4
‘ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
. August 13, 1948
Income Taxes Too High on Low and Medium Wage Groups
Part of your pay check is taken away every week to apply on your
federal income tax. Under a fair system of taxation, thousands of
- workers at the Schenectady plant should pay no income tax at all.
Others should pay only a small fraction of what they now have to,
And the big GIS executives with their huge salaries and bonuses would
_be required, for the first time, to_shoulder
~~ burden,
A resolution adopted unanimous-
ly by the Local 301 membership in
July calls for income tax exemp-
tions of $2,000 for single persons;
$3,000 for couples and $500 for
each dependent. Those are the ex-
emptions for which the national
UE and other CIO unions have
been pressing.
Under such an exemption sys-
tem a worker with a wife to sup-
port would not start paying an in-
come tax unless he earned about
$58 a week. With a wife and child,
he wouldn’t pay till he earned $67
a week, and with a wife and two
children, he wouldn’t pay till he
ir real share of the tax
Weekly wages are— |
At But. less 0
least ' than
if they are single or have one, two
or three dependents. , The complete
schedule is too long to print here,
but this chart ought to cover a
large number of the workers in the
plant.
During the war, both Democrats
and Republicans promised that the
high wartime taxes would be re-
duced as soon as possible after the
war ended. The tax bill passed by
Congress last spring gave only a
little relief to the people of low
and middle incomes, who carry the
chief burden of ‘the nation’s taxes.
But the bill gave billions of dollars
in tax savings to wealthy corpor-
CHENG BT Tar Week
Representatives of CIO unions of
the Thirty-first Congressional Dis-
trict and the Farmers Union drew
up last January a Congressional
program calling for this tax re-
form. This is the program on which
Andrew Peterson, Local 301 presi-
dent, is basing his campaign for
Congress. It provides also:
“Progressively higher taxes be-
winning with small amount above
$3,000 (for couples) and approach-
ing 100 per cent tax on net incomes
over $25,000.”
On this page is printed a sched-
ule of the present withholding tax
for people earning $44 to $80 a
week, showing how much they pay
Htion “EXeentives and” stocichoiders:
And Congress had already repealed
the excess profits taxes.
Under the phony tax cut bill, a
worker earning $2500 a year re-
ceived a tax cut of about $1.50 a
week, while a $600,000 a year exec-
utive receives a cut of about $900
a week in his taxes. The bill was
passed by majorities of Republican
and Democrats in both houses of
Congress. It’s a perfect example
of the “relief for the greedy, not
for the needy" which President
Roosevelt condemned.
REMEMBER 'TO VOTE
PRIMARY DAY, AUG, 24
Teep
WRGHT
VE NEWS SIRVICL
$44
45 ; 6.80
AG ‘ 6.90
47 ‘ 7.10
48 AS 7.20
49 5 7.40
50 5 7.50
51 52 1.70
f2 Be 7.80
53 bd 8.00
54 55 8.10
55 56. 8.80
56, 57 8.40
57 58 8.60
58 59 8.70
59 60 8.90
60 62 9,10
62 64 9,40
64 66 9.70
66 68 10,00
. 68 70 5
ee | | enone be _—
72 74 “10.90
74 76 11.20
76 - 78 11.50
78 80. 11.80
And withholding exemptions claimed are—
“900 210
1
“32.80
3.00
3.10
3.30
5.30 3.40
5.50 —~ 3.60
5.60 3.70
5:80 3.90
5.90 4.00
6|10 4.20
6.20 4.30
6.40 4.50
6.50 4.60
6.70 4.80
6.80 4.90
7,00 5.10
7.20 5.30
7.50 5.60
7.80 5.90
8.10 6.20
8.40 6.50
3.70 6.80
9.30 7.40
9,60 7.70
9.90 8.00
10 Cent Increase
At Liberty Tool
UE Loca’ 829 at the Liberty Tool
and Die Corporation, Rochester,
has negotiated a general wage in-
crease of 10 cents an hour, with
back pay to April . The settlement
provides for a wage reopening if
two of the three major electrical
corporations grant higher — in-
creases.
