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CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL
VOL. XIX; NO. II
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CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1949
Subscription Price $2.00 Ye
1949 Labor Day Edition-Enjoy the Day But, Be Careful; Drive Safely!
Asst. Sec. Kaiser To
Guide MLA Office
BY ARNOLD BE1CHMAN
New York Correspondent for
AFL News Service
Washington, D. C.—A 36-year- j
old young man has been formally
entrusted with the job of aiding |
the free labor movement ii) Amer
ica and overseas in its battle
•gainst totalitarianism.
Nominated by President Truman |
and unanimously confirmed by thej
Senate, this young man, Assistant
Secretary of Labor Philip M. Kai
ser, has undertaken direction of j
the Department of labor’s mani-1
fold activities in the field of inter-!
national relations.
He was sworn in by U. S. Su- j
preme Court Justice Hugo L. Black
in the office of Secretary of Labor j
Maurice Tobin in the presence of
distinguished representatives of
Congress, Cabinet departments and
ranking trade union leaders, in
cluding John P. Frey, George P.
Delaney, James Brownlow, Nelson
Cruikshank, Serafina Romualdi and
others.
Alongside the new Assistant Sec
retary of Labor was his father,
76 years old, a man who fled Csar
ist oppression half a century ago.
About his father, Mr. Kaiser said
aftec the oath-taking ceremony to
the assembly in Secretary Tobin’s
office:
"He came to this country fleeing
social and economic and religious
persecution. He came here seeking
an opportunity to live in a free
society — where men could earn
their bread by honest toil, and
worship God in accordance with the
dictates of their consciences; where
children of immigrants were pro
vided opportunities commensurate
with their abilities.
“My father found these things
here in America. He found a life
giving spirit of freedom, for to him
the basic concept of life has been
the inviolability of the individual
personality. He toiled hard in this
vineyard and inculcated in his 35
children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren, a sense of deep de
votion to a country, where his as
pirations have become a reality.”
The Labor Department’s Office
of International Affairs, to which
the new Assistant Secretary is as
signed, works closely with Amer
ican trade union leaders. Its Trade
Union Advisory Committee which
meets regularly with Secretary
Tobin and Assistant Secretary
Kaiser includes David Dubinsky,
ILGWU president; Thomas L. Har
kins, Brotherhood of Railway
Trainmen and Locomotive Engin
eers; A. E. Lyon, George Meany,
Matthew Woll and George Delaney.
The Office of International Af
fairs concerns itself with many
matters of vital importance to the
American labor movement; for ex
ample, trying to raise labor stand
ards in other countries so that man
ufactures or other products enter
ing this country shall be done by
workers paid decent wages, keep
ing in touch with American union
leaders on matters of mutual con
cern in the foreign field, represent
ing the American government in
the International Labor Organisa
tion and many others.
By and large, this office is where
American labor has a chance to
influence the course of American
foreign policy and is a means of
fighting the inroads of commun
ism in the labor movements of
other countries.
Union Observing
'Unfair' Employer
Held In Violation
Washington. — Union observers
who followed vehicles belonging to
an “unfair” employer were ruled
to have violated the Taft-Hartley
law by a trial examiner for the
National Labor Relations Board.
The board itself, in an earlier
ruling, had held it was illegal for
pickets to follow a truck from the
site of a primary dispute to the
premises of another employer for
the purpose of picketing it there.
In the case announced, the unions
made no attempt to picket the
trucks and their cars bore no signs
or banners. However, the trial
examiner, Hamilton Gardner, held
that the stationing of cars by the
unions at the Santa Ana Lumber
Co., Santa Ana, Calif., yards was
“in effect a picket line even though
not in the regular, sense”.
Mr. Gardner found the following
AFL labor organizations guilty of
violating the secondary boycott sec
tion of the Taft-Hartley law:
Local 407, Carpenters Union;
Building and Construction Trades
Council of Orange County, Cal.;
Local 692, Teamsters Union and
Orange County District Council
of Carpenters.
