Electrical Union News, 1949 October 31

4

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

October 28, 1949

Jandreau Reelected
District President

—Business Agent Leo Jandreau of
Local 301 was reelected president
of UE District 3 last Saturday at
the annual district convention at
Rochester. Jandreau polled 251
votes to 55 for
Frank Murray of _-.
Local 509, Ro-
chester.
Jerold Mooney .
of Local 501, Buf- -
“fulo, was reelect-
ed secretary-
treasurer, defeat-
ing Mark Claney
of Local 820 of
the GE plant at
Syracuse by a
vote of 264 to 42.
As president
and secretary-
--treasurer-of--Dig-..---Tan

trict 8, Jandreau

and Mooney will again serve as
the district’s representatives on
the General Executive Board of
UE.

Harold Buck of Local 381, Rome,
was reelected vice-president with-
“out opposition and. Charles Rivers
of Local 816, Poughkeepsie, wus
reelected executive secretary with-
out opposition, :

William Stewart of 3801 was
‘elected as one of the district’s
three trustees and Willard Mastri-
ani, 301, was elected to ‘the execu-
tive board. Local 301’s other mem-
bers of. the district council are
Phil Cognetta and Joseph Kelly.

By an overwhelming vote the
district convention approved  ac-
tions of the national UE conven-
tion at Cleveland and the report
on the convention by Rivers, dis-
trict delegate.

The district convention voted
support for the mine and steel
strikes and urged united labor
backing for these and _ other
strikes. ‘The resolution also called
for an end to all raids by one un-
ion on another.

Other resolutions called for a
return to the foreign policy of
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the
preservation of civil liberties at
home. .

Did You Know?

The General Electric Company
has been allowed to buy 17 govern-:
‘ment plants at 60 per cent of their
cost. This arrangement represents
an indirect subsidy, tothe company
by American taxpayers, including
GE workers.

Famous GE Efficiency
Baffled by a Blower

Workers “under Foreman A. A.
Kocis in Building 69 are wonder-
ing how many months the ‘com-
pany can take to repair or replace
a faulty: blower.

The fan is in a spray booth, It
is so noisy that it gives the group
in the area a headache, It splatters
paint instead of removing it. The
spray painter can work in the
booth only in brief stretches he-
cause of the conditions.. In June
the foreman said it would be fixed.
Various experts puzzled around it.
In August Kocis asked for more
time. “

In September Shop Steward
John Kwiatkowski sent the case
to Building 41 as a formal com-
plaint. Frank Schaaff of the works
manager’s office said the facts in
the complaint were true. But he

Said the experts 1

o “find the
blower would probably cost about ,
$200.

The latest word this week was
that the experts had concluded a
major repair, including a new fan,
would be needed. It was hoped the
authorities in GE would shortly
approve the necessary appropria-
tion. ,

Some of the operators are sug-.,
gesting that perhaps there should
be an appropriation ‘for diver's
helmets.

Profits Tremendous
Even During Slump

Even during the business slump
in the first half of 1949 profits re-
mained vemarkably high. The
Journal of Commerce explained re-
cently: that employers have been
“much more successful in re-
trenching and cutting unit costs
than the pessimists expected.”

How manufacturing corpora-
tions have been exploiting work-
ers by speed-up and by price in-
creases is. shown by the increases
in profits per worker, “Look at
these figures on manufacturing
profits before taxes per worker:

1989... .. $368
1944. $812
1947. 51,188
1948. $1,246
The annual rate of net profits. in
the first quarter of 1949 was $17.2
billion; in the second quarter the
annual rate was still $15.3 billion.
This rate of profit is consider-
ably greater than the $18.9 billion
net profit in 1946 which was one

_of the important arguments used

by labor in getting its largest of
the postwar wage increases,

New Shop Stewards Take Oath of Office

These three shop stewards, sworn in at the stewards? mecting Oct. 4, are:
left to right, William Cwirko, Building 16; Jesse J. Graham, Bldg. 52,

and Richard Bennette, Bldg. 50.

Turbine Stewards
Again Meet Male

Discussion of accumulated

grievances in the Turbine Divi-

sion with Works Manager Lewis
J. Male continued last week. Em-
phasis’ was on current lack of
work conditions combined with
overtime in some groups, the
farming out of work, unfair penal-
ties on some workers, favoritism
by foremen, and the speed-up ques-
tion, _

A large: elected committee of
division shop @tewards is handing
the complaints. On most of the
complaints discussed the previous
week, Male said he had been away
and had not completed his investi-
gation, He agreed to arrange an-
other meeting shortly. °

Election Day Notice

The company has advised Lo-
eal 801 that on Election Day,
Nov. 8, the first shift will close
at noon and the second and
third shifts will work as usual,

Under the state Jaw any
worker who is a qualified voter
is entitled to two hours off with
pay on Election Day to vote, if
he notifies the company at least
one day before election that he
wants the time-off, GE has in-
formed the union that the paid
time-off will be assigned to
workers who notify their fore-
men they want it.

