VOL. XIX; NO. 7
*
CHARLOTTE. N. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 23. 1949
Subscription Price $2.00 Year
labor League For Political Action Has
Mad Work Cat Oat For It In 1950
WASHINGTON—The 1950 election campaign will start
in July of this year—16 months before election day. A
drive for voluntary contributions will start next Fall.
Special concentrated attention will be given' next year to
Southern Democratic primaries. But the chief target for
1950 will be the defeat of Senator Robert Taft of Ohio.
These were the decisions maae
at the LLPE Administrative Com
mittee meeting in Cleveland. The
LLPE policy leaders with the
recent vote on the Halleck-Wood
Bill fresh in their minds, were
far from discouraged by the votes
in the 81st Congress. All but
2 of the 172 LLPE supported
Representatives elected in No
vember stood by labor. Our
friends in Congress had increased
from 83 to 209 thanks to our
efforts last election. The Wood
Bill vote clearly showed us where
we must concentrate in 1950. We
must concentrate on the 63
Southern Democrats who violated
their party’s pledge. Already the
Taft campaign is underway in
Ohio. He and other reaction
aries will not take us lightly
next time . . . they will give us
the race of our political lives.
It will take even greater effort
in 1950 to re-elect our friends
and retire a few more die-hards
of the stripe of Halleck-Martin
and Taft.
JXhe LLPE Administrative Com
mittee is determined that our
League shall not be “too little
and too late.” The Committee
was happy to report that at the
present time practically every
AFL International Union Is‘giv
ing whole-hearted support and
financial assistance to LLPE. All
the key state leaders will be
called into Washington sometime
in July to lay out concrete and
co-ordinated strategy for the
1950 election and to get set for
the biggest political fund-raising
drive in AFL history.
As President Green summed
up the situation:
“The workers of this country
cannot feel safe and secure while
reactionary forces are able to
muster such strength in Congress
as was manifested in the roll call
vote on the Wood Bill.”
LLPE will not be found want
ing in 1950.
WIDE POWER IS GIVEN
TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN
IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH
WASHINGTON—Congress com
pleted action today on a bill giv
ing President Truman broad pow
ers to streamline the executive
branch of the Government.
The Senate, by a voice vote
with no opposition, approved a
compromise version of the bill
which was worked out by a Sen
ate-House committee yesterday.
The House passed it a few min
utes earlier.
Senate action sfnt the measure
on its way to the White House
after a month of bitter wrang
ling.
Polio Precautions
* t
#
A good health rule for parents to
Imprest upon children In Infantile
paralysis epidemic areas is to avoid
crowds and places where dose eon-'
tact with other persons is likely.
H|TH[ national foundation
Ifor infantile paralysis
988 ILGWU Members Get
Fvst Pension Payments
By Arnold Beichman, Now York
Correspondent for AFL News
Service
NEW YORK. —The employer
financed old age pension, system
of this city’s largest industry,
dress manufacturing, went into
effect last week with the retire
ment of 988 aged dressmakers.
Henceforth, the 85.000 mem
bers of the Dressmakers Joint
Board of the International Ladies
Garment Workers Union will be
assured of a lifetime pension of
|50 a month supplementing the
Federal old age pension.
At special ceremonies here,
ILGWU President Dubinsky
pointed out that “if you look back
upon the benefits won through
collective bargaining in our in
dustry, what appeared first as
an additional cost has turned out
shortly thereafter to be a factor
in reducing industry costs.”
The pension system is - admin
istered, under a collective bar
gaining agreement with employer
association, by a joint union-in
dustry committee, the head of
which is the dress industry's im
partial chairman, Harry Uviller,
who is empowered to break any
deadlock.
The financing of the retire
ment fund is through a 1 per
cent tax on payrolls and as of
May 1, a sum of 83.368,836 had
been accumulated.
To be eligible for the the pen
sion, a member must have been
in good standing for 11 years
since 1933 and consecutively for
the last 5 years. To continue re
ceiving the allotment, the work
er is barred from working in the
dress industry or if he takes em
ployment in another industry his
earnings may not exceed the
amount prescribed under the So
cial Security Act pension eligi
bility rules.
