Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / June 10, 1948, edition 1 / Page 1
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CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL V OL. XVIII; NO. 4 CHARLOTTE. N. C.. THURSDAY. JUNE 10. 19 IS .Subscription $2.00 Per Year Repeal Of Taft-Hartley Law Means Defeating Labor Foes New York.—The 8,000,000 members of the American Federation of Labor must throw themselves whole-heart edly into the fight to “change the personnel of Congress" if the workers of the nation are to get rid of the Taft Hartley Act. George Meany, secretary-treasurer of the AFL, said here in an address before the New York City Central Trades and Labor Council. He urged every trade unionist to participate in labor’s political education program with “enthus iasm and zest,” warning that the Taft-Hartley law- vicious though it is, represents merely the be ginning of what the enemies of labor have in store for the na tion’s trade unions. “If the enemies of labor should find that Congress is still in their possession next January,” he said, “they will pass such legis lation as will make the Taft Hartley Act look like the most advanced law since Magna Char ta.” Speaking to a capacity audi ence composed not only of del egates to the council but large numbers of other trade unionists, Mr. Meany said: * > “We have to do the job—let’s do it. Let’s do it with the same determination, courage and zest that Sam Gompers and the other pioneers of labor put into the battles that they were forced to wage. “We, too, have to fight in order to live, in order to keep our free trade unions alive and effective for the protection of the millions •f our people FOI* f°r, wages." Declaring that organised labor doesn’t have any “choice,” Mr. Meany said: “Labor is in politics to stay. We must fight. We will never succeed in changing anything in the Taft-Hartley law in labor’s favor until we change Congress, until we change the personnel in Congress. “There is only one way of ac complishing that. It must be done at the ballot box, in the American way. ' “The enemies of labor have thrown a challenge at us. We are accepting that challenge.” In a special appeal aireciea at the many officers of local unions who were in his audience, Mr. Meany said: “The whole political education effort of organized labor will suc ceed or fail at the local level. That is where the money has to be collected. That is where our people vote. “I know I am speaking to an audience in which there are a large number of local union of ficers, and 1 want to make this appeal to you just as strong as I possibly can. I know you men are busy, most of you are very busy, just trying to keep abreast of your regular union work, serv icing your membership, handling grievances, participatiiffe in nego tiations, taking care of your of fice work and doing all the dozens of other necessary tasks which go with the job of being a local un ion officer or representative. I know what the problem is because I have been a business agent my self. *• " Hi “You don’t have much spare time, I know that—but political education is so vital, so Important to the welfare of every one at us, Jggb&JK iu««7»ent * »«*»>• pat on a par with every one or your basic activities.” Mr. Meany; flayed “the willing ness of Congress to ride herd on the working people of the na tion” and lashed reactionary Big Business for its support of "an ti-labor moves of every kind.” The Taft-Hartley Act, he charged, was fashioned by “the architects of our national calamity of 1929.” The reference was to the Wall Street crash and the years of bitter depression which followed. The AFL secretary ridiculed claims by Senator Taft, Senator Ball and the National Association (Continued On Page 4) FEEL FRIENDLIER ? industry RISING PRICES THREAT TO U.S. economist, declared that high wages are not the prime cause of inflation, the continuation of which threatens to choke off the market for manufactured goods. In an address before the Con* trailers Institute of America, Mr. Shishkin placed the blame for soaring prices on the excessive volume of money in circulation in relation to the price level. The AFL economist said in part: “Continuing rise in price in flation is presentng an ncreasng threat of choking off the market Union Label—Always in Style! pecially consumer durable goods, while the buying power is in creasingly diverted to food. re»„ and other indispensable necessi ties. But the prime source of this inflation is the excessive volume of money in circulation in relation to prices. “Wages are not a direct or sole force responsible for high prices. In fact, quite often, even generally, prices far outstripped wage costs. Consider the fact, for example, that in May, 1947, the labor cost per ton of coal was $1.65 and in November, 1947, $1.84. a rise of 19 cents a ton. Allowing an addit on for a 5 cents-a-ton payment for the wel fare