Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / July 5, 1951, edition 1 / Page 1
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# VOL. XXI; NO. 9 CHARLOTTE N. C. THURSDAY, JULY S, 1951 Subscription Price 12.00 Par Year American Workers Must Spur Selves To Greater Political Activity - - EARNINGS AND HOURS ALSO RISE SLIGTHLY IN MAY RALEIGH, July 7—Employment in factories and select ed non-manufacturing industries in the Charlotte area in creased 1,100 during May, ther State Department of Labor roport^d toddy# Factory employment was up 500 to a total of 21,700 due to gains of 600 in textile mills and 100 in food products. These employment gains were reduced by decreases of 100 each in apparel manufacturing and miscellaneous manu facturing industries, Pritchard said. Total employment in the area’s textile industry stood at 9,300 during May. Non - manufacturing industries j -which reported employment gains * were contract constuction, up 600 over the April level; retail trade, up 100; and finance, insurance and real estate, up 100. The net gain over the month of all non manufacturing industries sur veyed was 600 workers employed. Wholesale trade firms were dtown 100, in line with a trend evident throughout the State. Increases in hours and earnings were reported by most Charlotte area industries. The average factory worker put in 40.3 hours during the week surveyed in May, earned $1.25 an hour (up two cents above April earnings), and averaged $49.83 a week (up 82 cent* above April). Average hourly earnings in the area’s textile industry were up three cents to $1.34. Both yarn and thread mills and broad wov en fabrics reported three-cents an-hour gains. However, the area’s knitting mills reported a drop of three cents an hour. Other changes in hourly earn ings of workers were as follows: machinery, down two cents to $1.18; printing and publishing, down three cents to $1.69; metal products, down a penny to $1.33; apparel, up two cents to $1.04; chemicals, up a penny to $1.13. Food porducts and stone, clay and glass products firms reported no change in hourly earnings. How ever, a drop of 3.7 hours in the workweek of stone, clay and glass industries caused weekly earnings of workers to drop $4.18 to an average of $43.32. The apparel industry worked 42.4 hours a week, up more than two hours from the April schedule. Knitting mills also were up sharply in working hours, averaging four hours a week longer than in April. The workweek in broad woven fabrics was down fractionally, and in yarn and thread mills was down 2.2 hours below the April average. IS THIS “ECONOMY”? How honest are the “economy” boys in Congas when they plead they want the Government to quit i spending “so much?" Among them are such stalwart sons of slashing the budsret as Republican Reps. Daniel Reed <N. Y.), James Van Zandt (Pa-), Sid Simpson (III.) and Thomas Wer del (Calif.): They are “Yes, but” Congress men. They say, “Yes, let’s cut spending, but no in my district.” On June 13, the House consid ered the Army civil functions ap propriations bill. This deals with such things as flood control, dams and rivers and harhprs. It's ono of the biggest pork barrel meas ures on Capitol Hill. What did Reed do? He tried to wangle an extra $34,500 for flood control work in his district. What did Van Zandt do? He tried to wangle an extra $6,475, 000 for flood control work in his district. What did Simpson do? He tried to wangle an extra $2,978. 000 for flood control work in his district. What did Werdel do? He tried to wangle an extra $15,000 foi Food Prices Drop Slightly Id Tarhedia Raleigh Food Stores Report Largest Price Decline RALEIGH, July 7.—Retail prices of 53 food items dropped slightly between March 15 and June 15 in six out of seven North Car olina cities in which prices were checked, the State De partment of Labor reported today. Largest price decline was re ported for Raleigh food stores, where the total price of the 53 item “market basket” dropped 1.5 per, cent during the three months. Five other cities also reported very minor price de creases. These were: Charlotte, down one per cent; Greensboro, down 0.9 per cent; Asheville, down 0.8 per cent; Wilmington,, down 0.3 _per cent; and Green ville, down 0.1 per cent. In Salisbury, the ■ average total price of the “market basket” in creased 0.1 per cent over the three-months period. Salisbury was the only city which an in crease in food costs was reported. However, Salisbury was fourth among the seven cities in total cost of the 53 food items. The relative positions of the seven cities on June 15 were as follows (from highest to lowest): Market Basket City Cost On June 15 Greensboro —.$21.17 Greenville .. 