Julius Hochman, Dress Joint
Board manager and treasurer of
the retirement fund of the dress
industry, pointed out that the
outstanding fact thus far is the
unwillingness of most eligible
workers to retire not because ef
the size of the pension but be
cause of a desire to remain ac
tive.
The first pension check went to
Ike Simon, 70, a cutter and mem
ber in good standing for the past
48 years. He was one of 607 men
and 381 women who will now.
that they are 65 years or over,
receive pension checks each
month.
PETRILLO HEADS AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS.
fM.NO YEAR JOB
SAN FRANCISCO —James C.
Petrillo was re-elected president
of the AFL American Federation
of Musicians yesterday.
Unofficial returns were 1,401
votes to 83 for Edward Henne
of Local 224, Mattoon. 111.
It was the first time Petrillo
had been opposed for the $20,000
a year office since he was first
elected in 1940.
Henne said he ran merely to
show the union was “a democrat*
ic organization.”
Next year’s convention was
awarded to Houston, Texas.
Petrillo loosed a bitter criticism
of United Mine Workers Presi
dent John L. Lewis.
Referring to Lewis' withdrawal
of miners from their jobs, Petril
lo asserted: “John L. Lewis is
nuts. I say he is not a faithful
labor leader and not faithful to
America.”
T
A FATHER’S TEN TENETS FOR
BUILDING A STRONG AMERICA
May 19th to Father's Day, June 19th, 1949 is
Father«Child Month, dedicated to closer father*
child relationships. Purpose: to build a strong
America through wholesome child upbringing.
I
1. A wife father develops in
his home a deep and genuine
appreciation of our tradi
tions and institutions.
2. A wise father makes his
child feel secure.
3- He teaches his child that
intolerance and bigotry have
no place in American life.
4. He develops a respect for
the character and accom
plishments of other peoples.
5. He shares his-child’s
activities.
6. He sees to it that he and
his family take an active part
i%4qpwnu"ify life. -
7. He is always available to
help solve youthful
problems.
8. He trains his child for
leadership.
9- He strives to be the man
his child thinks, he is.
10. He leaches his child that
our great material blessings
are meaningless without
developing spiritual values.
AFL Unions Expose Abuses
Of "Shell” Housing Projects
CHICAGO—To protect home buyers from exploitation,
the Chicajo Building Trades Council (AFL) has begun a
movement to correct abuses of so-called “shell” housing
projects. A committee of the building crafts began inter
viewing contractors on May 24 to inform them they may
not use skilled union craftsmen to start a house for ama
teurs to finish.
Chicago veterans, desperate far
a place to live, have been vie*
ti mixed repeatedly by promoters
of “shells,” who glowingly ad
vertised “semifinished" homes,
with promises tnat buyers can
save thousands of dollars by fln
, ishing the job themselves.
The shells usually consists of
four walls, a few studs to hold
the roof up, a subfloor, a roof
and not much else. Sometimes
there's a basement.
The buyer has to do the plumb
ing, wiring, plastering, painting,
install the heating system, nail
down the finish flooring, hang the
doors, put on the trim and a
thousand other chores he never
thought of when he bought it.
Or, he can hire a specialty con
tractor for each of several dif
ferent phases of the finishing
work. The specialty contractor
will charge him more than the
same contractor would have
charged a general contractor, so
the buyer will wind up paying
more than it would have cost him
for a finished house.
Most “shell” buyers try to do
most of the work themselves, or
try to hire a handy man or two
to help. If a helper is hurt on
the job, the home owner, with I
no workmen’s compensation in
surance, is stuck again.
If he tries to do the work him
self. he soon finds there are
tricks to every trade which only
experience can teach.
“With all my years of con
struction experience,” said Earl
J. McMahon, secretary-treasurer
of the council and of the Illinois
State Federation of Labor, “I’d
be afraid to hang a door.
“Anybody can screw a hinge
into a door and into a door frame,
but that doesn’t guarantee the
door will pen and shut. And an
amateur who tries to fit a lock
can easily ruin the door.”
