Electrical Union News, 1953 April 3

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© AMERICAN INSTITUTION

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April 25 Dance To Celebrate

20 Years of Union Progress

UE. Local 301 will hold its big 20th anniversary dance at
the union hall on Saturday night, April 25. .A compete re-
decoration of the hall is planned in preparation for the event.

Plans for the dance were ap-
proved by the executive board
‘Monday. Tickets will sell for #1
each, with the price including re-
‘freshments. ‘Arrangements are be-
ing made to hire a top dance or-
chestra to provide the music. :

This) social event, actually the
first on the crowded 1953 union
calendar, will mark 20 years of in-
dustrial unionism in) Schenectady,
It was in 1988 that the Hlectric
City Industrial Union was organ
ized by Gk workers, siek and tired
of pay cuts and miserable working

, conditions,

This'unicn 8 years Inter affiliated
with the newly-organized UL as
Local 801, From an organization
of a few hundred, the union has
grown to a mighty force of 17,060
men and women. Sweatshop wap-
es and,conditions have been re-
placed by high standards. Tt will
he this progress that will be cele-
brated. by the April 25 dance.

Distribution of the dance tickets, °

whieh will be necessarily limited,
will begin ino the shops in about a
week,

Fight New IH Attack
US Loeal 2486 members fn Louis-
ville, Ky this week, were fightin
against the latest attempt of. the
company to break their anions This
atlempt took the form of the sus-
pension. of G4 workers who. had
protested the failure of manage-
ment to, process their grievances.

» oo The vrievances grew out-of-acom---

pany speedup program,
’ Local 286 represents 4,500 Har-
vester Workers in Louisville,

4 © Friday, March 27, 1953

. ®
Begin Hall Planning

UE Local 801’s officers were di-
reeted Monday by the executive
hoard to begin working: on specific
plans. for the construction of a new
union hall on the Van Guysling
Ave. property purchased for that
purpose,

The union offieers will be work-
ing in their capacity as officers of
the corporation’ which owns the
property oon behalf of the local
membership, 3

Give Complete Breakdown

i a rtp ESR ATE ASE eer ee

e

w

Of Grievance Jurisdiction
*.. UB Local 301’s new setup in which each g assistant. busi-

ness-agents has jurisdiction over approximately one-third of
» the Schenectady works grievance machinery went into effect

this week as the new assistant, Roy
Schaffer, took up his duties at the
unionoffice, :

Maitix purpose of the system is co

Buffalo Wage Meeting

Adopts 19¢Pay Demand

Forty-six delewates from Ut lo-
cals in Western New York drew up
an economic program featuring a
demand for pay, increases of at
least. [He an hour atur wage confer-
ence-in Buffalo on Sunday.

Zepresented: were Ul-organized:
cghops in the Attien, Buffalo, James:
town. and Tonawandas areas, The’.
delegutes agreed ona basie out-°

line of economic demands to be

presented to the nearly 2 ‘dozen.

companies with whieh the union
has contracts.

The 19 demand. was hased on
the lag between wages and diving
costs, based on the ULE cost-of-
“living index. It, represents’ “the
average ‘amount needed by. the
Workers in the ,vrea to catch up
With rising prices und -taxes.

Also approved) were: minimum

demands on inequities, piece work.

sifeguards, vacations, holidays and
welfare provisions. Among these
demands were those culling for
elimination of: pay discrimination

ngninst women, skilled workers and:

day workers,

On the question of pensions, the
locals: agreed that) company-paid
pension of $100 a month exclusive
of social security was in order. —

make each of the assistants es
perts-in the handling of’ problen

af his seetion of the plant. A com-
plete breakdawn of the jurisdic-

. : . AH
«tions is printed helow. Shop’stew-

ards are urged to contact the busi-
hess agent over their building on
all grievance matters, The break-

“down:

: Fred Sheehan—Turbine, Build-
ing 278; Gas Turbine, 49; and Mo-
tor Generator, 16, 52, 64, G6," part
of 60. : : ,

Serafin Pita—Acronauties, 10C,
23, 24, 26, 28, 46, part of 60, part
of Campbell Ave.; Ordinance Man-
ufacturing,, Campbell Ave,

Also Industrial Control, 53, 69,
73, 73.4, 81, 89, 285, part of 60; and
Small and -Medium Motor, 11, 15,
17, 18, 19, 40. :

Roy Schatfer—-Schenectady works,
serew machine and building trades,
ar, GO und G8;.General Machine
Repair, 101; Power Stations, 13,

61, 258; Salvage, 98; Grounds and?

