decision was signed by three members: Chairman Paul Herzog, and mem bers John M. Houston and James J. Reynolds. A separate con curring opinion was filed by member Abe Hurdock. The only dissenter waa ber J. Copeland Gray. The majority opinion said the requirement that all top AFL and CIO officers sign the Communist affidavits did not accomplish the fundamental purpose of Congress which was “to eliminate Com munist influence from the labor movement of the United States.” “Are Communists,” the hoard asked, “likely to be eliminated from positions of influence in the labor movement by our bar ring those local and international unions that are in full compliance . . . merely because certain of ficers or a parent organization over whose staMis they have only the most remote control may choose not to sign the required affidavits?” "we trunk not. The majority said that “in the absence of a clear expression of legislative intent to the contrary,” they qpuld only .conclude that “Congress could not have de liberately ' intended ‘national or international organization’ to in clude the two great national fed erations.” In his concurring opinion, Murdock said the law, was fuzzy on the issue, but “where there are two possible interpretations of the scope of those filing re quirements, clearly we should adopt that interpretation which will serve the general purpose of the act rather than the one which will defeat its basic pur pose.” The test case before the Na tion Labor Relations Hoard arose as the result of a ruling h.v Ross Madden, Regional Director of the board in Baltimore dis missing a petition for certifica tion of bargaining representatives which had been filed by Local No. 1215 of the International Brotl • rfiood of Electrical Work ers, AFL in the matter of North ern Virginia Broadcasters, Inc., a company operating radio sta tion WARL in Arlington, Va. The petition for certification was filed July 17, 1347. A con sent election was scheduled for September 3, 1*347, but was post poned by Regional Director Mad den because although the local union and the IBEW had com plied with all filing requirement* under the Taft-Hartley law, the (Contnued On Pagt 4) J ! .
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 16, 1947, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75