CHARLOTTE
LABOR JOURNAL
VOL. XVII; NO. 29 <
CHARLOTTE, N. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1948
Subscription $2.00 Per Year
EMPLOYMENT GAINED STA
BILITY IN 1947; BLS SAYS
DECLINE IN SEPARATIONS
Washington, D. C.—Data pre
pared by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for the month of No
vember reflected the growirg
stability in employment in in
dustry during ih« year 1947.
In its regt *r monthly release,
the BLS reported that both quit
and layoff rates declined in No
vember, with total separations
down from 60 to 40 per 1,000
employes on the payrolls.
While labor turnover usually
decreases during' the fourth
quarter of the year, seperation
rates for each month of 1947 have
been consistently below those for
the comparable months of the pre
ceding five yeafs. Much of the
stability during 1947, compared
with 1949, is attributable to the
smoother flow of materials ar.d
producion and to the “settling
down” of veterans in regular
jobs.
Both the quit and lay-off rates
declined in November. Quits fell
from a rate of 36 to 27 per 1,000
employes, as voluntary job shift
the pre-Christmas period. Lay
offs eased down to 8 per 1,000.
While slightly above the level
of November, 1946, the rate was
well below those cf the prewar
years.
With a reduction in the need
for replacements, the hiring rate
also dropped, from 56 per 1,000
in October to 47 in November.
This was the lowest rate for any
month in 1947 and for any No
vember ssince 1941.
While declines in both hires
and separations were general
throughout the manufacturing
industries, the rates dropped more
sharply in the durable than in
the nondurable goods division.
Improved material supplies and
a continued high level of demand
were reflected in a significant
decrease in the lay-off rate for
the hard goods industries as a
whole. For the non-durable, how
ever, the lay-off rate rose some
what as a result of seasonal de
clines in activity in the food, to
bacco, and apparel industry de
creased in about the same pro
portions in the hard and soft
goods divisions.
HEARINGS SCHEDULED ON
LABOR EXTENSION SERVICE
Washington, D. C. — Hearings
on S. 1390 proposing the estab
lishment of a labor extension
service are scheduled to begin on
February 16 before a sub-commit
tee of the Senate Committee of
Labor and Public Welfare.
The bill, which will establish
a labor educational service simi
lar to the agricultural extension
service, has the complete backing
of the American Federation of
Labor.
The 66th annual convention of
the AFL went on record in favor
of the bill when it passed a reso
tion calling for “the immediate
of a labor exten
sion service to workers through
out the nation."
Taft-Hartley Law Exposed!
By J. ALBERT WOLL' and HERBERT S. THATCHER
(Members of the law firm of Padway, Woll, Thatcher, Glenn and
Wilson, serving as general counsel for the American
Federation of Labor)
This is the ninth of a series of articles to be published by the
AFL Weekly News Service in refutation of an article appearing
in the Saturday Evening Post which praised the Taft-Hartley
law to the skies. Author of the Post article was J. Mack Swi
gert, law partner of Senator Robert A. Taft—enough said:
END SEEN FOR RUSSIAN
DOMINATED WFTU; BRITISH
PROTEST SOVIET INFLUENCE
Washington, D. C.—The virtual
end of the Soviet - dominated
World Federation of Trade Un
ions was seen here as the result
of recent developments in the
international labor field.
The basis for the belief in the
early demise of the federation is
the recent action of Arthur
Deain, federation president and
general secretary of the British
Transport and General Workers
Union, in accusing the federation
of acting under Soviet control
by refusing to call a conference
of its executive bureau to discuss
the European Recovery Program.
This action is taken to mean
that the British Trades Union
Congress, which affiliated with
the WFTU, will now throw its
support behind the AFL-sponsored
meeting of free trade unions of
sixteen European nations which
is scheduled for next month in
Brussels. It is expected that a
new international labor organi
zation, excluding the Russians,
may develop from this forthcom
ing conference.
In explanation of his stand, Mr.
Deakin said that last November
the exeutive bureau of the WFTU
decided to hold its next meeting
before the end of February and
to hold a conference of the trades
secretariat not later than the
middle of January.
“Both these decisions, it seems,"
said Mr. Deakin, "are now to be
ignored following discussions be
tween the seretary general and
representatives of the All-Central
Council of Soviet Unions."
According to Mr. Deakin, there
was & majority in the executive
bureau desirous of holding these
meetings and “it was only when
the Soviet representatives refused
to attend that the others changed
their opinion."
“If, therefore, the position is
now that the WFTU is to be
merely a political body dealing
only with those questions accept
able to the U. S. S. R., we know
where we stand," he continued.
“In other words, if there is to be
a line-up of these national cen
ters accepting the policy laid
down by the Cominform (Com
munist Information Bureau)
against those who don’t, then this
deision must be regarded as a
reversal of the policy laid down
by the London and Paris confer
ences of the WFTU which sought
to establish world trade union
unity on the broadest possible
basis of mutual help."
NO. 9 — THE “SO-CALLED 14
PRIVILEGES” OF THE TAFT
HARTLEY LAW — (Continued)
14. “Security Against Abuse of
Health and Welfare Funds”
The final alleged “privilege”
granted under the act is found in
the regulations imposed upon the
establishment and use of ‘health
and welfare funds. Most health
and welfare funds were already
established for the same purposes
as specified in the act, and such
funds were, for the most part,
administered as prescribed in the
act. Ttes principle objection
which can me made to the regula
tion is that the number of pos
sible objects of health and wel
fare funds has been too ^rgatly
limited. As our economy has
Evolved, It has been fomtd" "i*t
there are many types of seci/k-y
provisions which are necessary in
particular industries, and the
present law prevents the estab
lishment of funds to meet these
particular situations.
