Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Nov. 22, 1951, edition 1 / Page 1
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*{ t AND DIXIE FARM NEWS SaUcriptioa Price tl CM Pm- Tm> i|?I AFL Ready To Negotiate An Agreement With CIO On Unity Washington, (ILNS) AFL President William Green has formally invited the CIO to resume negotiations “looking to an early consummation of organic unity” between the two organi sations. In a letter to CIO President Philip Murray, Green conveyed the official action of the recent AFL convention in San Francisco in favor of a single, united labor movement and declared that a committee representing the feder ation “stands ready to meet and negotiate” an agreement with a commitee representing the CIO providing for a merger. Green’s letter directed attention to a copy of the AFL convention declaration he enclosed and went on to say: “It is stated in this declaration, ‘‘the need for a united labor move ment in America is evident to all trade unionists and progressive minded citizens in our country. The need is urgent. There can be no substitute for organic un ity.’ A _ “The promotion of the econom ic, social and industrial interests of the workers of the nation is a matter of primary and uncompro mising concern to every loyal leader in the organized labor movement. These interests of the workers, their economic, social and industrial welfare, should ov ershadow all other considerations "by the officers and leaders of !a Ibor organizations. Surely time and experience have shown these interests of the men women who work for w best be promoted through. ,the establishment of labor ipit,! the eliminate* organizations and the establish ment instead of one strong, unit ed, progressive fighting union. “In the declaration adopted by the San Francisco convention it is stated, ‘we, therefore urge a re vival of negotiations with the CIO looking to an early consum mation of organic unity between ‘these two organizations.’ “I earnestly hope this sugges tion can be carried out—that this decision of the AFL San Francis co convention can be made effec tive and a resumption of negoti ations between representatives of that caa j the Congress of Industrial Or | ganizations and the Amerian I Federation of Labor may be I brought about for the purpose of promoting and creating organic i unity within the membership of our divided organizations. “I earnestly hope this sugges tion can be carried out—that this ion of the AFL San Francisco convention can be made effective and a resumption of negotiations between representatives of the 1 Congress of Industrial Organiza tions and the American Federa tion of Labor may be brought I about for the purpose of promot I ing and creating organic unity within the membership of our di : vided organizations. * | “A committee representing the AFL stands ready to meet and j i negotiate with a committee repre- j senting the CIO the purpose of j negotiating an agreement provid ing for the termination of divi ! §ion and the establishment of organic unity. In his annual report to the CIO convention opening in New York j Nov. 5, President Murray said that organic unity with the AFL is impossible “on the only terms which the AFL leaders are appar ently ready to offer.” He charged that the AFL, by quitting the United Labor Policy Committee, destroyed “the most hopeful dis play of labor unity this nation ha." ever seen.” Murray followed up these statements by telling the convention in his keynote ad dress that the AFL’s purpose was to “absorb and swallow” the CIO. SPECIAL PERMISSION 18 MOVE ra OVERSIZE VEHICLES Raleigh.—Motor Vehicles Com missioner L.' C. Rosser reminds motorists that they must get spe i ei*l permission from the Highway I department before moving over i site vehicles on State roadways. Offenders will face arrest by the l Highway Patrol, he said. Rosser voiced his ^precaution on the basis of a recent news story relating .an incident where nine persons were killed when a. pro jecting bull dozer blade slashed through a passing bus. AFL Asks Wage Boosts For Increased Efficiency '^Wnsington (ILNS) X national wage policy under which wage and salary increases would be permited for ' increased efficiency and production has been proposed by the American Federa tion of Labor members of the Wage Stabilization Board. This policy, the AFL said in its Labor’s Monthly Survey, can give workers “a chance to advance their wages without causing a new inflation spiral, thus accomplish ing the real purpose of wage sta bilisation.” The AFL cautioned that “by improving efficiency we do not1 mean a pernicious ‘speed-up’ with j increased work loads. That would impair, not increase, real effi-! ciency.” * Pointing out that production is steadily being improved by new machinery, better methods, im proved processes, the federation said, “workers can contribute greatly by giving their ideas and finding short-cuts and better ways to do things. For workers alone have the detailed know-how for their jobs.” Outlining the proposal the AFL said that when workers turn out work more efficiently, using new machines and methods, “they rightly expect to share in the re sults of this increased produc tion.” It said the Wage Stabili zation Board bad thus far given only partial recognition to the accepted practice of sharing with workers the results