Buildings,’ 107, P
Also Transportation, 84, 229;
Drop Forge, 97; Fire Patrol, 494;

_ Ollice Service, 2, 22, 28; Shipping

und Receiving, 60, 59; Wire and,”
Cable, 85, 109; Carpenter-Cabinddggs

72, 74, 76.

Also Special, Metals, 10; Poun-
dries, 57, 95, 9%, 99A; Porcelain,
68; Tube, 209, Racetrack; Research
Lub, Knolls; Engineering Lab, 5,
avy Chemical Products, 67, 71, 75,
77, TTA, 79, 284; Laminated In-
sulation, 29; Industrial) Heating,
105.

Question and Answer Commer

Every day in the shops UE stew.
ards and active members. are ap-
proached by their fellow members and
asked certain questions on our union,
Inoan effort ta help provide con
plete answers to these questions, this
haper will from time. te time print
sone of the mast.comman inquiries
together with what UE believes ta be
complete, factual and honest answers.

Question: UE often speaks of
the Carey-led split in our union as
a division planned and inspired by
GE, Westinghouse and the other
hig corporations. Just how have
these corporations benefitted from
the split?

Answer: ‘The sad truth is: that

esince. the 1949 split, albamions. in.

the clevtrical industry as well) as
throughout the labor movement
have devoted a ogrent portion of

SS

their Gime to ng each other,
rather than to fighting the com-
panies, In other words, instead of
the workers battling the bosses,
the workers are put into the posi-
dion Sof tughting = other workers
whose basic interests are the same
us theins, ‘

Kvery time the EUN-C1O liuneh-
esa raid against the Uk, Carey
spends thousands of dotlars of his
members? money for disruptive ae.
livities, At the same time, UTE fs
forced to spend money, the time
of its organizational stait and the
efforts of its members to defend it-
self, ,

On. the. newotiations front, the,

split is even more harmful. Back
in the old days, the workers were
able to present a united front

against the companies to win wage

cinereases, better conditions and se-

curity. Now the companies all too
often are able to play ene union
against fnother, and come out
without giving anvbody very much
of anything,

When it comes to new ormaniaa-
lion, the life blood of a union, the
situation is just as bad. It used to
be that a union. went in to organize
the unorrunized knowing that the
workers would have a clear choice
--union wages and conditions \
sus unorganized or company-unic

sweatshop conditions, Now, the

situation is that a worker is often
faced with a choice from among f

oG anions, none-of-awhich- he ore.

she has any experience with, on an
NLRB ballot. Frequently, the re-

sult is a “no union” vote,

_ ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

SCHENECTADY,” NEW YORK

Friday, April 3, 1953

Washington—UE has denounced
plans to reintroduce the wage

“freeze under the guise of “stand-

by controls” in testimony given to
the.Senate Banking and’ Currency

committee. The union’s stand was”

presented by Washington Repre-

» sentative Russ Nixon. Nixon urged

action to fight inflation, but as-
serted that any form -of wage
freeze was the “wrong remedy,

applied to the wrong people, in the

wrong way, at the wrong time.”
He added’ that the wage freeze had
proven itself to be “fundamentally
destructive of the trade union
movement and... ., therefore pro-
foundly harmful to American de-

~ mocracy.”

kook ok

New York—A 1244c¢ wage boost
has been negotiated : for. 150,000
clothing workers. by the CIO Amal-

amated Clothing Workers Union. |
‘oy new pact, providing the work:

ers with their first wage boost

since 1950, was agreed on by the

Clothing Manufacturers Associa-
tion, which acts for 850 factories
miking 90% of all men’s clothing
turned out in the U.S. co

kok Ok

Detroit—UIE members at the biz
Vickers local here will receive a
$10 to $15 discount on all eyeglass-
es under a new arrangement made
with the Michigan.Eyesight Serv-
ice, :

kok OoO*

Pittsburgh — AFL heavy con-
struction workers have won wage
increases of 8c to 10¢ an hour as
the result of a strike which idled

' 25,000 Western Pennsylvania work-

ers for 3 days. '
: kook Ok
‘New Haven, Conn.—Employees

of the MB Manufacturing Co. shop _
-have won a 5%, wage boost retro-

active to March 1 in a new con-,
tract negotiated by UE Local 243.