The target of the unions was
the Santa Ana Lumbei^^mpany.
lowed Santa Ana trucks on some
100 to MO occasions.
According to Mr. Gardner “the
actual following of company trucks
to customers’ premises was calcu
lated to be an attempt to demon
strate that something was wrong
in the labor relations obtaining at
Santa Ana. ...”
Unless it is contested before the
NLRB within twenty days the trial
examiner's recommendations will
take effect as a board order.
WILLIAM GREEN SPONSORS
AMERICAN INDIAN'FUND
New York. — William Green,
president of the American Federar
tion of Labor, has become a co
sponsor of the American Indian
Fund, 48 East 86th Street, New
York City, Oliver La Farge, fund
chairman, announced.
Mr. Green joins a distinguished
group of public leaders helping the
fund in its current drive to raise
1450,000 American Indian citisens to
full participation in American ilfe.
The fund, through its parent or
ganisation, the Association on
American Indian Affairs, strongly
endorsed the National Fair Em
ployment Practices bill, H.R. 4453,
in testimony recently before the
House Committee on Education
and Labor in Washington.
“Many Indian reservations today
are centers of misery and starva
tion, the end result of centuries
of economic discrimination,” As
sociation Counsel Felix S. Cohan
told the committee. “Indians are
the most rapidly increasing racial
group in the United States. Eco
nomic discrimination practised
against them today in the United
States and Alaska is probably more
serious than that practiced against
any other minority groups.”
NEW ENGLAND TURNS OUT
3#% OF NATION’S SHOES
Boston.—The New England Shoe
and Leather Association reported
that during 1948 the “shoe states”
—Massachusetts, Maine and New
Hampshire—turned out 140,422,000
pairs of shoes. This, said the as
sociation, was better than 30 per
cent of all the shoes made in
' America.
*GOP"Byrds og a Feather.../
fly ?)
I /1UT / J
RIGHT.'
Co*vvi*M 1949
TMt tUCWMSMAM.,
AS WE SEE IT
The following is excerpted from
interviews by AFL Publicity Di
rector Philip Pearl with Represen
tative Andrew J. Biemiller of Wis
consin and Nelson H. Cruikshank,
Director of Social Insurance Ac
tivities for the AFL, on the ques
tion of the welfare state. The in
terviews were broadcast on the
AFL’s “As We See It” radio pro
gram, heard each Tuesday evening
at 10:30 p. m„ EDT, over the
American Broadcasting Company
network.
Introduction: We propose to
get down to cases on what is rap
idly becoming the basic political
issue of our country and our times;
namely, the issue of the welfare
state.
On the one hand, we have the
Taft-Hoover school of thought
which warns the American peo
ple that “we are on the last mile
on the back road to collectivism.”
On the other hand we have the
Truman-Roosevelt-Labor school of
thought which believes that the
American people are entitled to a
much broader measure of social
and economic security than they
now enjoy. The battle between
these two conflicting philosophies
promises to wax hotter and even
more bitter in the 1950 congres
sional campaigns.
Question: Congressman Biemil
ler, do you see anything new, rev
olutionary, or dangerous in this
so-called welfare state?
Biemiller: I do not see anything
dangerous or revolutionary in it
unless you think our entire Amer
ican form of government is revo
lutionary and dangerous. From
the very beginning of our country
we have believed in the welfare
state. The Founding Fathers
wrote into the Preamble of the
Constitution a definite statement
that the government was founded
to promote the general welfare of
the people.
Question: Mr. Cruikshank, do
you subscribe to the argument that
the Preamble to the Constitution
does not have any real legal sta
tus, that it is not legally binding?
Cruikshank: No, not at all. That
argument is frequently brought up,
and I think it has been answered
best by former Justice Cordozo of
the United States Supreme Court
in a decision given on a social se
curity case. The justice, who was
not a New Dealer but an appointee
of President Hoover, said back in
1937:
“Congress may spend money in
aid of the general welfare. . . .