of increased efficiency and continued: “Consequently, many workers are unfairly penalized and do not j justly help to create. When effi- [ ciency increases, wage gains are earned and such gains do not! cause price rises. “This policy will encourage workers to co-operate wholeheart edly in efforts to improve effi ciency, cut costs and raise produc tivity, which are so vital to the defense program. By sharing the gains that result, they can earn wage increases, and can also know that such wage gains will not force price rises. “To permit *:is type of wage in crease now will right a wrong. It will restore to workers their share in the income they help to create, which is now denied them. Also it will give them a chance to solve their wage problems without breaking price ceilings. This is the way impending wage demands can be constructively met” The federation survey recalled that sharing of gains in accord ance with efficiency increases “has i been basic AFL wage policy since | it was adopted by the 1928 con i ver.tion ” It added that “for ‘more than a century, increasing efficiency in American industry generally has been the basis for a steady rise in wages and living standards.” ECONOMIC PINCH DUE IN 1952 The stiffest pinch in the U. S. economy, being caused by the rearmament program, is due to be felt in 1952—the election year. I While large sums have been appropriated by Congress this year, and in 1950, the job of rearming is one which requires consider able time and the impact is not felt until after defense plants get into full produc tion, using large quantities of raw materi als. Various evidences have already been felt. Automobiles have been slowed on the pro duction lines. Aluminum is in scarce sup ply, and other shortages are developing. But the rearmament effort in 1950 and part of this year has been one which included a major retooling job. Many defense plants are just getting into quantity production, after hurried retooling. They will consume far greater amounts of materials, next year than they did this or last year. In addition, the armed forces are increas ing slowly, as well as benefit payments which add to the inflationary ejfect. And as great er quantities of defense weapons, are pro duced, more money is poured into private channels, which is also inflationary. Fi nance experts in Washington say the real pinch of the rearmament program will be gin to be felt next spring. Scarcities that hurt may appear in several fields at that time. This economic picture could have a bear ing on the presidential election. If infla tion is held down, and times are relatively good, it may aid the Democrats. If infla tion and shortages are serious, it will be an asset to the Republican side. OFF-SHORE PROCUREMENT NOT POPULAR One of the major problems facing a ma jority of American aid officials in Europe today is the question of using U. S. foreign aid fwds to purchase European-manufac tured weapons for the general rearmament of North Atlantic Treaty countries. Here tofore most U. S. money has gone to pur chase U. S.-matvufaltured weapons for these countries. Business men have argued that U. S. tax dollars should rightly be spent in this country for the rearmament of all for eign countries. 1 ' • However, some weapons used in the vari ous countries are not made in the United States and standardization of weaDons among the NATO countries seems too long off at present. In addition, there is the problem of production, now getting acute as more European countries embark on ma jor rearmament plans. Many ECA, military aid mission and diplomatic officials abroad frankly feel that the United States should put its dollars where they wdll buy the most and buy it quicker. On the other hand, there are some who say that U. S. funds should not be plowed into foreign armament industries. The Production Board of NATO in London is today faced with a critical problem of finding enough equipment to supply forces envisioned under current rearmament plans in France, Italy, and other NATO powers and in Greece. Turkey and perhaps Yugo slavia. the latter three not presently in NATO. Top members on the Production Board ad mit that if the equipment schedule is met. it will have to be done through development . of European production, as well as full U. S. production. They say further that U. S. money will havet o be spent by ECA to re build some factories in Europe which can produce needed armaments. This raises the objection of some that U. S. money will be used to rebuild the plants, then used to give the plants orders, and that in the end the U. S. will get nothing out of it—except expedited armament production in Europe today. It also raises the same old objec tions that have bobbed up before about the special interests in many European coun* tries, which will stand to gain most of the profits from the reconstruction of these plants—owned by wealthy and monopolistic families and groups in many cases. The problem is a big one and it is being called the problem of off-shore procurement, which means the purchase of armaments be? yond the shores of the United States. Some U. S. officials abroad who advocate the off shore procurement plan realize that Con gressmen and Senators in Washington who must vote the money for this program are likely to be put on the hot seat by business men in the