301 Asks Pay Checks
On Thursday, Nov. 10

Local 301 is pressing a demand
on GE that because Armistice
Day, Nov. 11, falls on a Friday
pay checks should be issued Thurs-
day that week.

A. C. Stevens, assistant to the
works manager, has taken the
position that with Election Day in
the same week GE would not have
the checks ready Thuisday, and
that the company is now gettin
checks out faster than it did be-
fore, (GE stepped up its pay-day
schedule last spring after Local
301 filed a complaint with the
State Labor Department.)

The union pointed out to Stevens
that the company found it possible
to issue checks Thursday when it
wanted to send people home re-
cently because of a Friday inven-
tory. As banks will be closed Arm-
istice Day, workers will be incon-
venienced seriously unless they
are paid Thursday. Stevens said
GE has arranged to have Schenec-
tady banks open Monday night,
Nov. 14,

The union also pointed out that
the state law permits companies
to pay by check, instead of cash,
but on condition, that they make it
easy for the checks to be cashed.

40 New UE Plants

UE organized 40 new plants dur-
ing the past year despite the Taft-
Hartley law.

GE COULD EASILY CUT HOURS AND RAISE PAY

@)

<@ THE VOICE OF LOCAL 30! - -

NION

UER&M WA = - = GLO.

VLECTRICAL

. .

rath ly SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK | |
Cc. 1.0. CONVENTION EXTRA

UE__SEES _ MURRAY, PROPOSED UNITY, NO-RAIDING

‘

October 51,1949

Cleveland, Ohio, October 30. - A proposal to unite the CIO through
agreements between. its major unions that they would not raid each ;
other was presented to ClO Fresident Philip Murray,this Sunday after-
noon by a committee of the general executive board of UE.

The committee presented copies of the proposed egreement, fully signed
by the UE general officers, to Murray and urged him to sign on behalf
of the national CIO.and the Steelworkers. A similar agreement is:
being sent to the Auto workers. ~

Murray admitted the truth of UE's charges of raiding and disruption by
other CIO unions, but his reply. consisted of a long red-baiting speech.
He refused to*discuss UE proposals to unite CIO against the current
employer attacks. He refused to say whether or not he would sign the
proposed no-raiding agreement,

“Tye entire Course of the meeting Indicated that the CIO Leadersnt pets

hoping to break up the UE end set up a puppet union headed by the
Carey clique.

Representing UE in the meeting were President Albert J. Fitzgerald,
Secretary-Treasurer Julius Emspak, Director of Organization Jemes J.
Mathes, and General Vice-Presidents Leo Jandreau, Schenectady; James
Price, Philadelphia; Paul. Seymour, Boston; James MacLeish, Newark, N.J.;
Stanley Loney, Pittsburgh; and Ernest DeMaio, Chicago,

The proposed no-raiding agreement would provide thet where UR has a
contract with en employer, no aid would be given to any union seeking
to raid. The agreement would be similar in that respect to the agree-
ment recently entered into by the CIO Auto workers and the Internation-~
al Association of Mechinists, which is independent. The agreement
proposed by UE would go further and plédge UE to devote all its
energies tc advancing the four objectives of the CIO stated in its
constitution, as follows:

"First, to bring about effective organization of the working men and
women of America, regardless of race, creed, color or nationality.
Second, to extend the benefits cf collective bargaining to the workers
of America thrcugh powerful industrial unions of the CIO, capable of
dealing with modern aggregates of industry and finance. Third, to
maintain determined adherence to obligations and responsibilities
under collective bargaining and wage agreements, and fourth, to
secure legislation, safeguarding the economic security and social
welfare of the workers of America."

The tone to be expected of the convention was set forth in the
-summary of Murray's annual report, released to the newspapers for
publication tomdrrow morning. In “the past years, the emphasis in this
report has been on organization and bargaining. The release to the
papers for tomorrow centers mainly on red-baiting,.

The CLIO release quotes Murray as calling those union leaders who
reject top dictation "Communist union leaders". ‘The release does not
discuss policy differences, but complains that some union leaders
"disagree" with present CIO policy, and that they demonstrate. "contempt
and hostility" for those policies,

The Murray report complains of "carping, unjustified criticism of the
United Steelworkers and its leadership" by so-called left wing
spokesmen. a

The report expresses approval for "the legislative edvances meade by
the 81st Congress. "

uopwa- local 70