The council’s decision follows
an investigation of several weeks.
Rather than wreck the hopes of
family men already committed to
shell homes contracts, the crafts
are not starting with a flat pro
hibition on such construction.
Instead, the craft leaders are
simply informing contractors that
union tradesmen may not be used
unless there il definite assurance
that a project begun will be com
pleted in a satisfactory manner.
“We are simply making a de
termined effort to protect the
American home owner against
exploitation,” said McMahon.
TRUMAN LABOR BILL
LOOKS LIKE THE TAFT
HARTLEY ACT DUPLICATE
WASHINGTON. — The Senate
today added three amendments to
President Truman’s labor bill and
thereby made it look a little more
like the Taft-Hartley act. The
senators approved all three pro
posals by voice votes without an)
audible “noea.”
But despite the amendments
the administration bill still wai
far from identical with the T-H
act. It did not contain a long
array of T-H features like (M
use of injunctions to delay strike)
and the bans on closed shop con
tracts, mass picketing and certaii
other union activities.
The three amendments, spon
sored by a bi-partisan group
would do these things:
1. Make it illegal for a nnioi
to refuse to bargain in good faith
The administration bill already
contained a requirement that em
ployers must * bargain. Thi
amendment had the effect of im
posing the same duty on bott
sides, as in the Taft-Hartley law
2. Guarantee freedolh of speed
in labor relations unless th<
speech in question contains threat*
or promises of benefits. Tht
amendment is similar to, but nol
identical with a Taft-Hartley pro
vision.
3. Require both unions and
companies, if they want to fkk<
cases before the National Laboi
Relations board, to file annual
financial reports. The Taft-Hart
ley law requires only unions to
do this.
Considering of a fourth amend
ment on non-Communis^v oath*
was deferred until tomorrow. It
was expected to pass like th«
others.
IAFL Unions Expose Abuses
Of “Shell” Housing Projects
A 150-page Illustrated book,
“The Gift of Freedom,” de
scribing the level of living—on
the job and off—of the American
worker, has been released by the
I Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The book, according to bureau
officials, is “designed to inform
the worker in foreigh countries
how his American counterpart
lives." Eight chapters describe
in detail: workers’ employment
characteristics; the economic ba
sis for ’ their living standards;
what their wages will buy in
terms of an hour’s work; their
standards of living; working con
ditions and lal>or legislation; the
history, development and in
fluence of the labor movement;
and the historical basis for per
sonal and political freedom.
The volume takes its title from
the theme of a 6-page introduc
tion which refers to Walt Whit
man’s conception of America “as
an inheritor and protector ol
world liberty” bound by a repon
sibility both “fearsome and sa
creJ.”
By example and by othei
means as well, it states we musi
make good on our obligatior
with respect to “this gift ol
freedom American democraej
held only in trust.”
Our ability to do so, the intro
duction states is tested by (1)
whether workers prosper as the
economy as a whole prospers;
(2) the flexibility of the system
in permitting “freedom of move
ment. choice, conscience and op
portunity;” and (8) the progres
sive improvement of the status
and influence of the worker. The
facts are measurable, the intro
j durtion continues, because “one
! of the benefits of a free society
is the right of free inquiry, and
Americans have made extensive
use of that right.”
It warns that it is “not an
economic and social system alone
which guarantees prosperity and
security,” hut rather that my
system which “provides freeuom
to the individual, and allows him
to participate to the fullest ex
tent to the solution of problems
which beset it. stand the greatest
chance of maximum utilization
of its human and natural re
sources.”
Pointing candidly ato “flaws" in
the operation of the American
system, it contends that “our
| mistakes impede but do not halt
, our progress or change our di
rection.” We possess the com
bination of circumstances neces
sary to “virile democratic leader
ship" and reconstruction; free
labor, free unions, social con
science, sacred regard for indi
vidual dignity, and economic ca
pacity. Even mere than our ma
terial treasure “we want to share
those free institutions of free
men which are imbedded in the
i very marrow of any democratic
social structure. That' indeed is
i the gift of freedom.”