United States if they support a large off-shore procurement program* Like wise, they say, General Eisenhower’s mobil ization plans will be in /or a rude failure if some off-shore procurement program isn’t pushed with vigor. Military aid mission officials seem gener ally agreed some program of this sort is necessary if the NATO countries are going to meet the mobilization and rearmament goals General Eisenhower is-urging. Some admit caution will be necesarv in the selec tion of plants to be aided by ECA, and those to be given large defense contracts. Aid officials in Greece have helped that coun try’s defense program greatly by restoring factories and stabilizing the country's econ omy. In Turkey U. S. dollars have built ord nance shops and have been used to keep de fense plants going, until they could stand on their own feet, in addition to the more generally appreciated function of buying U. S. equipment for the Turkish army. In Greece and Turkey most Americans believe the limited amount of off-shore pro curement (which has been infinitesimal), the development and construction of defense plants, and other related programs have have been successful. The larger program being talked in London today, to affect many countries, may or may not be a different kettle of fish. Chances seem to be that some sort of enlarged program will be un dertaken, and that protests will come from some quarters in the U. S. UNPREPAREDNESS RISKS OUR FREEDOM Early in 1952, the United States will be Called upon to approve the report of a civil ian commission, which recently recommend ed a program for the development of univer sal military training at the earliest prac ticable moment. There will be considerable debate about the issue, with many people fighting the phrase, universal military training, rather than the suggested program, which, upon study, is rather limited and lacks a great deal of being wrhat the title suggests. The United States has gone into two world wars in a state of ghastly unprepar edness and, despite the losses that this con dition entailed, reduced its armed strength to military impotence almost immediately upon the cessation of hostilities. The pro posed plan is an effort to assure that this country will have a minimum body of ex perienced soldiers, ready for an emergency. While it is somewhat limited in its present scope, the presumption is that as the pres ent manpower shortage relaxes, the regular and orderly training of all young men will be expanded. Universal military training training, ac cording to General of the Army George C. Marshall, will be “a greater deterrent to possible aggressors or murderers of world peace than even the atomic power, now in a rapid state of development." Because the threat of war will prevail for many years, the former Secretary of State thinks that, "to be unprepared these days would be a tragic risk of our freedom." He wants a program of military training that will be "reasonably secure against sudden fluctu ations of public opinion.” NEWS AND VIEWS BY ALEXANDER 8. LIPSETT (As 1LNS Feature) “Is this not the time to ask ourselves precisely what is our foreign policy and by what meth ods can we constantly improve our representations abroad?” asks a reader. I think there is a half way answer to that. It lies in the shaping of American foreign policy and in the carrying out of our commitments abroad. Some time ago the issue was squarely presented to the 50th jubilee convention of the AFL la* | ternatiohal Photo-Engravers Un t ion by Edward Nyegaard, a un iion vie® president and deputy in dustrial commissioner of New York State. Referring to visits of European trade unionists to America under ECA auspices, which, he said, gave them the op portunity of observing the Unit ed States first-hand. Nyegaard proposed a system whereby hun dreds of American unionists would visit Europe each year. “Not only will this plan permit our members to learn some of the quality methods that English and European craftsmen have devel oped but it will also give more European craftsmen the oppor tunity to learn some of our pro duction know-how and at the same time expose more of them ! to our concepts of freedom.” Unfortunately, the speaker did not develop the plan beyond the limit* of his own industry. Some what similar ideas were advanced recently by a group of eastern labor editors who suggested that EGA, the State Department and other federal agencies, in filling labor information posts abroad, give “greater consideration to competent members of the bofta fide labpr press, who combine jour nalistic Skill* with years of as sociation with and knowledge of (CoaUaiMd On Page 4) Labor Forced Into Politics To Combat Anti-Union Legislation October Sees Wage Increases In Sootb About 250 wage settlements, covering approximately 125,000 j 125,000 workers in the South, i were reviewed during the past j month, according to Brunswick A. I Bagdon, Southern Regional Direc j of the U. S. Department of j Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statis i tics. The number of workers af I fected was slightly less than last month, although the number of settlements totaled about 40 per cent more. Generally speaking, the amounts of the increases were larger with raises of over 10 cents per hour accounting for al most twice as many cases this month In comparison with last month.