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New York—More than 3,000
workers employed by 1,150 inde-
pendent drug stores in the New
York area have won a. 5-day, 40-

hour week “in anew -contract: ne-

gotiated by Local 1199 of the Dis-
tributive, Processing and Office
Workers union. The pact also
provides wage inereaseg ranging
from $4 to $7.50 a week.

Negotiations Deadlock

ed as GE Refuses

To Budge from ‘Zero or Less’ Proposal

é , General Electric‘management Tuesday refused to budge from its arrogant “zero or less”
offer to UE members, bringing the reopener negotiations between the company and union to
an almost complete deadlock. Union demands are for a substantial wage increase,. payment

301 To Show TV Film on FDR April 12

and women,

UE. Loeal 301 will sponsor a
special Franklin D, Roosevelt” me-
morial program over television sta-
tion WRGB on Sunday, April: 12,
the 8th anniversary of the ‘death of
the late president. oh

Feature of the show, which will
be-on channel 4 from 10:80 to 11:00
im., will be-a film, “The Roosevelt

Story.” This film-depicts the life.

and ‘accomplishments of FDR. and

includes a number, of newsreels of |

famous Roosevelt speeches. In ad-
dition, there is a commentary which
clearly points up the role of the
late president-in drawing up a pr6-
gram in the interests of the Amer-
ican people. : :

The film was shown to the exec-,

utive board last week, and they
voted to. put: it on television so
that the people of the area will
have an opportunity to rémind
themselves of the great strides for-

ward: taken during the Roosevelt.

era, It will be the only television
tribute’ ‘to FDR scheduled im the *
area, . us ‘
Roosevelt’s views on organized
labor are high-lighted in the pic-
ture. It shows clearly the differ. ,
ence between the FDR Wagner Act
days, when millions of workers
wer organized, and’the Taft-Hart-.
ley slave labor law days which
followed the death of Roosevelt. .
‘Showing of the film is considered
particularly important because of.

the tremendous ‘efforts by the big ;

corporations und their spokesmen
-to make the working people forget
FDR and all that, he stood for,
Other UE, locals throughout the
country.are presenting similar pro-
grams designed to pierce the cur-
tain of silence and Sliinder which
is being dropped around the -mem-
ory of one of the greatest Ameri-
cans who ever lived.

National UE Proposes United
Action To Aid Cincy Strikers

UE-has proposed a meeting with leaders of 2 striking GE
unions to discuss the working out of a program of support
for the men and women on the picket lines. The proposal was

contained in telegrams.,from the
UE-GE .conference board to lead-
ers of the AFL machinists’ and the

CIO autoworkers’ locals on. strike

against the company at the Even-

Chiéf Shop Stéward ‘Willian Mas-
triani, pictured above, hag agreed
to attend the next shop stewards'
meeting of UE Local 332, repre.
senting GE workers in Fort Ed-
ward and Hudson Falls, to teach a
class on time studies. .

dale plant near Cincinnati.

This action by the UE national,
organization was designed to back
votes of support coming from UE-
GE locals throughout the country.
Among these ‘votes was a unani-
tious membership ballot-of Local
301, und a’ similar decision by the
shop ‘stewards of. UE. Local 506,
which represents the workers at
GE’s big Erie works. |
“These resolutions emphasized
the importance of the success of
the Cincinnati strikers to the ne-
gotiations of UE and‘ all other un-
ions dealing with General Electric,
The company is seeking to. force
-the 2 striking locals to accept wage.
scales almost identical to those now

- prevailing: in UE-organized plants:

It is felt that if the company is
successful in beating the strike,
our job in gaining a substantial
wage increase will be even tougher
than it is,

for 2 Saturday holidays this year
and. special pay boosts for day
workers, including skilled workers

UE’s negotiating committee pre-
sented the management represent. |

_ tives with the workers’ answer: to -

their proposals, a flat “NO.” This _
answer had beew giyen during the
weck by votes of union members
throughout the country. Here in
Schenectady, the balloting on the
company proposals took place in
shop mectitiys throughout the

. Works. Almostyevery union mem: -

ber in the -plant took part, and
there were only .56 persons record-
ed as being in favor of the com-
pany proposal, That made the
ratio for rejection better than 20
to 1. F '