21.00 Charlotte . 20.99 Salisbury . 20.96 Raleigh ..:. 20.94 Raleigh . 20.94 Wilmington . 20.82 Asheville __— 20.81' Two of the cities held the same relative positions on June 15 as they did on March 15. These 'were Greensboro, where prices were highest among all the cities on both dates, and Charlotte, which remained in third place, i Greenville moved from fourth place up to second. Salisbury moved from sixth to fourth. Ra leigh dropped from second high est on March 15 to fifth from the top on June 15. Wilmington, where prices were lowest'of all I on March 15, moved up a notch to sixth place on June 15. Ashe jville dropped from fifth place to jthe bottom of the list. Actually, the spread of prices between the seven cities amounts j to only 36 cents. a study of water distribution in'* his district. The House defeated these at tempts by leaders of the “econ omy” bloc to get an extra $10 million for their districts.. Supreme Court Decisions Show Need For Repealing Taft-Hartley Law. Three recent decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court show why the Taft-Hartley act must be repealed. They show why Taft-Hartley hand cuffs trade unions in the free exercise of their democratic rights. The moral for organized la bor is this: Workingmen and women must spur themselves to greater political activity. This means fearning the stands of their Senators and Congressmen on Taft-Hart-. ley. It means organization. It means contributing to the effort of Labor’s League for Political Education in elects ing the friends of the work er and in defeating his ene mies. On June 4 the Supreme Court ruled three AFL un ions broke the T-H law. Those involved were the Den ver Building and Construc tion Trades Council the Electrical Workers in Green wich, Conn., and the Carpen ters in Chattanooga, Tenn. Building trades workers had walked off their jobs aft er contractors on union proj ects brought in subcontract ors who hired nonunion work-1 men. Down through the years. I building trades unionists al ways have refused to work alongside “free riders.” It is! one of their strongest tradi tions. The Court decided such action violates Taft-Hartley’s provision against secondary boyoctts. . The unions reel their ac tion In Denver, Greenwich and Chattanooga constituted primary boycotts which arc legal; that their peaceful picketing was an exercise of the constitutional right of free speech, and that the projects were not in inter state commerce and thus not subject to provisions of the Taft-Hartley law. Justice Stanley Reed and Wil liam Douglas disagreed with the rest of the Court and said: “The employment of onion and non-anion men on the same job is a basic protest in trade onion his tory . . . The union (in Denver) was not out to destroy the con tractor because of his anti-union attitude. The union was not pur suing the contractor to other jobs. All the union asked was that union men not be compelled to work alongside non-union men on the same job. “The picketing would undoubt edly have been legal If there had been no sub-contractof involved if the general contractor Had put non-union men on the job. The presence of a sub-contractor does not alter one whit the realities of the situation; the protest of the union is precisely he same . . . trying to protect the job on which union men are employed.’’ But the Court majority holds a union may not influence the em ployes of g sub-contractor or any other employer “BY PICKET ING OR RELATED CONDUCT" to quit or refuse work in order to force a primary employer from doing businesss with a sub-con tractor who hires non-union work ers. What that moans is that a bus iness agent can no longer tell trade unionists, “Boys, your boss are working {or is using non-un ion contractor. Will you stand for it?” He can’t even say to a Here is a table developed by Dr. Richard Murphy of the Uni rersity of Illinois to determine how good a union Meeting is: WAS IT A GOOD UNION MEETING ?? (Check You or No.) 6. 7. 8. 0. 10. 11. 12. IS. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 10. 20. ?? Yaa No Did the meeting begin promptly?-.-.-— Did the meeting adjourn in reasonable time?. Were all reports of officers, committees, etc. ready and presented in good order? .. Was an agenda followed? .....-. Were the Constitution, By-Laws, and rules of order followed?—™.-.-. Were proposals for action put in specific motions? ....—... Did . the discussion reflect the various opinions and interests of the members?----. Was there ENOUGH discussion to show what the membership really thought?... Was the discussion good tempered?.. Could everybody hear what was said?.. ... Were the members interested in the proceedings? .—....