Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / July 19, 1951, edition 1 / Page 1
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| Uncle Sam Says I -A IIMI 1111 UCfOlIN ■ wYWmj99Wjw JMK 1M ble ud to itud with all Americans f« peace ud security. Enroll new fee the Payroll Savings Plan where yen work, or the Bead-A-Manth Plan at year hank. u. s. rwm Boomo San Francisco Convention Call! American Federation Of Labor To All Affiliated Unions, Greet ings: * You are hereby notified that, in pursuance of the Constitution of the American Federptipo.of Im bor, the Seventieth Convention of the American Federation of La bor will be held in the Civic Audi torium, San Francisco, California, at 10:00 o’clock Monday Morning, September 17, 1951, and will con tinue in session from day. to day until the business of the Conven tion shall have been completed. During the days, weeks and months which have intervened since the adjournment of the 69th Annual Convention of the Ameri can Federation of Labor, we have witnessed a clashing of ideologies and political philosophies here within our homeland and abroad as well. The question we must answer is—Shall our free, demo cratic way of life and form of government survive, or shall it all be supplanted by totalitarianism and governmental domination? The facts show that America is now the last stronghold of the free enterprise system. Because we place such a high value upon the blessings of freedom, liberty and democracy, our membership will fight to maintain this price less heritage and to prevent the infiltration of a totalitarian phi-1 losophy into the ranks of Ameri can labor. {lehold the picture. The advo cates of a totalitarian philosophy are carrying on an aggressive campaign in every nation through out the world for the purpose of substituting the Communist phi losophy for the democratic form of government. For that reason we are living in a world of con fusion and uncertainty. We can not see nor can we tell whether we are facing a Third World War with all its evil consequences and destructive effects. The officers and delegates in attendance at the Seventieth An nual Convention of the American Federation of Labor must there fore face the facts. We must de clare in positive terms our de termination never to surrender but instead to fight more aggres sively than ever and extend to our government full and complete assurance of our co-operatipn and suppport in any world fight which may be made for the preservation of liberty, freedom and democracy and in opposition to totalitarian ism and communism. AFL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. t A BRIGHTER FUTURE froz CONVAIR OFFICE WORKERS ^ I Reading from loft to right are the American Federation of Labor and Office r.mpto>a. interna tional Union Representatives who assisted in winning the largest Office Workers unit in the South at the Convair Plant in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Office Employes International Union: Elmer Dnw ell, A. F. of L. Organiser, Omaha, Nebraska; Harry Skaggs, A. F. of L. Organiser, St. Louis, Mis souri; Lester Graham, Southwestern Director, A. F. «f L., Fort Worth, Texas; T. L. Carlton, A. F. of L. Organiser, Tamps, Florida; J. M. Scott, A. F. of L. Organizer, Orange. Texas; Frank E. Morton, In ternational Representative of Office Employes International Union; Phil B. Wells, A. F. of L. Or ganiser, Kansas City, Missouri. The election was won by a large majority where 857 employes voted for the Office Employes Inter national Union and 180 voted for No Union. Approximately 1450 clerical workers are included fas this collective bargaining unit at the huge B-38 Plant. s ^ Wage Stabilization Commission For Building Industry Named The Wage Stabilization Board, after consultation with Secretary of Labor Maurice J. Tobin, an nounced the membership of a 12 man commission established re cently to administer wage stabili zation in the building and con struction industry. The new commission, created under Federal Wage Regulation 12, adopted by the board on May 31, is composed of four public, four industry, and four labor rep resentatives. Alternate members will be appointed later. The commission will conform to the “regulations, policies, orders, and decisions” of the Wage Stab ilization Board in stabilizing wage rates in 'the building and con struction fields. The Labor Department will be headquarters for the new com mission. Department employes will be detailed to act as the com mission’s staff. | Members of the commission are: Public—Thomas J. Kalis, as sistant solicitor, Department of Labor, and Archibald Sox, profes sor of law at the Harvard Uni versity law school, who will serve as co-chairman; Joseph Shister, of the Department of Economics at the University of Buffalo; Rus sell E. Cooley, labor adviser to the chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Department of De fense. Labor—Richard J. Gray, presi dent, AFL Building and Con struction Trades Department; D. W. Tracy, president AFL Interna tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; O. William Blaier, board member, AFL United Bro therhood of Carpenters and Join ers; and John W. Garvey, assist ant to the general president, AFL International Hod Carriers, Build ing and Common Laborers Un ion. Tracy, former assistant sec retary of Labor, served as chair man of the World War II wage adjustment board. Industry—James D. Marshall, assistant managing director of the Associated General Contractors of America, Inc.; Everett W. Dunn, consulting engineer and labor con sultant of Hartley, Iowa; H. R. Cole, executive secretary of the Tile Contractors' association; and William J. Cour, of the National Electrical Contractors' association. SOLUTION? What should ‘ you do when prices reach for the sky? “The answer is . . . simple,’’ said Clare Hoffman (R., Mich.) in the House June 4. “It is—do without, buy less. . . , * f Defense Work Just Started; Causes Great Inflation Threat The real defense program is just getting underway. That’s why we need a stronger and tighter Defense Production act on prices and