It is not difficult to understand
why the almost unanimous vote to
turn down the Gl “offer” was. tak-
en, In effect, the company pro-
posed’ that Ul members give .up
their rights to bargain for wages
in the coming year in exchange for
a wage “increase” of less ‘than 2¢
an hour, ‘

That the company had no inten-
tion of making a sincere offer was
clear from the “no further nego-
tiations” gimmick thrown in. This
gimmick provided that if UE mem-
bers would accept the 1.79% wage
inerease proposed now, they would
not be able to negotinte on wages
in September when the full con-
tract is open for bargaining,

Following ‘Tuesday’s meeting
with the company in New York,
the union negotiating committee
set a meeting among its members
for early next week. This gather
ing will be for the purpose of dis-
cussing further steps to be taken
to foree the company to muke a
reusonable’ offer. No dates have
been set for, future meetings. with
GE management. pak =

UE Local 801° Business Agent
Leo Jandreau represented the

“Schenectady union on the negotiat-

ing group. dJandreau is expected
to. report back to the local at next
Monday's meeting of. shop stew-
ards, __ _
Report COL Down

The Bureau of Labor Statistics
cost of living index showed a 4%
drop between Jan, 15 and Feb. 15,
it was announced this weelr.

277

©

Sf owns timed at

Harvester Corporation Sends
Home— 4,500 Hit Bricks

UE workers at’ International Harvester’s big Chicago
tractor plant last Weck served notice on the company that
their militancy had not been lessened by last yéar’s long strike,

when they, walkéd out for 2 days
to protest wage cuts und_suspen-
sions. a
It a demonstration which
took oma agement completely by
surprise. The, company tried to
show its fangs by suspending 277
workers forss days in a dispute
over piesework rates, Takings the
position that “if they domt work,
we don't work;" 4,500 other work-
eos at the tractor plant joined, the
suspended workers on the streets. ,
After recovering from the first
Sshoek of this: miiltant action, the
company tried some of its old
strike-breaking tricks by inviting
the wives’ of the workers to in-
spect the plant’and have lunch on
International Harvester. The won
en met and unanimously voted to
support the workers and to de-
hounce the company effort to “di-

~ STEWARDS.
MEETENG

vide households.”" +
Harvester management has. been
following a policy of trying ‘to
crack down on. the workers through
unjust dis iplinary actions” and
speedup ever since the end of last
year’s 8-month strike. .Howéver,
company efforts have everywhere
been met--hy a stonewall of “UE
unity, team My A
Council Set for Utica
UF’s District “3. council, which
groups , together 35,000 --Upstate
New York workers, will hold its
wext quarterly meeting in Utied
on April 18, District President
Lewis King announced this week.
Local 301’s 5-member delegation
to. the: council consists of” James
drown, 278; William Kelly, 273;
Leo Jandreau; William Mastriani,
T4A; and William Templeton, 13.

2nd SHIFT

Monday, April.6, 1953:
“1:00°P.M. (before work) .

‘Ist and 3rd SHIFTS

Monday, April 6, 1953 :
ig? 7:30 PM. an

Local 301 Hall.

307 Passes Strike Vote

UE Local 307 in’ Jamestown vot-
ed this week to take strike action
against the Dahlstrom Co, unless
it makes a decent wage offer in

“scattered through the ‘state.

Women in Area
Face High Costs —

Living: costs for working women.
in this dired are higher than in
New, York City and higher than in
wl other areas of the state except :
for Rochester, where costs are ¢
most identical, This fact was re-
vealed in’a recent survey hy the
New York State Department of -
Labor, '

The department based its report

“prevailing costs: in'8 cities
In-
cluded from. this area was Glens
Falls, where it, is ‘estimated that’ a
single working woman living’ with
her family needs & minimum year-
ly income of $2,499, just under $50
an week, to scrape along. In New
York City, the minimum figure
Was $2,450, ; nos

Other Tavts revealed hy the sur-
vey were that “overall living ‘costs...
for working women had jumped «

current negotiations. The vote for “about 87%%, with food prices tip

_ the strike was. 411 to 26.

ubout 45¢¢ since 1946,

Bldg. 24: G. Guerriero has been
performing satisfactory work “ws a
B operator for the past 2 yenrs,
The union demands thut she be
viven the Ist available opportunity
to da an A job.

