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VOL. XIX; NO. 18
CHARLOTTE, N. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. 1919
Subscription Price $2.00 Year
Discharges Result Of Differences
Over Preposed New Contract
Clause Guaranteeing Security Rights
Ten Radio Broadcast Technicians of I. B. E. W. Local
1229 were discharged by the management of Radio Station
WBT, Saturday, September 3, following eight weeks of
peaceful picketing by the Radio Technicians Local over the
signing of new contract terms. The Technicians Union
claims that it had endeavored to obtain a new contract with
the Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Company over a period
of several months before the picketing of the Wilder build
ing studio was begun and that the broadcasting company
management insisted cn a clause in the new agreement
which would allow the discharge of union members for
any cause whatsoever, with no avenue of appeal being set
up in a proposed new agreement. To this the Technicians
local could not agree.
The engineers focal union has
offered to submit the matter to
arbitration in an effort to settle
the dispute, according to Inter*
national Representative John A.
Thompson of the IBEW, but thus
far the Jefferson Standard Broad*
casting Company has refused to
consider the union proposal, Ur.
Thompson states. *r,.
The following statement by
Representative Thompson was
given The Labor Journal for pub
lication after the Technicians who
had been picketing the station
were discharged:
“Ten union engineers employed
by the Jefferson Standard Broad
casting Company at Radio Sta
tion WBT in Charlotte, North
Carolina, were discharged with
out notice on Saturday, Septem
ber 3, for peacefully picketing the
station's Studio in the Wilder
building. The picketing engineers
were peacefully picketing in pro
test to the company’s demand
that they be permitted to dis
charge any engineer, regardless
of the fairness of such discharge.
Radio Broadcast Technicians Lo
cal Union No. 1229 of the Inter
national Brotherhood of Electri
cal Workers (AFL) has for the
past several months attempted to
negotiate a new agreement with
the Jefferson Standard Broad
casting company. The company
has refused to agree to any pro
posal submitted to them regard
ing the discharge clause and will
not agree to submit the matter
to an impartial arbitrator. The
dismissal of the ten picketing un
ion engineers has revealed the
company's reason for not wanting
to agree to the same discharge
clause the union has had in its
agreements with this company for
the past several years.
“The union has on several dif
ferent occasions offered to arbi
trate the dispute regarding the
discharge clause but the company
has refused. Shortly after the
company unjustly discharged the
ten union engineers the union
sent the following telegram to
Mr. Chas. Crutchfield vice presi
dent of the Jefferson Standard
Broadcasting Company:
*Aa the M>ww»U>iw of Ikt
L B. B. W. Local Union No.
1229, Chariot to, N. ia the
dispate with Radio Station
WBT rtfanliai term of a col*
Itdin bargaining agreement
to corcr tochaiciaaa and engi
neers over which jron hare, in
the opinion of the anion, na
lawfally dierhargod ton Char
lotte dtiaono front their John,
1 propane that It tin I of the
tieeo rhnrgae against the Jrf
ferson Standard Broadcasting
company with the National La*
bor Relations Board of Wash*
ington, D. C., that the follow*
in* steps be taken to resolve
the matter:
‘(1). All technidatos dis
charged to be retained to their
former positions Immediately
witheat discrimiaatioa or prej
*<2) Qaestion of whether or
not the dischargee are war
ranted be submitted to aa im
partial arbitrator designated
by Governor Kerr Scott of
North Carolina. The anion
agrees to accept as Inal the
decision of the impartial arbi
trator.
‘(S) Upon settlement of the
discharge questions, the parties
shall enter into collective bar
gaining conferences in good
faith, to reach an understand
ing on all points in dispate.
In the meanwhile all picket
ing of the studios of WBT by
the union will be discontinued.
‘Signed:
‘JOHN A. THOMPSON,
‘International Representative,
•L B. E. W.’
“Mr. Crutchfield replied to the
telegram that WBT would not re
employ the ten discharged engi
neers and would not submit the
matter to an impartial arbitrator.
“Upon refusal of the company
to arbitrate the dispute the L
B. E. W. has filed unfair labor
practices charges against the Jef
ferson Standard Broadcasting
Company with the N. L. R. B.
“Representatives of the I. B.