rents to replace the law expiring July 31 if we are to lick inflation. AFL President William Green outlined it to Congress this way:’ ’’The Defense Production Act became law on September 8, 1950. It was designed as the basic law governing our economy during this defense program. “But let’* not fool ourselves about one fact; the real defense program is just now getting un derway. We know that the Con gress has authorized the expend iture of many billions of dollars to build up and equip our armed forces, to stockpile strategic raw materials, and to place this coun try in a state of readiness for any eventuality. “The facta are, however, that there ia always a considerable time lar between authorising the expenditure and the actual spend* ing of the allotted funds. It has been only recently that the funds authorised by Congress have ac tually started to find their way into our economy in substantial amounts. “This flow of funds has been steadily increasing during the past few months and will continue to increase until our defense pro gram will be absorbing 20 per cent of our entire national ef fort. “That is why in considering the Defense Production act, we can not merely think of the present. We must think of the future, of the period of time during which this legislation will be effective. The Office of Defense Mobilisation estimates that the “maximum pro Here is i table developed by Dr. Richard Murphy of the Uni versity of Illinois to determine how good a union meeting is ?? WAS IT A GOOD UNION MEETING 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. e. 7. 8. %: 10. u. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. ?? (Check Ten or No.) Ten 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? A . Were proposals for action put in s%ciflc 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?...-.I,__ 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"? ....... Did the officers conduct the meeting with meaning and dignity? ....... Was there an atmosphere of freedom—of give and take? __________ ^ Was your faith in your union strengthened by what urent on at the meeting? ...... Was I glad I came to meeting?__ Totals.......i. ..Look on last page to see what your » Green Says DPA Is Bill Shy On ^ ' ' Rents And Prices AFL President Green told all members of the Senate in a letter that the Defense Production Act submitted by their Banking and Currency Commitee "simply can* not do the job of controlling prices and rents. He cited four important short* comings: “The bill reported by the Sen ate Banking and Currency com mittee simply cannot do the job. We are much disturbed by the committee action because we feel they have made the fight against the inflation extremely difficult, if not impossible. In particular, I want to call your attention to the following ways in which the com mittee bill needs to be strength ened: *1. Section 2. Prohibition of price rollbacks. This section cuts out the heart of the price control program. The cancellation of the beef price rollback is completely unjustified in view of the fact that even after the October 1 roll back, beef prices will still be at 125 per cent of the parity level. If rollbacks are outlawed, the net result can only be such gross in equities that the general price level will have to be rolled for ward, thus adding fuel to the fire of inflation. *• ouosmy program. Since purchases of food form the larg est single item in the family’s | budget, we are very mu'f* Jg*. cerned that the committm has tak en no action which would stabilize food prices. Only about oue-thitd of food purchases are now under any sort of control regulation. Th? American Federation of La bor urges that the President be given authority to embark upon a program of food subsidies to be applied only to prevent neces sary price increases on farm pro ducts which are below 100 per cent of parity from being reflect ed in increased prices at the gro cery store. “3. Effective enforcement of price control.’ We urge enactment of the President’s proposals for strengthening the enforcement of price control. What is the use of price control regulations unless they can be effectively enforced? We believe that granting author ity to the President for the issu ing of licenses in particular in dustries where enforcement is dif ficult is a well considered pro posal. Necessary safeguards are included to prevent any possible abuse of this .authority. “4. Rent control. While the committees recommendations would strengthen the existing rent control program in some re spects, we believe that the blan ket 20 per cent increase contained in the bill is entirely unwarrant ed. We support the President’s original proposal on rent control which would permit increase in rents where there have been gen uine increases in landlords’ costs. In addition, we oppose the so called ‘local option’ provision which permits communities to re move themselves from rent con trol. Such local autonomy in the rent control law is no more jus tified than it would be in the price control and wage stabiliza tion programs. duction impact” of the defense program will fall “early in 19S2.” “Decisions concerned with this legislation cannot be governed by any complacency that the pro gram is now running smoothly, that inflation is being held in check, or that price Increase* hive been halted.” When are prices going to show a little respect for the law of gravity ? What gees up must come down. Price controls are going to be a big issue from now until Elec tion Day on November 4, 1952. So it's important that you know the details of the price control legislation Congress is writing. 