Copies are available for 55
cents from the Superintendent of
> Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C.
LABOR VOTES WILL BEAT
SENATOR TAFT IN 1950
I
Every vote counts.
Whenever a Trade Unionist
starts thinking that his lone vote
is unimportant, he should remem
ber the election of Senator Rob
ert A. Taft <R., Ohio) in 1944.
If only 3.1 voters in* each pre
cinct in Ohio had switched their
votes from Taft to his Democratic
opponent, the Labor-Hating Ohio
an would have been defeated.
Ia 1944, Tart received 1,600,
609 votes. His Democratic op
ponent, William G. Pickrel, got
1,482,610 votes, only 17,999 less
than Taft.
And there are 5,710 precincts
in Ohio. It’s as simple as that!
Every Unionist in every state
should vote against Labor's En
emies! t
I (r roni L»L>Pfc » League Reporter)
By CLIFF KNOWLES
Of Clereland Typographical Union
The hottest political campaign
in 1950 will take place here in
, Ohio. Senator Robert A. Taft
! will be running for reelection.
Students of politics agree that
the issues involved in the Ohio
campaign will have repercussions
in electing and defeating candi
dates for Senate and House in
other states.
Organized labor of the Buckeye
state intends to marshall it*
I strength from Lake Erie to the
. Ohio river to defeat the co-auth
I or of the infamous anti-labor
Taft-Hartley law. m i . ^^
Prominent in the struggle to
beat Bob Taft will be members of
the International Typographical
i Union, one of the oldest labor
| organization in the country.
The union printers of Ohio are
well informed as to the evils and
intent of Taft-Hartley. For the
past 19 months, their compatriot*
on Chicago newspapers have been
on strike. Publishers of the
| Windy City are carrying the Taft
j Hartley banner for newspaper
, owners all over the United
States.
I If the Chicago printers lose the
i strike, the boys in Cleveland and
Dayton and Akron and Toledo
and all other ITU locals will suf
j for the dreadful consequences.
Rest assured that union print
ers and members of allied trade
union in Ohio will battle Taft re
lentlessly. Taft’s defeat would
have a sobering influence in both
Senate and House come January
1951. Chiefly, if Taft-Hartley ia
not repealed by the 81st Con
gress, it then would be -trimlrt ^ -
of *tne 82nd.
The closed shop has been a
cherished feature for more than
half a century in all contracta
which the ITU has signed. TH,
l *f course, removes the teeth
from this asset to union mem
ber*. The printers, and their ex
ecutive officers, will never surren
der this formidable provision
meekly. It guarantees the evrs
vival of their union.
The printers in Ohio are not
“lone wolves” in the fight. Their
associates in the allied printing
trades also will be battling the
labor-hating senior senator from
their state.
Senator Taft’s anti-labor record
has been consistent. Ohio is a
great industrial state. Labor
votes in counties such as Hamil
ton, Cuyahoga, Lucas, Franklin,
Summit, Trumbull and Montgom
ery will decide the issue — if
[working men and women register
land vote.
TELEVISION SETS AND ALL,
TRIBUNE CONTINUES
TO LOSE
Chicago Tribune tales in Mil
waukee, which already were at
their lowest for 20 years, dropped
off sharply when the UAW con
vention met there and have sine#
dropped still more.
On Tuesday, July 19, the Mil
waukee county CIO central body
wired No. 16 for 5,000 more
“Don’t Buy” stickers—which were
delivered forthwith.
NOTICE
The reason this issue of The
Journal is late is due to an ex
tensive job of remodeling which
has been going on in our plant
since the first of May which put
our facilities out of order until
it was completed.
The back wall on our building
| was ready to topple over and the
| landlord was compelled to rebuild
I the wall at once. The need was
so urgent that only little notice
| could be given us. While this
work was underway we asked the
landlord to make other improve
ments and from now on we will
have The Journal to you on time
each week.
For this delay we are deeply
apologetic and thank our sub
scribers and advertisers for their
patience. All beck issues of The
Journal will be coming to yon
in short order.
THE PUBLISHES.