VOL. XIX; NO. 10
CHARLOTTE. N. C„ THURSDAY. JULY 14, 1949
Subscription Price $2.00 Year
Southern 'Cheap Labor’
Said Not To Be Cause
Of Industrial Movei
II
ent
Claims by our Southern “Re
publicrats” that cheap labor ia
essential to the industrial expan*
sion of the South have been dis
proved—disproved by industrial
ists themselves.
A report by the National Plan
ning Association says that plants
locating in the South are inter
ested in, first, the good markets
offered by the region; second, J
available raw materials in the
area; and third, the Labor Sup
ply.
The report comments:
“Labor came up third—which j
may be a surprise to many. But
the Committee turned up even
more surprising information: New
plants were usually not after
cheap Labor; they wanted Labor
supply itself and low Labor costs
—quite a different thing.”
The report, “New Industry
Comes to the South,” was made
by the Association’s Committee!
of the South. It is based en
painstaking research, not emotion-;
al appeals which most Southerni
Congressmen use in opposition to ■
Wage Hoar Measures.
The Committee studied i8
plants built in the South since
the end of World War II. They
are in 13 states: Alabama, Ark
ansas, Florida. Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi. North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Caro
lina, Tennessee, Texas and Vir
ginia.
ine stuuy was puri.s.ea aa
most Southern Congressmen and
Senators continued their attack
on the expansion of wage-hour
legislation.
Their arguments run like this:*
Southern Businessmen cannot af
ford to pay such “high” minimum
wages as 75 cents or $1 an hour.
(That amounts to the “luxury”
rate of pay of $30 to $40 a week
for 40 hours work.) To attract
industry from the Northeast, thd |
South must hold down its pay
scales.
But the report says, “ . . .
Available Labor and satisfactory
Labor attitudes were more im
portant to these companies than
the South’s alleged cheap Labor.
“This survey indicates that
companies operating plants in
both the North and South pay
roughly the same wage rates in
towns of equivalent size. . . .
“With few exceptions, those
companies that are paying lower
wages in their Southern than in
their Northern plants told the
• Committee that they would not
have risked their funds in a new
Southern location simply because
of the wage-scale differences.
They considered these differences
only temporary. . . .
“Many . . . companies knew
their plants would be Unionized,
and therefore were anxious to lo
cate in a town that had a history
of good Labor-Management rela
tionships . . .
“A few apparel, shoe, and tex
tile plants were located in certain
communities in order to try to
avoid Labor Unions. . . . But, on
the whole, the companies with
Unionized plants elsewhere placed
little or no stress on avoiding
Unions.”
VICTOR REUTHER. A
BROTHER OF WALTER,
SHOT IN DETROIT
DETROIT—Surgeons today re
moved the right eye of Victor
Reuther, 37-year-old CIO United
Auto Workers official and broth
er of UAW President Walter
Reuther, who was shot and ser
iously wounded last night by an
unknown assailant.
Reuther’s general condition was
reported as “satisfactory” at
Henry Ford hospital after the
operation. Dr. James Olson
said he had to “abandon hope of
saving the eye” because a great
deal of tissue was destroyed.
Meanwhile, FBI intervention to
solve the attempted slaying of
Victor and Walter Reuther was
asked by CIO President Philip
Murray. Walter was a victim
of a would-be-assassin under sim
ilar circumstances a year ago.
As in the shooting of Walter,
there was suspicion that the at
tempted slaying of Victor might
be part of a Communist plot.
Victor is educational director of
the UAW.
The Communists hive attacked
the Reuthers’ union leadership in
the past.
Others to ask FBI help were
Senator Homer Ferguson (R
Mich.) and Michigan Governor
G. Mennen Williams.
QUOTE FROM COa —
LOBBIES ARE LOVELY
The House Rules Committee
this week reported out a bill pro
viding for investigation of Wash
ington’s 8 million dollar a year
highpressure lobbies. Number
one Dixiecrat Eugene Cox of
Georgia proceeded to pass judg
ment without waiting for the in
vestigation. He Said
‘‘I have never seen any evidence
of lobbying that I thought was
detrimental to the public wel
fare.”
LABOR VOTES WILL BEAT
SENATOR TAFT IN 1950
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.
In 1944, Tart received 1,500,
609 votes. His Democratic op
ponent, William G. PickYel. 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!
[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
the wall at once. The need was
10 urgent that only little notice
:ouId be given us. While this
work was underway we asked the
landlord to make other improve
ments and from now on we will
lave The Journal to you on time
each week.
For this delay we are deeply
apologetic and thank our sub
scribers and advertisers for their
latience. All back issues of The
Journal will be coming to you
n short order.
THE PUBLISHER.
^—Qy^^ts.uwons
To nva.mta.vixtli\ertv,>we buy
\ \ from firms tKat display .
mm urns,
shop cards!
, * buttons?
, ■ < **»**«,.