Class “Bo omale assemblers have
been working on potentiometer as-
senbly job 9791505-G4 for the past
2 years.on day work, Naw the job
is being converted ta piece work
und women are heing brought in
for it. ‘Phe union demands. that
‘these new operators he’ paid. the

same tate as the warkers who have.

“been doing the job,
Bldg. 40: In-a recent time study
fTtthe operation on collector rings
224 each ‘The op-
orators .were compelled hy Fore-

man. Tanski to run, the study at.

maximum speeds and feeds with-
out making normal allowances, The
contract provides that. all time
studies, must be made ‘under -nor-
mal conditions und with novmal ef-
fort. The union therefore demands
wthat this job be retimed.

Group under “Foreman Tanski
protests against his completely un-
fait attitude, and the working con-
ditions he has sought to impose,
Tans manner is uncouth, dic-
tutorial and completely unjust. As
nu result, frietion between — the
workers and supervision -has been
continuous, The union demands a
nuimagement investigation to cor
‘fect this situation,

Group under Foreman Tunski
protests the unfair treatment: ae.
corded to one of their number, F.
~Choiniere. This operator, whose
work record is excellent, was
‘charged with deliberate — ‘work
spoilage’ and possible sabotage
righte alter..Planning.. and. Wage
Rute increased ithe speeds and
feeds on his ‘machine, The charges
ure. completely false, and the un-
ion demands that Choiniere’s name

‘tract article TV.

® Friday, April 3, 1953

Thousands of grievances are handied by UE Local 301
each year at all levels from the steward up-to final appeal |
in New York City, To keep members posted, we shail
each week list some of the grievances that have not been
settled at the .steward-foreman level and have been re-

ferred tothe executive board-management level.

he cleared for the records It fur-
ther demands an end to this type
of brazen coercion and -diserimina=
tion which clearly violates con-

Bidg. 42: Group of accumulators
under Foreman Babcock protest
unsafe working — conditions
other contract violations, They
are being ordered: to repair, and
charge batteries, which is beyond
their classification. ~ In
transporters are unsafe und 1
quire repairs, lighting facilities are

inadequate and work racks are un-
that,
correct |

safe, The union demands
management immediately
these conditions. ;

Bldg. 60. ‘Tinsmiths’ group de-
minds restoration of 2 Teaders!
johs whieh were abolished. when
those involved were upgraded On
muny occasions, the workers can

- not find any supervision ta get job

instructions,

A push button trane has recent=
ly been installed and supervision "is,
allowing any worker to operate it.
This creates a safety hazard,
union demands assignment of a
crane operator to the job. ‘

Bldg. 69: William Brown, an ¢
cumulator, is the vietim of diserin

ination by Foreman. Stinson. This -

is a violation of contract article
1V-8, and the union demands -that
this discrimination be stopped.

A sub-committee investigation
lust April resulted in.a 10% price
inerense on 6. jobs.
there have been mayor changes in
speeds and. rolls. The union de:
mands that, in order to prevent the
operators from suffering losses in
earnings, the price adjustment on.f

jobs. should. be made up to 20%,

andoon 1. job. to.80%,. ”

Trene, Patterson, wis :hired about

=

7 yeurs ago as a name plate and
labeling machine operator.  Al-
though she has had ample work on

“aml

addition,

The-

Since then,: ,

these machines, she has, now been’
instructed to operate a mimeo-
graph, The union demands that
these additional duties be elimin-
-ated. | ae F

Harry Wright-is classified as
stockkeeper, With a rate of $1.73%
an hour. There is a need for an A
stockkeeper in 69-2, und he would
like to have a chance at .the first
available opening.

Bldg. 732. “Supervision , now 1re-
quives all pieces on silver plating
operations to be checked by an,in-

“ spector, ~ This sis a new ‘procedure
eand results in the operations tak-
ing longer to complete. -There-
fore, the union demands an adjust-
ment in price. ; “

Bldg. 81: A yenur ago, manage-
inent’ agreed to an 82e¢ timing rate
for all A operators on wiring, The
unio’ ‘demands that, ‘management
live up to this upreement by in-
creasing the timing rate on all op-
erators now making 70c¢ to 82e.

Bldg. 269: Joseph Grubar was
taken’ off his regular piece work
job.to perform another job to suit
the company’s convenience. He was
paid only ~P,.W.D.W. Under: the
contract, he is entitled to average
earnings, and the union demands«
that he be: paid on this basis.