4-B analysis of the pice control bill passed by the Senate June 29 after a week's debate shows how Congress is falling down on itf^ob, of controlling inflation. New price control legislation won’t become law before August i. But the law on which Congress finally agrees probably will bo pretty much like the Senate bill. Here, in simple words, are the details of the phony price control bill the Senate passed. When you read these facts about this meas ure, you will see why it merely legalizes, instead of controls, in flation. Roll-backs To control inflation you must be able to roll back some prices. That’s because so many profiteers jacked up their prices. If you don't roll back the profiteers’ prices, all other prices soon will get to prof teering levels. Both the Senate and the House have voted to prohibit the Office of Price Stabilization (CPS) from rolling back ar.y prices. This ac tion, said Economic Stabilizer Eric Johnston in a letter June 26 o Senate Democratic Leader Ern est McFarland (Aris.), will add $10 billion to $12 billion a year to the present cost level, which is already $20 billion higher than before Korea.” OPS was planning roll backs on July 2 that would ha to saved tho American people, according to Sen, Paul Douglas (D., 111.), “at W UMBM' *iluuglss tuM the Senate June 27 these roll* backs would have reduced build* ing materials prices by 91 billion; chemicals by $300 million; elec trical equipment, $20Q million, and rubber, |150 million. Rent Control The Federal government should be able to control all rents, if necessary. Local-option rent con trol makes no more sense than price controls administered by cities or states. Piecemeal oper ations won’t control the cost of living. Yet the Senate has voted to al low rent increases up to 20 per cent above 1947 levels. The Sen ate also says it’s all right for city councils and state legisla tures to end all rent controls in their cities or states. Meat Price Controls Meat is a key item in the cost of living. It takes the biggest chunk out of most people’s gro cery bills. What has the Senate done about th| high price of meat? It has virtually decon trolled meat. The meat price rollbacks, set for August 1 and October 1, which would have saved consumers at least . $700 million a year, haw been killed by the Senate. Meat prices have been '‘stabilized” at tbeir hftrfcest levels in history— the prices of last January 25-Feb ruary 24. What’s more, the Senate pro hibited strong enforcement of dven these outrageous “controls.” By assigning slaughtering quotas to meat packers, the OPS planned to keep track of all meat. But the Senate banned such quotas. The House followed suit, 200-112, July 10. Finally, the Senate guaranteed huge profits to the big meat packers. Most businessmen make money on some items and lose money on others. By the end of the year the losses and gains bal ance. But the Senate says meat packers must make a profit on every piece of meat they sell. Food Gamblers One of the big reasons food j costs so much is the food speeu- ] lators—nice word for gamblers. These gamblers go into the com modity markets in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneap olis and elsewhere and bid up the prices of wheat, corn, soy beans, j batter, sugar and other thing* I you eat. The Senate told theaa gamblers to go* their merry way. “It seems to us wrong that while a workingman must make a third down payment on an es sential automobile, a grain spec ulator need only make a 7 per cent down payment in order to speculate in rye futures," ' said Democratic Senators Paul Doug las (111.), William Benton (Conn.) and Blair Moody (Mich.) in a statement to the Senate June 22. Subsidies During World War II prices of many foods were kept low by subsidies.'^- The government paid the difference to the farmer be tween what he needed to make a decent profit and what it felt was the most the consumer should be charged. The Senate turned down even a limited subsidy program. Quality Controls Price controls don’t mean much unless the quality of food or shirts is maintained. For instance, a manufacturer will make shirts TOO MUCH PRESSURE lobbyists wrote the weak price controls bill passed by the Senate June 29. The New York Times reported July 1: “lobbyists for various business groups and farmers were apply- < lag strong pressures against con trols, | “A dozen real estate, beef and textile lobbyists set in the Sen ate reception room through the l*ng night aoaaien to confer with •t a controlled price but he will skimp on the material he pots MWf^ r^ Thj Senate shut ms^ye* to quality controls. Enforce s*ent During the last war all busi nesses received license as a matter of right. When a busi nessman violated the price con trol laws, his license was taken away from him. That’s a good way to enforce price controls. But the Senate would have none of it. Under present laws maximum penalties for- violating price con trol laws amount to three times the price of an overcharge plus $10,000. Such penalties are chic ken feed to a big operator. The penalties should have been in creased. But the Senate said: Not Defense Plants The Senate has voted to fore# the government to build defense plants on the most expensive terms possible. Those terms in volve tax handouts. To get businessmen to build needed plants the government of fers them special tax favors on new .plants. This means lower . taxes for Big Business and higher taxes for the rest of the people— meaning you. YATE8 CALLS FOR BETTER COVERAGE FOR ELDERLY FOLK “We must not delude ourselves that we solved the problems of the aged by these 1950 improve* ments in our social security sys tem, for it is still inadequate.” That's what Democratic Rep. Sid Yates of Chicago told Mem bers of the House June 4 when he asked them to set up a special Committee on Problems of the Aging. “We will not have reached our goal until we have achieved uni versal coverage and benefits which provide the major part of retire ment income for most workers. m “Moreover ... the system of total and permanent disability in surance, which the House bill con tained, was struck out by the Sen ate and not enacted into law. “The result is that thousands of workers prematurely retired from their jobs by an expensive and totally disabling accident or illness are not eligible for bene fits until they reach age fifi, re gardless of their need or of the contribution they have made through the payroll tax."
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 19, 1951, edition 1
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