—... ... Was necessary business transacted?.... ... Were irrelevant matters excluded?-- ... When work had to be done outside the meeting, were committees or persons assigned to job ? .*• Was the meeting held together (no little groups here and there in the- hall having their own meetings? ....—..... Did the presiding officer guard against “railroading”? ...J.......... ... Did the officers conduct the meeting with meaning and dignity? ....________ ___ Was there an atmosphere of freedom—of give and take? ..-....„------- ...___ Was your faith in pour union strengthened by what went on’at the meeting?...... Was I glad I came to meeting?....._ Totals..... % ~7j: w —i& .¥ Leak on last page to what May Bulling Permits Total Over $10 Million RALEIGH, July 6. — May building permits totaled $9, 590,551 in 75 North Carolina cities and towns, the State Department of Labor report ed today. The May figure was slight ly higher than the April total according to Labor Depart ment statistician C. H. Prit chard. However, it was near ly $5 million lower than the total of May,, 1950. The month’s building permits included new housing with sn estimated construction cost of $4,402,400, non-residential build ing projects totaling $4,024,033, and additions, alterations and re pairs valued at $1,074,118, Prit chard said. Housing authorized during May included 448 detached, single family dwellings, 73 semi-de tached and row houses, 46 du plexes, and four apartotect buildings. Also authorized was one $45,000 tourist cabin project. The housing provides a total of 655 new family dwellings, or 151 fewer than were authorised dur ing April. Average estimated construction cost of- the 448 pri vately-owned single family dwell ings was $8,041. This construc tion cost figure was substantially higher than the average reported for April and is in line with a (Continued On Page 3) group of carpenters, for instance, “Fellows, this sub-contractor you I are workikng for is using non-un ion electricians. What are you I going to do about it?” President Daniel Tracy of the AFL Electrical Workers predicts j the rulings will produce “chaos in the building industry.” ‘‘This is the harshest blow we have suffered so far,” Tracy says. “It bears out our prediction that one of the aims of the Taft-Hart ley act was to destroy the build ing trades unions.” He warns long-established and stable relations in the industry will be destroyed if contractors and others take advantage of these decisions. “There is only one solution,” Tracy points out. “That is repeal a of the abominable . Taft-Hartley ■law.” Secreary-Treasuter Joseph Kee ,nan of the AFL Building and | Construction Trades Apartment i terms the decisions "shocking.” "It proves what we have said i all along," Kfeenan says, “The T-H 1 act is a timeNwmb. set to destroy' the labor movement." There is no possibility that the sections of Taft-Hartley which j the Supreme Court found the un ions had violated will be repealed) or changed. The contractors and I industrialists spent too much; money in the court fight to allow that |p happen. The 'only solution is repeal of the entire act. The only way ot kill thloct is to elect a friendly “ Cong&ss in 1952. The only way to elect a friend ly Congress in 1952 is to get out and work. That means seeing that your fellow trade unionists Understand what the law does to , them, that they register to vote that they cast their ball os for candidates who will vote to repeal TiftfHdrtley. .H*et% a big lob—but It can be done. 'f RALEIGH, July 6. — Non-agricultural employment in North Carolina totaled 917,900 during May, rising 6,600 over the April level, it was announced today by C. H. Pritchard, director of the division of statistics of the State Department of Labor. The State’s manufacturing industries registered a net gain of 2,700 in total factory employment during the month, despite some decreases in leading industries, Prit chard reported. Non-manufacturing industries gained 3,900 employees over the month. WASHINGTON WEEKLY COLUMN BREHM FINED $5,000 Rep. Walter Brehm (R., Ohio) has been fined *5,000 for taking $1,000 in salary kickbacks from a former employe in his office. . When he was fined June 11 by Federal Judge Burnita Matthews in Washington, Brehm also was given a suspended jail sentence of 5 to 15 months. If he stays out of trouble he won’t fiave to go to jail. Brehm has a bad anti-labor rec ord. He was convicted on the kickbacks charge April 30. Among those who testified that Brehm was of good character were Ohio*! two RepubUqea Senators^ Robert Taft and John Bricker. A jury found Brehm had taken $200 a month in kickbacks for five months from an elderly worn ap employe. Brehm hired her at a good salary with