--
JUST AS OUR FOREFATHERS, IN 1776, WON POLITICAL IN
* ~ DEPENDENCE, AMERICAN WORKERS CAN WIN ECONOMIC
FREEDOM, TODAY. THE SHORTEST ROUTE TO THAT
GREAT GOAL OF SECURITY IS TO JOIN A LABOR UNION,
BUY UNION LABEL GOODS AND USE UNION SERVICES.
j
L M. OHNBL’EN. B«nUrr-Tmnm, UNION LABEL TRADES DEPT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
U. S. Steel Corporation
Starts Talks With The
CIO Steel Workers
PITTSBURG, PA. — The CIO
United Steelworkers today de
manded a general wage increase
—plus pensions and insurance
benefits—in the opening contract
session with the U. S. Steel cor
poration.
The specific wage hike sought
and the amount of pensions and
insurance desired were not dis
closed. No comapny reaction
was forthcoming after a two
hour, shirt-sleeve conference.
Vice President John A. Steph
ens of “Big Steel” made a joint
company-union announcement of
the union’s demands. They were:
“1—A general (wage) increase
for the entire membership.
“2 —- Adequate pensions upon
retirement or disability for each
member of the union, to be paid
for entirely by the employer.
Compulsory retirement shall not
be permitted.
“3—Decent social insurance bene
fits for members of the United
Steelworkers of America and
their families, to be paid for by
the employer. These shall in
clude life, accident, health, medi
cal and hospital benefits.”
The corporation told the union
previously it would not discuss
pensions this year.
LEWIS’ WEEK STOPPAGE
CAUSES PA. R. R. TO LAY
OFF 15.M6 EMPLOYEES
PHILADELPHIA. — The Penn
sylvania railroad announced today
that 15,000 men will be laid off
next Monday as a result of the
work stoppage of John L. Lewis’
coal miners. A statement by the
nation’s largest railroad said that
as a 4 result of Lewis’ directive,
with consequent decreased de- j
mand for rail transportation as1
| well as the- general current de
cline in the railroad's traffic, it
will be necessary to curtail opera
tions.
AFL SENDS FOOD
TO BERLIN TO AID
THE RAIL WORKERS
NEW YORK — Matthew Woll,
chairman of the AFL’s interna
tional labor relations committee,
announced that the AFL has ar
ranged to send $5,000 worth of
CAE food parcels to striking
Berlin railroad workers.
This action is the latest ges
ture on the part of the American
Federation of Labor which,
through its relief arm, the Labor
£,eague for Human Rights, dis
tributed during and since the war
, thousands of dollars worth of
! relief packages to free trade un
j ionisbs in Europe who are bat
, tling against the infiltration tac
tics of Soviet Russia.
Announcing this action. Mr.
Woll released the text of a cable
sent to the U. G. O., the anti
communists federation of labor
in Berlin, which reads as follows:
“Please convey Berlin striking
railroad workers our warmest
solidarity, their courageous fight
against Russian totalitarian op
pressors and Moscow’s menial
German stoogea, the Communist
scabs, is vital phase of interna
tional labor struggle for social
justice and human freedom. In
token of our moral and material
support we have arranged imme
diate shipment of $5,000 worth
of food in CARE parcels for
strikers and their families. Long
live free trade unionism through
out Germany and the world.”
I “UNION INDUSTRIES SHOW"
WILL TAKE "TO THE ROAD”
CLEVELAND. — organized la
l>or’s big annual exposition—the
“Union Industry Show,” sponsor
ed by the A. F. of L. Union Label
Trades Department — wound up
here after playing to an audience
of several hundred thousand
Clevelanders.
Many more saw the big, ani
| mated array of the products and
services of union fel>or over tele
I vision hookups, and great num
bers heard about it in a coast-to
coast radio broadcast.
The exposition is going to be
put to a unique purpose. Secre
tary-Treasurer I. M. Ornburn of
the Label Trades Department re-'
vealed. Movies were taken ef
the show, and these are to be
equipped with German sound
track, then sent to Germany te
illustrate achievements made pos
sible by labor-management co
operation, Ornburn said.
Also, similar movies are being
made available for showing dur
ing the coming months at union
meetings, public gatherings and
local theaters, Ornburn added.
Polio Precautions
i
A flood health nil* for parent* to
impreea upon children In infantile
paralyaie epidemic areae ie to avoid
crowd* and place* where cleae con*
tact with other pertone ia likely.
H THE NATIIM FOUNDATION
FOR INFANTILE PARALYSIS I
Organized business, as repre
sented by the United States
Chamber ef Commerce, put itself
solidly in the camp of reaction
this month.
On almost an assembly-line ba
sis. 50 policy resolutions de
nouncing nearly all phases of
President Truman's “fair degl"
program were given a rubber
stamp “okay” by 1,700 delegates
at the Chamber’s annual con
vention in Washington.
Many of the resolutions raised
the scare that the Truman pro
posafs paved the road to “so
cialism.” One denounced all
forms of “government-controlled
economy.” 'lv
By contrast, however, the con
vention called for retention of
practically all of the most vicious
provisions of the Taft-Hartley
Act.