E. W. request the whole-hearted
support of all organised labor in
this area in their dispute with
the Jefferson Standard Broad
casting Company. The Jefferson
Standard Broadcasting Company
is a subsidiary of the Jefferson
Standard Insurance Company of
Greensboro, N. C., as is Pilot Life
Insurance Company.**
SENATE UNIT APPROVES
CARSON FOR FTC POST
Washington.—By a vote of 8 to
4, the Senate Committee on For*
eign and Interstate Commerce
confirmed the presidential nomi
nation of John Carson, co-direc
tor of the Washington office of
Co-operative League and veteran
Washington newsman, to be a
member of the Federal Trade
Commission.
Only votes in opposition to tbs
confirmation were those of Sena
tors John Brisker of Ohio, Owen
Brewster of Maine, Homer Cape
hart of Indiana and Clyde Reed
of Kansas,
CHICAGO AFL TEAMSTERS’
UNIONS WIN WA6E NIKE
FOR 1600 OIL, 6AS DRIVERS
By DAN SMTTH,
Chicago Correspondent for
AFL News Service
Chicago. — A 10-cent hourly
wage increase was won for 1.600
gasoline and oil drivers of the
AFL teamsters unions in Chica
go after a strike of 21 days, re
sisted bitterly by the giant cor
porations of the American oil in
dustry.
Nine local unions, led’ by the
cartage drivers union, Local 705,
struck August 10 for a 174
cent raise. Most of the small
independent gasoline distributors
in the city signed up immediately
but the major oil companies,
such as Standard. Shell. Phillips,
Sinclair, and others, all of them
better able to pay the raise,
stuck to a 5-cent offer.
From the start, the union made
special provisions to keep gaso
line available to doctors, ambu
lances, hearses and needed public
services. There wm a tempor
ary inconvenience to the general
public, but the sale of gasoline
to ordinary motorist was almost
normal in volume during the last
days of the strike.
Management of the strike
taxed the ability of the team
sters’ experience leaders, as the
struck major companies compete
with independents in the fields of
refining and retailing, as well as
in distribution.
as me strike continued against
the major companies, independ
ents who met the union’s terms
began distributing gasoline to
filling stations all over the city.
But the union shut off distribu
tion completely and started over
when cheating independents were
caught selling gasoline to filling
stations controlled by the major
companies.
After a warning, the independ
ents were given drivers to start up
again a day later. There was
some sentiment among drivers
for a complete shutdown, but the
counsel of Henry G. Burger, in
ternational representative of the
IBT, and H. E. Wood, secretary
treasurer of Local 705, prevailed.
The union made arrangements
under which independent distri
butors supplied off-brand gasoline
to about 400 of the 3,500 filling
stations in the strike area.
Stations of the major com
panies were closed completely,
but the independent stations ran
full blast, some of them selling
more gas in a day than they
formerly did in a month. Prices
to the public were kept at normal,
as the union threatened to with
draw drivers from any profteers.
The oil companies offered 7V4
cents for a flexible workweek,
but the union stuck to its exist
ing Monday through Friday work
week, which gives drivers Satur
day and Sunday off unless over
time is paid.
The final agreement contained
the fixed work week, the 10-cent
raise and provisions for a 3
week vacation after 15 yean'
service, plus other fringe bene
fits. The pay oi onvers from
now on will be $1.87tt per hoar.
After a tentative agreement
between negotiating committees
the new contract was ratified at
a midnight meeting of 1,000 driv
en summoned by telephone to a
onion hall. A few hours later,
aU the gasoline tracks wore roU
iag again.
SECRETARY BRANNAN JOINS IN STRONG APPEAL
FOR ACCORD
CHICAGO — Charles J. MacGowan, president of the
AFL’s International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and Sec
retary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan, appealed jointly
for solid farm-labor acticn to promote an expanding Ameri
can economy.
The prominent leaders in their respective fields addressed
a capacity Labor Day dinner audience in the Sherman
Hotel here at a meeting sponsored by the Cock County
Labor’s League for Political Education.