The object behind this statute (the
Social Security Act) is to save
men and women from the rigors
of the poorhouse, as well as from
the haunting fear that such a lot
awaits them when the journey’s
end is near. Only a power that
is national can serve the interests
of alL That issue is a closed one.
It was fought out long ago”.
Biemiller: I do not think there
is any question but that it was
fought out long ago. Take, for
example, the statement of Thomas
Jefferson, who, way back in 1806,
proposed that public lands be set
aside and dedicated to public edu
cation. This was definitely a case
(Continued On Page 4)
ANTI-RED BERLIN UNION
FACES FINANCIAL RUIN
Berlin—The anticommunist in
dependent tnpde union* of Berlin
(UGO) are dangerously near fi
nancial collapse, it was reported
here. More than 25 percent of the
members did not pay their dues
last month because of unemploy
ment.
A western allied source warned
that UGO, which he described as
uone of the most important of anti
communist organisations,” stood
to lose much of its effectiveness if
it did not get immediate help from
western governments or labor or
ganisations. UGO, formed by anti
communist German trade union
ists in the western sectors of Ber
lin, was described as one of west
ern democracy’s greatest assets
during the past few years in Ber
lin.
AFL AUTO WORKERS LOCAL
WINS 15-CENT WAGE HIKE
—
Chicago.—Just six weeks after
o.ganising the plant. Local 286 of
the AFL’s United Automobile
Workers of America reported the
signing of a contract with the Na
tional Video Corporation.
Heading the long list of gains
is a straight 15-cents-an-hour wage
increase for all employees. Other
provisions of the intial pact include
paid holidays, liberal paid vaca
tions, a health and accident insur
ance plan, and an unusually fine
grievance procedure. The contract
also includes many other features
typical of the superior agreements
negotiated by this amalgamated
union which boasts of more than
30 plants in the Windy City area.,
PREDICTS BIG AFL DRIVE WILL
DECISIVELY BEAT TAFT IN 1950 VOTE
Qolumbus, Ohio.—AFL President William Green de
clared that the American Federation of Labor will pull no
punches in its campaign next year for the defeat of its arch
enemy, Senator Robert A. Taft.
In a fighting speech delivered before cheering delegates
attending the 64th annual convention of the Ohio State Fed
eration of Labor, the AFL leader went on to predict a “de
cisive” defeat for Taft at the hands of an aroused labor
movement.
Chicogo Lobor Hits
Cuts In Relief Aid
BY DAN SMYTH
Chicago Cor respondent for AFL
New* Service
Chicago, Aug. 29.—The labor
movement in Chicago and Illinois
i is protesting vigorously against a
[10 per cent cut in relief payments
and a 5 per cent cut in aid to de
pendent children, ordered by the
Illinois Public Air Commission, ef
fective September 1.
The order to cut, paradoxically,
results from rising unemployment
and increased demands for lelief.
The commission's idea was to
spread available funds among a
larger number of people. Th* con
sequences, according to local re
lief administrators, will be a se
rious reduction in diet for 92,909
relief clients, 89,804 dependent chil
dren and an unknown number of
mothers of dependent children.
In Illinois, relief budgets are
fixed biennially by the legislature.
Appropriations are made on rec
ommendations of a budgetary com
mission, based on estimates of need
prepared several months before the
appropriation is finally voted.
In former years, the money ap
propriated for relief was spent un
til It ran out, and a deficiency ap
propriation was voted, if necessary,
to finance the last few months.
But the new Illinois state adminis
tration is committM to a haisne+d
budget, and the IPAC is trying to
make it stick.
For the biennium ending June
30, 1951, the state legislature ap
propriated 1265,465,000 for public
aid to be disbursed through the
IPAC. The figure includes $158,
307,929 from state revenue and
$107,167,071 in federal money.
Of the $265,465,000, about $48,
000,000 was set aside for general
relief purposes, $56,000,000 for
ADC, and the rest for old age
pensions, blind assistance and ad
ministrative costs. But the bien
nium began while unemployment
was going up.