Mm wader standing that she had to giv* him back part of that salary each month. V. S. NEEDS POWER TO CONTROL QUALITY AFL President William Green asked Congress to put teeth into the new Defense Production act to enforce standards of quality In manufactured items. He said: “No one can blame businessmen for disliking the process under which the prices of their products are controlled. The administra tion of any price control program has to expec% businessmen to seek ways to circumvent the various price control regulations. “The operations of OPA during World War II proved that per haps the most important way bus inesssmen try to avoid their obli gations under price control la lowering quality under the sure of a prico„ceiling.'*” CORPORATIONS VS. CHILDRElgt “Are the liv^lifrAdttr- children and the health 6f our mothers worth anything “At all?” asked Senator George Aiken in a speech ;n the Senate June 11. “To hear thre talk this a^tet^ noon one might assume that prib-~ ably we ought to drown them all end get them out of the way. Then they would poMhst us any thing at all." m 'c:A Aiken is fed up with Senators who think only of saying money when the Gf*pri|mngR Aries to help ordinary people. These same reactionaries—men like Senators Harry Cain (R, Wash.) and John Bricker (I.. Ohio) say nbthiife when the Government pours put money te Big Business. • “We are spending billions^lo^ dollars in helping corporations’ expand their industrial Pants, at the expense of ourf; Jayg, Jpyers. We bed* tittle objection here^,. . ,,to such expenditijfflwJ 4Uj^^fdda. -I do not Ko h*§^F§p«at©r can stand on (Ah* #>r and talk about saving a hundred dollars or a thousand -doilfks at the penso of someone^ 11!* /. v# are being asked*, pled stay erippfl^r- v-. J do not know' what we can have in mind when we talk about fe$Iig a few dollars at the Hoaa.. .*■ liars A Lets business and cancellation of orders were reported as the reasons for a drop of 1,500 in furniture factory employment and a decrease of 6600 in lumber and VltllUT-t IIIVUUVM. OCB3UU11 cm* ployment decreases were reported by tobacco stemmeries and re drying plants, down 600, and chemical products, down 700. Food products industries showed an increase of 400 to seasonal factors. Employment in service industries also increased season ally by 900 workers. Better busi ness and dry weather caused a rise of 2,000 in employment In the construction industry. Retail trade employment increased 1,200, while wholesale firms reported a drop of 700 due to lack of current orders. The 9tate’s textile mill employ- t meat keel was up &30Q »W April, totaling 226,500 in May. Although most of the textile strikes have been settled, em ployment la textiles has not re gained its March lend of 240,600 because of a continued mild slump in business. The May increases in textile employment (4,800 in broad woven fabrics and 1,800 in yam and thread mills) were balanced partially by employment de creases of 2,400 in seamless hosi ery and 600 in full fashioned hosiery. Apparel factories also re ported a drop of 300 due to strikes in mills supplying materials and to a lack of current orders. The average North Carolina factory worker during May put in a workweek of 38.8 hours— down *. one hour from April. His hourly rate of pay remained un changed at 81.18. Hia weekly earttinga averaged 845.89, or 91 cento less than during April. No very significant changes in hour ly rates of pay were reported, although several industries regis tered gains of a few cento an tMMI? in workers’ earnings. v:•■’ISk textile and furniture in dustries operated on a somewhat shorter workweek during May. fiowever, the workweek was longer in tobacco manufacturing and food products. Retail trade showed a normal drop in hours due to beinning of the summer mid-stoyk afternoon closings. BUSINESS BOOMS Is business being ruined by price controls end taxes? The Commerce Dept, and the Securities: and Exchange Commis sion reported June 20 business plans to break all records in ex pending its plants this year. It spent a record 26.4 billion for new plants and equipment during? the April-May-June quar ter. And it will spend |18 bil lion for these purposes for the first nine months of the year. That will be 41 per cent more than during the same period of I960. The increase is due mainly, of ficials say, to a real increase in physical volume and dot to higher prices. So businessmen themselves fig* jure they will do extremely well - "A dollar a year man is a fellow who has a dollar left after paying his taxes.” — Radio Commentator Ed Fitzgerald.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 5, 1951, edition 1
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