The new raise brings the labor
rate to $1.22 an hour and the top
toolmakers’ rate to $2.22,
Raise and Hospitalization
An 11 cent wage package and
hospitalization insuranee are high-
lights of the new UE agreement
with the Faultless Caster Company
at Ivansville, Ind. The company is
to pay the insurance premiums for
all workers and their dependents,
Pay Raise Averts Strike
Net 45 minutes before a strike
was to start, the Altorfer Brothers
Company at Peoria, Tll, came
through with a 12% cent wage
package for its UE workers, The
company manufactures ABC wash-
ing machines.
Chicago Contracts
On the eve of a strike deadline,
the Danly Machine Company in
Chicago granted a wage increase
of ‘11 cents an hour, UE Local 1114
recently signed two other wage set-
tlements, providing, an 11 cent
raise at Baumbach and an 11 eent
raise, plus one cent in holiday im-
provements, at Gear Specialties.
Campaign Meeting
At Gloversville
President Andrew Peterson of
Local 801 made his first campaign
talk outside Schenectady County
“Tuesday night when he addressed
a group of volunteer
workers at Gloversville,
Frank MceMasters, business agent
of Amalgamated Clothing Workers,
CIO, in Gloversville, presided. The
group ineluded some — Democratic
committeemen who are canvassing
tor Peterson,
‘We.have experimented too long
with trial and error in electing our
representatives,” MeMasters. said.
“T's time we send someone to
Washington who will represent the
people. And Peterson is such a
man.”
Peterson declared that fie Demo-
cratic machine in Schenectady
County, by, picking a Congres-
sional candidate who is not known
in’ the district, was preparing to
default the election to Representa-
tive Bernard Kearney,
“That’s why Ym running,” he
said, “because-we must unite to
beat Kearney.”
In outlining his - Congressional
platform, Peterson emphasized the
need for broadened social security
and $120 a month minimum pen-
sions.
301 Lawyer's Schedule
campaign
Union members can consult Marg
shall Perlin, 801, attorney, at’ the
union office every Monday through
Thursday from 2 pam, to 5 p.m. He
will be available at other times by
appointment,
J WLECTRICAL
THE VOICE OF" LOCAL 301
Vol 6 — No. 33
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
August 20, 1948
Peterson Volunteers
Head for Primary
The campaign for the primary
candidates endorsed by unanimous
membership vote of Local 301 en-
tered its final stage this week, with
the Local 301 Independent Political
Action sub-committee placing its
main emphasis on organizing vol-
unteers from the plant to get out
the vote Tuesday and canvass en-
rolled Democrats before that.
paign for Andrew Peterson for
Congress and Walter S. Gross for
State Senate has been undertaken
by the district-wide Peterson-Gross
Campaign Committee, led by long-
standing Democratic leaders. The
chairman is Frank MeMasters’ of
Gloversville, who is a member of
the Fulton County Democratic
Committee as well as business
agent of the Amalgamated Clothing
‘Workers, CIO. Philip Sherman,
Schenectady business man, is vice-
chairman. William A. Stewart, 801
Board member and long a Demo-
cratic leader in Amsterdam, ‘is
secretary.
A campaign rally was held in
Amsterdam last night. Leo Jan-
dreau was one of the scheduled
speakers.
After 31 Years Here,
Wait a Little Longer
The case of a machinist who aft-
81 years’ service was told to
malt, “a few more months” before
getting his “A” rating has been
moved to the Howell level by Local
301.
The man does machine repair
work in Building 101, and Shop
Steward L. J. Reichel pointed out
that he was doing the same work
as all the others. But the foreman
thought the man was too old to be
‘auised anyway.