For July, the IPAC authorised
release of $1,799334 to Chicago
and other local governments for
general relief purposes. The Au
Alvin E. Rose, Chicago relief
trust allocation will run about $2,
69,124. If tha rest of the appro
priation were divided evenly among
the remaining 22 months, the
amount available would be only
$1,762,940 a month. So the IPAC
ordered the cut.
commissioned, said the 10 per cent
slash in state grants would mean
a cut of 20 to 26 per cent in the
food budget of 45,016 on the Chi
cago relief rolls, since fixed ex
penses such as rent, light and fuel
couldn’t be cut.
Joseph L. Moss, Cook County
welfare director, said 35,277 chil
dren would have to eat less in his
county because of the 5 per cent
ADC cut. Both Rose and Moss
said food budgets already had been
figured at the minimum necessary
to maintain health. The cut will
mean a dietary deficiency.
Earl J. McMahon, secretary
treasurer of the Illinois State Fed
eration of Labor, and William A.
Lee, president of the Chicago Fed
eration of Labor, asked Governor
Stevenson to rescind the cut.
The labor leaders suggested the
health needs of the relief clients
and dependent children be met first,
and the deficiency in the budget be
made up later. As Mr. Rose ex
pressed it: “We are now in the
ironic position of having millions
of dollars in the cash drawer with
out being able to give our people
enough to eat”
Mr. Green, who described the
“Beat Taft' campaign as the big
gest political undertaking the fed
eration has ever made, said a vol
untary contribution of $2 will be
sought from eath of the AFL'a
600,000 members in Ohio.
He explained that this was but
a part of the fund-raising drive
to be undertaken by the AFL’s
political Education, to raise ste
llar $2 contributions from each of
the AFL’s nearly 8,000,000 mem
bers, their families, and friends
of thel abor movement. The funds
obtained will be used to finance
election campaign activities on
both the national level and at the
‘grass roots” in every election pre
cinct.
Mr. Green said the main objec
tive of the AFL drive in 1950 would
be to unseat the Ohio Senator,
coauthor of the obnoxious Taft
Hartley law, and any one else who
voted for the measure.
While Senator Taft will be the
chief AFL target, LLPE is point
ing for the defeat of other anti
labor Senators who must go to the
electroate next year. These in
clude Homer E. Capehart of In
diana, Forest C. Donnell of Mis
souri, and Eugene Mil liken of Col
orado.
Another feature of the AFL
campaign will be to lend its sup
port to those men seeking reelec
tion to the Senate who have dem
onstrated by their actions in
Washington that they are sympa
thetic to the goals of the organized
labor movement.
Senators in this group who face
stiff oposition in their own states
are: Wayne Morse of Oregon, Carl
ayden of Arizona, Lister Hill of
Alabama, Olin D. Johnson of
South Carolina, Brien McMahon of
Connecticut, Warren G. Magnuson
of Washington, Francis J. Meyers
of Pennsylvania, Calude Pepper
of Florida, and Elbert D. Thomas
of Utah.
AFL Union Loader
Named To ECA Post
Washigton, Aug. 29.—Economic
Cooperation Administrator Paul G.
Hoffman announced the appoint
ment, effective immediately, of
Michael J. P. Hogan of New York
as labor advisor to the ECA mis
sion in Norway. Hogan will taka
over the duties previously carried
out by John Gross, former labor
advisor who is now chief of the
mission.
Hogan, a member of the New
York Streotypers Union, served as
president of that organisation from
1934 to 1948. He also served as
chairman of the Allied Printing
Trades Council, Board of Trustees,
for 13 years. In addition, he was
chairman of the Eastern Confer
ence of the International Stereo
typers and Electrotypers Union of
North America.
During the entire war the AFL
union leader served as chairman
of Draft Board No. 279, and in
the latter stages of the war was
chairman of a group of 9 boards.
Hogan, who is 54, is a veteran
of World War I. He is a mem
ber of the American Legion, tha
Catholic War Veterans, the Elks,
the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
and the St. Vincent de Paul So
ciety.
Read the Labor Day Messages Of President Tru
II
an and AFL Officials In This Issue