fund, added since May, the maximum increase in the labor cost per ton of coal was 24 cents. Yet during the same period the wholesale price per ton of coal rose $1.18 while the average retail price in 34 cities rose $2.40 per ton. Here is a perfect illustra tion of how a 24-cent increase in the labor cost per ton was uni versally represented as the di rect cause for the price increase which in reality was 10 times as great. “As a long term proposition, labor and management must agree that expanding productivity is a national necessity. It is in the long-term interest of all to pay labor progressively higher wages in relation to prices; to do this by progressively increasing pro ductivity per man-bour; and to reduce hours of labor and in crease real income while increas ing the volume of production and distribution. “To translate this policy into reality, genuine union-manage ment co-operation, should begin, not in the congressional hearing room in Washington, or at the company» headquarters, but right at the local plant level where collective bargaining is initiated.” MARRIED WOMEN IN JOBS EXCEED SINGLE WOMEN Chicago.—A man with a brief case full of statistics put the damper yesterday on any girlish hopes that marriage is the logical way to keep out ct£ the wage earner class. “For the first time in history,” said Paul C. Click of the United States Bureau of Census, “mar ried women now outnumber single women with paying jobs.” He spoke at the University of Chi cs*©. SEN. TAfT HELD COOL TO OLEO TAX REPEAL Washington. — According to press reports, the chances for pas sage of the oleo tax repeal bill are fading. Most of the bill’s supporters blamed Senator Robert A. Taft for what they called his “lack of enthusiasm” for the measure. Taft has said he favors it ' The repealer has been passed by the House and reported favor ably by the Senate Finance Com mittal Votes Down Change In Taft-Hartley Law COMMITTEE ACTION KILLS PROPOSED CHANGE FOR THIS YEAR Washington.—The Congressional “Watch-dog” Commit tee on Labor-Management Relations voted to do nothing about the Taft-Hartley law this year. Thus, in effect, the committee gave its blessing to the law as it stands despite the overwhelming evidence pre sented by labor spokesmen showing the ill-effects of the law upon labor-jnanagement relations throughout the na tion. Tnc actum was taken Dy tne committee* after one week of the scheduled three weeks of hear .ngs called by Senator Joseph H. Ball to consider proposed amend ments to the law. Meanwhile since announcement of the com mittee’s decision, a parade of in dustry witinapses h^s appeared before the committee using it as a sounding board to support the present law or to recommend “tougher” amendments. The one amendment on which there appeared to be some chance of success called for the elimina tion of the requirement that the National Labor Relations Board conduct elections before a union shop contract can be negotiated Even this went by the board in the committee’s decision to do nothing. Senator Ball was reported to have said that he saw no need to change the election procedure as suggestad fey Senator drying Ue% of Naw York and Representative Gerald W. Landis of Indiana. Although the machinery of the NLRB has broken down hopelessly under an avalanche of union chop election petitions, and depelte the fact that unions have won 99 per cent of the elections conducted so far. Ball said he expected the board “to be over the hump by next fall.” Senator Ball’s decision was supported by Ray Smethrust, counsel for the National Assocla tion of Manufacturers, who urged continuation of the election pro cedure. On the other hand, representa tives of the construction industry supported Richard J. Gray, presi dent of the AFL’s Building and Construction Trades Department, in opposition to the union shop polls. James D. Marshall, assistant managing director of the Asso ciated General Contractors of America, Inc. told the committee that the requirement of the union shop authority election under con ditions where the closed shop had recently prevailed in the construc tion industry “is only a most com plicated, time-consuming and ex pensive process of demonstrating a foregone conclusion.” Ralph A. MacMullan, secretary manager of the Associated Gen eral Contractors of America, De lyir&iT f“ sm • •tactions where the life of tha bargaining wit was no longer than the life of tha project. Tha NAN spokesman, testifying on other proposed amendments, urged tha complete ban on indus try-wide bargaining and endorsed tha idea of making unions liable under the anti-trust laws, Ha also supported a proposal ad vanced by Senator Ball to ease the burden on the Nl^JlB by chan neling labor cases into the fed eral courts. THIS IS AMERICA! to Courtesy Awctote Aturfw. tec.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 10, 1948, edition 1
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