Joseph D. Keenan, director of the national LLPE, served
as toastmaster and introduced the speakers who were
heard nation-wide over the facilities of the National Broad
casting Company. The celebration was the first Labor Day
observance planned by LLPE since its organization as the
nnlitiral arm nf thp Ampriran Fprlprntinn nf T.nhor
HOW UNION WORKERS
PATRONIZE THEMSELVES
L M. ORNBURN,
Secretary-Treasurer Union Label
Trade* Department, American
Federation of Labor
When we buy Union Label
article* we really patroniae the
workers who made them. When
we use Union services we also
patronise the workers who per
form them. Thus, purchases of
union merchandise and patronage
of union services are reflected in
the pay envelopes of every work
er and they are the best security
for fellow union workers’ jobs,
the best guarantee of union
wages, and the only insurance
for our high labor standards in
America.
The chief objectives in urging
all consumers to patronize only
firms which display the Union
Label, Shop Card, and Union But
ton, are to increase the sales
volume of fair manufacturers and
merchandisers, foster good rela
tions with employers who are in
agreement with the American
Federation of Labor, and also
create better public relations
with American consumers who
receive better value in both
quality and craftsmanship for
their money.'
It is not necessary for me to
emphasize the vital importance
of buying Union Label goods and
of using Union services to mem
bers of labor unions. Certainly
if we do not “patronize” our
selves we cannot expect union
employers to pay us union wages.
It would b* futile for labor un
ionists to fight for increased
wages and then use the contents
of their pay envelopes to pa
t rnni 7a mnniifaf>ftirars nnH mar.
ehandisers of non-union products.
We must keep up the interest
in Union Label campaigns
throughout every day of the year.
Let Union Label Week, Septem
ber 3-10, be just a beginner for
a big drive for all things union.
Our Union Label fervor reaches
a top-note each year at our Un
ion Industries Show. It is a liv
ing symbol of industrial progress
because at our A. P. of L. exhibi
tion consumers see union crafts
men actually making the goods
that make America famous
throughout the world. We hope
every trade unionist and woman
atudliarist will plan to see the
fifth annual event. May 6-13, next
year in Philadelphia. Without
question, it will be the biggest
and best shew of its kind in
America!
The speakers stressed the
theme that the interests of farm
, ers and labor groups are inex
tricably tied up with the general
prosperity of the nation, and
urged a unity of action to bring
about an era of full employment
and full production for the bene
fit of all.
On this note, Mr. MacGowan
declared: v?
"Without a sound agricultural
economy, the industrial workers
are deprived of their greatest mark
et and without that market unem
ployment and suffering occur. With
unemployment rampant among
industrial workers, the farmer,
in turn, loses his market for the
things which he produces. A na
tion, to be prosperous, must have
full employment at good wages
in the cities and full employment
with good prices for the farmer."
Assailing the miserable record
of the 81st Congress on issues de
signed to further economic ex
pansion and promote stability,
the AFL leader declared:
“Therefore, with the issues
clearly defined, it becomes the sa
cred duty of both the farmer and
wage earner to join hands and
make common cause in the elimi
nation from Congress of those
pliable servants of corporate
wealth and elect in their stead
men and women of capacity who
understand the prooiems of the
nation’s producers; Congressmen
and Senators who will support
and vote for legislation which
will remedy some of the evils
which now beset our whole na
tional economy; evils which, if
not curbed will produce a de
pression more vicious in its po
tentialities than anything we wit
nessed during the early thirties.
“Greedy corporations never
made prosperity, but they milk it
dry. Distressed farmers and
hungry workers produce only ec
onomic collapse."
secretary Brannan said that
the responsibility for our national
future rests particularly in the
hand of farmers and workers
since they are the vast majority
of the nation’s population. In an
appeal for common, unified ac
tion, be urged:
"Together let workers and
fanners unite in achieving a full
employment, full production econ
omy. Let them insist that booms
and busts are man-made and can
be avoided by man.
“Let them unite upon a realis
tic floor under farm prices and
an equally realistic floor under
wages. Let them insist that the
man who does a day’s work la
entitled to a day’s sustenance.
“Let them unite upon agricul
tural abundance so distributed as
(Ceatiaaed en Page S)
{ ■
TORY ELEMENTS, “REDS” ARE HELD MAJOR FOES
OF LABOR
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — Leading American workers in
their observance of Labor Day, AFL President William
Green called for an intensified effort to resist the “de
structive forces” which seek to “tear down all the good
that labor creates.”
The AFL leader singled out worldwide communism and
the forces of reaction at home as the “twin evils” which
must be checkmated by free, democratic labor unions.