The foregoing, then, are the
fourteen “privileges” which have
“descended on the workingman
without his knowledge like a leg
acy.” More truthfully could the
author of the “Post” article have
stated that these were the four
en privileges which have descend
ed on the workingman without his
knowledge like a ton of bricks,
or like a legacy of a white ele
phant. To anyone with even a
superficial knowledge of the func
tioning of the trade union move
ment in our modern industrial
economy, it is obvious that for
every “claimed” gain which the
workingman has been accorded
under the Taft-Hartley Act, the
workingman has, at the same
time, been accorded a hundred
detriments. Indeed, so vicious are
many of the provisions of the
Taft-Hartley Act that labor would
have been better off with an out
right repeal of the Wagner Act.
This is said with full knowledge
and appreciation of the tremen
dous benefits which that act did
confer upon the workers of this
country.
LIVESTOCK MARKETS
FEEL PRICE SLUMP
Chcago. — One of the biggest
price breaks in the history of the
livestock trade swept the big corn
belt stockyards here.
Hogs' sold from $1 to $4 lower
than last week's closing levels,
which were $1.50 to $3 lower
than those of the week before.
Declining prices last week
prompted farmers to unload 30
per cent more hogs at the 12
major markets and as a result
the price tumbled. Even at the
drastically lower prices, 4000 hogs
went unsold at Chicago and were
held over.
Labor’s Political
League In Action
JOSEPH a KEENAN NAMED TO HIGH LEAGUE POST;
FUNDS DRIVE ON
Washfngton, D. C.—Labor’s League for Political Educa
tion has swung into action on four fronts, it was announced.
EMPLOYMENT IN AUTOMO
BILE INDUSTRY EXCEEDED
1,000,000 IN DECEMBER
Washington. D. C. — Employ
ment in the nation’s automobile
industry passed the 1,000,000
mark in December for the first
time in history, the United States
Employmen Service reported.
Outlook for the industry, ac
cording o labor market reports
from key automotive centers, “ap
pears very good,” the USES sur
vey disclosed.
The report showed that the
1929 production record of 5,400,
000 cars “may be equaled or
topped, but only if there is on
even flow of materials, no serious
labor-management difficulties, and
conversion to new models does not
severely disrupt production sched
ules.”
The USES summary on the
automotive industry, in part, says:
“Reporting plants expected to
add about 20,000 workers between
December and April, although
many establishments are extreme
ly reluctant to make any pre
dictions in view of the scarcity
of materials and anticipated con
versions to new models.
“Most of the employment in
crease will occur in Michigan and
three-fifths of the expansion re
quirements is in plants engaged
in the manufacture and assembly
of motor vehicles. Plants, manu
facturing passenger car bodies
are expected to account for
slightly more than one-fifth of
the increase. Other segments of
the industry will gain slightly or
remain unchanged.
#“On the basis of recent experi
ence of the industry, between 30,
000 and 38,000 workers will be
required each month to meet re
placement needs."
BALTIMORE PRINTERS WIN
RAISE WITHOUT CONTRACT
Baltimore. — Charles V. Bran
nock, president of Lotfhl 12 of the
APL’s International Typographi
cal Union, announced that print
ers have won a wage increase of
22 cents an hour from newspaper
publishers here.
Brannock said no contract was
signed and there was no commit
ment as to the duration of the
raise or any other matter.
The wage boost granted raises
the pay scale to $2.27 an hour for
day employes, 2.40 for night
workers, and $2.64 or third-shift
workers.
1— Appointment of Joseph D.
Keenan, as assistant to the exec
utive officers of the league, was
announced by National Chairman
William Green and Secretary
Treasurer George Meany. Mr.
Keenan, Secretary of the Chicago
Federation of Labor, served dur
ing the war as Vice Chairman of
the War Production Board and
later' as tabor adviser to General
Clay in the American-occupied
zone of Germany. An energetic
organizer, he will undertake the
task of setting up the American
Federation of Labor’s political
arm as a powerful force in the
•1648 campaign.
2— Mr. Green and Mr. Meany
issued an appeal to all affiliated
onions to begin* ft concerted drive
among their members for vol
untary contribuions of $1 or more
to finance the league’s activities.
3— National headquarters for
the league will be opened on
March 1 at 1525 H St. N. W.,
Washington, D. C., a historic
site facing the White House
across Lafayette Park.
4—A call wag sent out for a
national conference on March 10
at the Washington Hotel of the
Presidents of all State Federa
tions of Labor. The league’s Ad
ministrative Committee, which is
scheduled to meet in Washington
an March 9, wi l stay over for
the conference with the state rep
resentatives. The purpose of this
meeting is tq map perfect team
work between the league’s na
tional organizaion and the state
branches to be set up under the
State Federations of Labor.
A number of state organiza
tions, especially those where pri
mary elections are to be held ear
ly, already have started function
ing on the political front, Mr.
Green said.
He disclosed that a subcommit
tee of the league’s Administrative
Commitee is now canvassing the
field for candidates for the job
of executive director of ILPE.
The recommendaiomf will be sub
mitted to the Administrative
Committee at the March 9 meet
ing and it is likely that a choice
| will be made and announced at
Ithat time.
i -——
AFL OFFICIAL NAMED FOR
PA. STATE LABOR POST
Harrisburg, Pa.—John J. Burns,
secretary-treasurer of Local 491
of the AFL’s Teamsters Union,
was appointed to the $7,000 post
as deputy secretary of labor and
industry by Governor James H.
Duff.
Burns, who is 44, will succeed
David Williams' of Harrisburg,
who resigned from the state serv
ice.