* About 70 per cent of the Octo ber settlements involved wage in creases only; almost 80 per cent included both wage and fringe benefits; and about two per cent provided for additional fringe benefits only. As usual, very few agreements were extended with no change in wages or supple mentary benefits. Wage increases of 5 cents to 10 cents an hour accounted for approximately 50 per cent of the changes. Increases of over 10 cents to 20 cents an hour inclu sive accounted for 25 per cent, while increases of less than 5 cents were granted in about 15 per cent of the settlements. Eight per cent of the changes were for over 20 cents an hour. No at tempt has been made to determine what has those ehaagas aee per missible under existing Wage Stabilixation Board regulations, but over 10 per cent of these set tlements are known to require WSB approyal. The greatest wage change ac tivity during this period occurred in chemicals, clay, stone and glass products, government (non federal), paper and metal pro ducts. Several thousand chemical workers received increases rang ing from 4 to 8 cents. A stand ardised arrangement was made in the southern paper industry pro viding for about. 8 cents an hour and fringe benefits for almost 16, 000 employes. Several hundred clay, stone and glass workers re ceived paid holidays and a vaca tion plan in addition to a 3 cents across the board wage increase. At least 15 000 metal products workers received increases rang ing from 3 cents to 12.4 cents per hour. Most of these metalwork ing agreements Included some fringe benefits. Salary or wage increases for State, county, and municipal em ployes accounted for about 20 per cent of all changes during Octo ber. Most of these actions were by small municipalities who granted 'raises to their firemen, policemen, and other employes. Some of the actions covering a large number of employes involv ed county and city school teach ers. The amounts granted to po lice and firemen varied, with $15 per month being average. About $200 per year was a typical raise given teachers. ’Information was compiled from direct reports, newspapers, ; union and trade journals and oth ! er sources. Washington.—(ILNS) American labor is not attempt ing to control the government or establish a political party, James L. McDevitt, new director of La por’s League for Political Educa tion said in the November issue of the American Federationist, of i ficial AFL magazine. 1 After referring to the league work in getting out the vote and ! in directing the attention of Mr. | and Mrs. Citizen to vital issues in -the field of economcs and politics, ■ McDevitt wrote: "There has been much said in | the press of our nation during re cent years about labor's participa tion in the political scheme of things. Some editorial writers ! have gone so far as to state that I the American labor movement is j ‘attempting to control our gov ernment.’ ' “Such statements are, of j course, most ridiculous, but it i seems to me that we are com | pel led to comment when state ments of this kind are made. We | must call the attention of the American people once again to the objectives stated by the found ers of- Labor's League when it was formed at San Francisco four years ago. "We said then and we say again that, because of the tremendous campaigns waged by the Nation al Association of Manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce to bring about the adoption of legis lation designed to curtail, if not destroy, the rights of American Wnrkerji, we were forced to enter tbr field of political education to prevent the adoption of any fur ther anti-labor legislation and to work effectively for the removal of anti-labor statutes already en acted. "We do not seek to establish a political party. We do intend to work—night and day if necessary —in behalf of candidates for pub lic office, more particularly those seeking legislative positions, sup porting those who can be depend ed upon to vote in accordance with their own honest conscien tious convictions. At the same time we shall work for the defeat of those who are the exclusive representatives of the forces of reaction.” In conclusion, the LLPE direc tor said: “We have said that we did not relish the idea of getting into the political ring, but circumstances left us no choice. Working peo ple now find themselves hobbled and shackled. There is hardly anything left in the way of laws protecting labor’s rights to free collective bargaining and, strange as this may seem to some of o«r people, it is nevertheless a fact that there is now no other seg ment of our American society that has had such restrictive regula tions imposed on it. "I am confident that future po litical campaigns will find a greater interest being shown by the nation’s working people and that eventually, and in the not too distant future, we will be able to record a rather constructive achievement in bringing about our real objective, name'y, the return of our Constitution'll rights as we understand and see them.” AT A CONSTANT SKID OP 45m.pih. 55 m.p.h. 65 m.p.h. YOU CAN DRIVE 400 MILES IN 8 to. 54 min. 7 to. 18 min. 6 to 10 min. YOU HAVE AN \nmmwM CHANCES Of SOMEONE KINS KILLER ARE tin 16 1 in 12 1 in 6 NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 22, 1951, edition 1
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