Mr. Green spoke to cheering throngs assembled on Tier
ra del Fuego Island here for the great Labor Day celebra
tion planned under the auspices of the San Diego Labor
Day Jubilee Committee, directed by Max J. Osslo. His
address was carried to additional millions of listeners over
the nation-wide facilities of the National Broadcasting
Company.
SENATE VOTES HIKE
IN MINIMUM PAY;
RESTRICTS C0VERA6E
Washington.—The Senate voted
to increase the hourly minimum
wage from 40 to 75 cents but
removed approximately 250,000
workers from the law’s coverage.
The action represented a lim
ited victory for labor and is a
vast improvement over a House
approved measure which estab
lished the 75-cent minimum wage
rate but would exempt some
000,000 workers from its provi
sions.
The bill now goes to conference
where it is hoped Senate leaders
will be able to reduce the num
ber of exemptions approved by
the House.
Senator Claude E. Pepper, floor
manager for the bill, expressed
regret at the restricted coverage,
but described the legislation as a
“forward step."
He estimated that under the
Senate version of the bill about
1,250,000 low-paid workers will
receive wage increases which will
add more than $300,000,000 an
nually to the nation’s purchasing
power.
Pepper predicted that after the
measure becomes law a follow-up
drive will be launched to extend
its benefits to additional millions.
Nearly 22,000,000 workers are
covered by existing legislation.
In addition to lifting the mini
mum wage rate, both House and
Senate measures strengthen the
child labor provisions of the Fair
Labor Standards Act and give the
wage-hour administrator authority
to sue for wages on behalf of ag
grieved employes.
In the Senate, Administration
leaders were successful in beat
ing down all efforts of some
southern Senators to provide for
lifting the minimum wage by •
series of gradual increases.
Amendments proposed by Senator
Ellender of Louisiana for a slid
ing-scale plan were defeated on
three separate occasions.
The principal Senate exemption
was the so-called Holland amend
ment. This removes employes
of most retail and service estab
lishments from the law if more
than 50 per cent of their annual
volume of sales are made in the
state where they are located.
An amendment by Senator
George further exempted retail
establishments which make or
process the goods they sell while
another exempted firms retailing
building materials for farm or
home construction.
Cotton gin employes and work
ers in small contract telegraph
offices also were exempted.
' Following his address Mr.
Green reviewed a parade of v’.oats
depicting the progress of organ*
ized labor as represented in the
celebration's theme, “A Century
of Historic Progress."
In his forceful address, the
AFL leader lashed out at the
Tory “reactionary combination in
Congress” which seeks “to sup
press and prohibit the natural
instincts and desires of all free
Americans to improve their con
ditions In life and to provide se
curity for their children.”
Mr. Green charged that through
their activities, the Tories, while
they profess to hale communism,
which he described as “first and
foremost among the hateful cor
roding and inhuman innuences of
our age,” are consciously or un
consciously helping to push work
ing people into the ranks of the
Communist Party.
"The Tories profess to love
freedom,” he said, “but only for
themselves, not for labor.”
Mr. Green defended the welfare
of state as the “true goal of de
mocracy” and repudiated the
argument advanced by reaction
ary elements that it will mean
the totalitarian control of Ameri
can life by the government. He
said:
“The keynote of the Tory
campaign is the empty,, barren,
sterile charge that the progres
sive legislative program favored
by labor and espoused by Presi
dent Truman would change the
American way of life and lead
us to statism.
"Mere ana now, i oranu u>t
charge as utterly false. It is* un
adulterated propaganda designed
to mislead the American people
and to dodge the real issues.
“The American Federation of
Labor is opposed to statism be
cause we oppose both a dictator
ship of the right or of the left.
We have never and we will never
advocate a program which would
undermine the American way of
life. On the contrary, we are
firmly convinced that our progres
sive program is a sound middle
of-the-road policy, which will
strengthen the free enterprise
system, reinforce the economy of
oor country, and make American
freedom and democracy more se
cure and more meaningful to the
American people.
Mr. Green said that labor la
fighting the obnoxious Taft-Hart
ley law because it realised that
by keeping American labor free
and strong the nation can be
kept free and strong. He de
clared:
“Those who believe in the
American ideal must realise that
it can triumph anu survive only
if the American people are given
full and free opportunity to im
prove their standard of living and
to secure their future against fibs
(Continued on Page t)
r.