Stoeckroom under Foreman W,

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE.
WORKERS OF AMERICA (UE)

Local 301°
EER 2
Published by. the Editorial Committee

Presidont............James J. Cognelta
Mice Prosidont—..—.—.--=.Joseph Alols

'YeusnRudy -Rissland -
Chlof Shop Stoward..-.William Masirlant
Business Agont—-..——.—.loo Jandroay

30) LIBERTY ST. SCHENECTADY 5, N. Y.

‘violation be halted.

Kerley was always rated as’ As
Recently, the stoeckkeeper retired,
and his replacement, Joseph ~ Mo-
vawski, was put in as a B stock-
keeper, although none of the duties
were changed. The union demands

_' that the stockroom be restored to

A,‘and that-Morawski be upgraded

aveordingly.: me :
Maintenance men are being

lized to work outside of their clak. |

ifextion us exhaust and leak test

operators, production jobs.’ The

union demands that. this contract

Supervision has been utilizing
group leaders on: production work
‘during overtime. © The union. de-
mands that, this practice be stop-
ped.and that contract article V-9-
be adhered to. ; ‘

Bldg. 273: L. Underhill has: suf-
fered a loss of earnings because
his old machine’ was moved and .
lower work was assigned to him,.
and because prices on new jobs”
such as valves and seats are inude-
quate, The union demands a man-
agement investigation toe correct
this situation.

Alplaus: John -Woodwaid_ is

velassified as a general maintenance

‘und repair man.. He has been used
for relocating, bolting and -level-
ing machines in a machine shop.
Therefore, he is entitled to a B
millwright’s rating, and the union
demands that he be given: it.

Campbell Aves T. R. Bellinger
is classified as a C stoek room
keeper, His duties and responsi-
hilities wo far beyond the CG classi-
fication. The union demands he be
upgraded to B with proper rate
adjustment, ‘

Plight Test: Richard Stuntan
was temporarily transferred t 5)
to suit company’s convenience.
October, 1951, Before he returned
to flight test in Oet., 1952, 2 new °
men were hired on his ald Ist shit't.
job. When he was transferred
back, Stanton was forced ‘to take

a-2nd-shitt- job;-although-the news

‘men ‘were kept on Ist shift. There-
fore, the union demands that he be
immediately transferred to ist
shift, 4

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

‘April 25 Dance Preparat

ons

Give UE Hall That New Look

With a spring cleaning and sprucing up in full swing, the
UE Local 301 hall this week began to take on a festive air in
preparation for the big 20th anniversary dance to be held

u

t]
N\

here on Saturday evening, April
Je ms t
The job of turning the hall into
a spick and span ballroom was be-
ing handled by.the union activities
coinmittee, which also is’ in charge
“af*prepatations for the dance. This
first event of the 1953, social seu-
son will commemorate 20 years of
progress for industrial unionism
in Schenectady.

Tickets for the dance will be in
the hands of the shop stewards by
the. beginning of next week. They”

“will sell for only $1 each, with the

admission ‘price covering’ ample
liquid refreshment. Plans are ‘be-
ing’ made to sell more solid stuff
at eost.

Since the supply..of ducats will
be sharply limited. by the capacity
of thevhall, persons. who want. to
go to the anniversaiy danee ave.
urged to buy their admissions ear-
‘ly to avoid disappointment: The
tickets. will also be on sale at the
union hall,

Music¢ for the gala event will be:
provided by ‘Tony. Villano and-his
orchestra,.a group which is already
familiar to mary union members.

© Special efforts are being made
6]

make this year’s spring danee
an especially attractive event” be-
‘ause it marks an important anni-
versary in the union’s history. It
was in 1983 that the union which

4 was to grow into UE Local 301, the

Klectric City Industrial Union, was
first organized. For 2 decades our
organization has grown” through
depression, war and TaftsHartley -
ere struggle.

UE Scranton Group
Visits Schenectady

A 4-person delegation from UE
Local 125, which ‘represents. GH
workers in Seranton,. Pa. visited
Schenectady last week “to get in-
formation on rates of jobs which
have been moved from here to the
Pennsylvania stop.

The Scranton workers were in-
terested in rates and classifications
in 'Tube.- It’s from this division
that the Scranton jobs have been
taken. After their 2-day visit, they
revealed that Gl management is
trying to cut rates sharply in its

ove to Scranton. ;

Jobs taken from Schenectady to
the Pennsylvania shop were moved
to replace the washing machine di-
vision at Scranton, This division ‘
was moved to Louisville, Kentucky

- by GE, The Louisville: runaway --

is designed to take as many jovs
as possible away from union wages
and: conditions. .