4 •.
In ether words, the Chamber
put itself on record as wanting
a free hand for business, shackles
for labor and no social welfare
legislation for the people.
Same Old itogey
Before the convention ground
out the swarm of resolutions, the
delegates also heard a lot of in
dustrialists, Tory congressmen
and other speaker^, who brand
ished the bogey of “socialism”
igainst the Administration’s do
mestic program.
There was one significant ex
ception. At a session devoted to
the “dangers” of the “welfare
state,” the Chamber made a ges
ture toward hearing the “other
side” by inviting Nelson H.
Cruikshank, A. F. of L. director
of social insurance activities, to
speak.
He was pitted, however, against
three other speakers who sought
to tar the Truman program as
“socialistic.’ One applied the
label to government housing, an-j
ther to Federal aid to educa
tion, and a third to health in-1
i
Ciles The Constitution
Cruikshank answered in a man
ner unexpected to the delegates.
He read from the Constitution,
adopted way hack ip 1789. to
show that nothing in the Truman
program conflicted with that great
charter.
No one, he said can brand the
Constitution a “socialist” docu
ment, yet its preamble committed
this nation to “promote the gen
eral welfare” through the power
of the governmenw
This aim is reinforced, he add
ed. by Article 7, Section 8 of the
Constitution which gives Con
gress power to “collect taxes”
duties, imposts and excises” for
the “general welfare of the
United States."
Furthermore, Alexander Hamil
ton was one of the first to “de
fend the broad power of Congress
to act for the general welfare”
when he argued that the Con
stitution gave Congress authority
to establish a national bank,
Cruikshank said. Was Hamilton
a “socialist?"
Is Tariff Socialistic?
“Since that date there have
been a host of enactments spon
sored by every political party to
implement the welfare activities
of our government,” the A. F.
of L. speaker declared. “Every
time Congress has passed a tariff
act we have engaged in an ac
tivity of the welfare state.” he
said.
Cruikshank cited other exam
ples: The establishment of a
system of public school over a
century ago; the Homestead act
of 1862 which turned over large
sections of the public domain to
the plain people for settlement;
the grant of huge amounts of
public land to the railroads.
“Servants Of The People”
“When the frontier was ex
hausted and the public lands were
all settled or given away, we
found ourselves still faced with
the insecurity of old age and un
employment,” he said. “So the
government simply continued its
basic policy of dedicating its re
sources and instrumentalities to
the aid of the people through a
system of social insurance.
“'That is how our social secur
ity system came into effect as on
activity of the welfare state . . .
At the bottom of it all is the
idea that the state can be the
servant of the people.”—Union
Reporter.
TRl'MAN 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 any
audible “noea." ^
But despite the amendmqpU,
the administration bill still was
far from identical with the T-H
act. It did not contain a long
array of T-H features like the
use of injunctions to delay strikes
and the bans on closed shop con
tracts, mass picketing and certain
other union activities.
The three amendments, spon
sored by a bi-partisan group,
would do these things:
1. Make it illegal for a union
to refuse to bargain in good faith.
The administration bill already
contained a requirement that em
ployers must bargain. The
amendment had the effect of im
posing the same duty on both
sides, u3 in the Taft-Hartley law.
2. Guarantee freedom of speech
in labor relations unless the
speech in question contains threats
or premises of benefits. Tho
amendment is similar to, but not
identical with a Taft-Hartley pro
vision.
3. Require both unions and
companies, if they want to take
cases before the National Labor
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-Communist oaths
was deferred until tomorrow.. It
was expected to pass like the
others.
CHICAGO PUBLISHERS
1 STILL PREFER REAL TYPE
Graphic-arts technicians meet*
ing in Detroit late in June, the
Wall Street Journal said on Juno
30, “admitted major dailies aren’t
impressed” with “new develop
ments like typewriter contrap
tions marketed as substitutes for
typecasting machines.”
“Speed must be set above
costs, in big-newspaper opera
tions,” continued the Journal,
which quoted one of the techni
cians as saying that the standard
“multi-stepped printing operation
satisfies split-second newspaper
edition schedules—and the new
streamlined developments just
don’t do this.”
Another paragraph, of interest
to members of No. 18. particularly
and to ITU members generally,
is this: “Chicago newspapers,
strike-bound over a year and a
half, have been able to get by
with the type-like machines. But
they look forward to the day
when then can go back to the
old typecasting operation.”
Italics are the Picket’s. The
Wall Street Journal merely re
cited the plain facta about era tax
newspaper methods.
NLRB HANDICAPS f
LEWIS’ DEMAND i V
FOR A UNION SHOP
WASHINGTON. — Coal indus
try sources said today the recent
National Labor Relations board
decision forbidding John L. Lewis
to demand a union shop gives
them a potent weapon in nego
tiating a new contract. The
NLRB ordered Lewis and his
United Mine Workers union to
refrain from demanding a union
shop as part of any new coal
agreement He was directed to
give his promise to comply by
June 13.