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

‘of the year,

Stewards To Discuss
Negotiations Monday

Monday” night’s meeting of UE
Local 801 shop stewards. will fea-
ture’ a report on negotiations by
Business Agent: Leo . Jandreau.
Jandreau is a member of the UE
national negotiating committee
now meeting with GE.

This bargaining report will be
only one itern on a crowded ayenda,
which’ also includes discussions of
shop problems and grievances. A
summary of the 1953” stewards’
classes will also be given, ;

The April meeting is the 2nd
gathering to be counted toward the
big stewards’> banquet at the end
In order to be eligible
to attend the banquet, a commit-.
teeman or woman will have to haye
attended 8 of the 10 regular stew-
ards’ meetings between March and

_December.

Monday's meeting will be in 2
sessions. Second. shift. stewards
Will get tomether at 1:00 p.m., just
before work, The 1st and 3rd shift”
representatives gather at 7:30 p.m,

ey

2

a

he
Tess

© VP THESE STUPID WORKERS DON'T TAKE APAY CUT THEY WONT
BE ARLE To MAKE A LINING WAGE .

Q———

on, the job and firing. them.

It netted. 5 victims,

working hours,

Foreman’s Devotion Hits 4AM. Peak —

Most people who don’t: have to be up-and. around at 4 in the
Morning are content to be home in their nice warm beds. -How-
ever, one exception is General Foreman William Crosby of: Build-
ing 269, whose devotion to the company is so gréat that he’s rather
‘spend the wee hours of the morning paying surprise visits to the
shop for the purpose of catching people who are allegedly napping

Of course, when we say “surprise visits,’ we should note that
they aren’t a surprise to everyone. In fact, one outwardly human
creature in the shop takes the trouble to craw! over to the phone
to point out the general foreman's duty to him.

Crosby’s last night raid took place‘early Monday and he took
the trouble to bring along Superintendent Alfred Jucket with him.

Interesting enough, Crosby’s devotion to the company: scems
to be like certain rare species of flowers, night-blooming. During
the day, this devotion is diminished by his desire to do “small
favors” for certain of his favorite people.
allowing these people to use his car to joyride during working
hours, permitting cooking: of steaks (one of Crosby’s favorite
‘dishes) in’the shop, also during working hours, and granting the
privileged few the opportunity to cash checks, once again during

These favors inchide

3. Brass industry Unions

Draft United Action PI

ela

Plans for achieving a common bargaining program for all
employees of the American Brass Co. division of Anaconda
copper were worked out last week by delegates from 3 unions

at a meeting'in Waterbury; Conn.

Attending the united action con-
ference ‘were delegates from Ul
Local 404, whieh “has bargaining
rights for the American . Brass
plant in Hastings, N. Y., the In-

a)

ro

ternational Union of Mine, Mill-aund
Smelter Workers, which represents
Brass workers in? Ansonia, Conn;
Torrington, Conn,, and Buffalo; and
AFL Local 19822, bargaining agent
forthe company’s Kenosha, Wis,
plant. .

Unanimous agrement Was reach-
ed by the delegates on a prowriani
of demiunds which include 25,000
new jobs for brass workers, ‘This
demand was adopted after it had
been brought out that, post-war
machinery improvements have re-
sulled in the loss of more than
1,000 jobs in the Connecticut brass
industry alone, Despite the re-
duction in forces, brass output has
gone up ble since 1947, while
profits have skyrocketed 2180:

Thirty hours of. work a week
with'40 hours pay was another
goaleset by the conference, as was
a construction “program aimed at
producing low-cost homes — for
warkers, schools, roads, rural elec
trideation and. increased publie
power through river valley author.
ilies,

Before closing out the meeting,
the delegates ugreed to call a na-
tional conference, of ‘representa-
tives of all American Brass-Ana-
conda workers in Chicayo to work
out a common collective bargain-
ing program for 1958, The Wat-
erbury gathering named a cun-
tinuations committee consisting of
UE Loeal 404 Financial Secretary

Frank -Lamb,>Mine-Milt Regional

Director Irving Dichter and AFL

» Local 19922., President dohn Madi-

son,

Friday, April 3, 1953 © 3