When the case was taken lo
Building 41, the union requested a-
joint inspection, The foreman was
unable to explain to the joint com-
mittee which work he classed as
“A”, which work as “B”, Neverthe.
less, Frank Schaaff, of the works
manager’s office, insisted that the
machinist be tried out a few more
months before being promoted to
aA
CONGRESSMAN DRIPP
BY YOMEN
(0) long
“cers PASS 4 LAW GIVING US TIME AND A HALF
FOR SPECIAL SESSIONS,
Low Incomes Hit Again,
But the Rich Get Richer
The study below by UE News Sero-
tee, based on government figures, is
of particular interest today in view of
the: renewal of the GE propaganda
campaign to blame workers wages for
high prices and inflation,
A recent government survey
made of consumer finances points
out that in 1947 one-fourth of all
spending units (persons pooling
their incomes) spent substantially
more than they earned,
“This substantial “dissaving”
(that is, expenditures in excess of
income) was due in no small meus-
ure to the need of consumers
“meeting higher living costs.” Ac-
cording to the survey, approxi-
mately one-third of the spending
units, or 16 million, reduced their
liquid asset holdings during 1947,
While those in the lower income
brackets were forced to spend:
more than they earned, the rich
were saving. “The 10° percent of
the spending units with the highest
Raise on Auto Mileage
National UE representatives
have obtained agrement from the
General Electric Company to raise
the mileage allowanee for employ-
ves dviving their personally-owned
suvs on company business from six
cents to seven cents’a mile. The
increase will be effective August 1.
Tt will affect service shops most.
100 Per Cent UE
All 11 shops in UB Local 423 at
Paterson, N. J., are now 100 per
cent UE, Not a free-rider left!
incomes in 1947, those with’ in-
comes of $5,700 and above” — to
quote the survey — “held 43 per-
cent of total liquid assets in early
1od82?) This represented an in-
crease over what they held in the
varly part-of 1947 when the figure
was 39 percent.
(Source: “1948 Survey of Con-
sumer Iinances,” Federal Re-
» serve Bulletin, June 1948, p.
635 and July 1948, pp. 767, 769)
Craft Groups
Meet toActon
RateDeadlock
An emergency meeting of the
joint craft steering committee was
called for Wednesday night (aft-
er this papel went to press) to act
on the General Electric Company's
refusal to raise the wage rates 1a
skilled crafts.
The company’s
J. M. Howell, works manager, and
Louis Male, general superintendent,
to committees representing the
toolmakers, tool room machine op-
erators, and machinists (non-pro-
duction). Business Agent Leo Jan-
dreau headed the union negotiators.
While Tuesday’s discussion con-
cerned the toal rooms and machin-
ists, Male said the answer would
be the same for the other crafts
invalved in the present neotia-
tions, including the building trades, |
welders, and millmen,
Crafts Refusing Overtime
The company had agreed to ne-
gotiate on the rates for these crafts
after three weeks of walk-out dem-
onstrations combined with refusal
to work overtime. -All the crafts
wre still refusing to work over-
time,
Male based the company’s refus-
al. on the company’s — so-called
“community rate survey,” covering’
industries from | Rochester to
Poughkeepsie. Male claimed that
this survey showed rates for tool-
makers here were a little more
than 1% above the “community”
average. By questioning Male,
Jandreau showed that the survey
had been arranged to give the de-
sired result,
The company refused to include
in the plants studied such import-
ant high-vate plants as Interna-.
tional Business Machines and Oza-
ld in Binghamton, Delco in Ro-
cliester, a direct competitor, Li-
berty Tool in Rochester, which
makes tools for GE here, and Gen-
eral Signal and Stromberg Carlson
in Rochester.
Compare with Minor Plants
On the other hand the company '
survey included the Watervliet
Arsenal, which receives one-month
Continued on Page 4)
”
‘
*
ch
Ni
peeaies
2
« August 20, 1948
Meat Strike Spreads
to Schenectady Area
The meat strike which has been
spreading over the nation started
in Schenectady this week, after
~~ Local-301-President-“Andrew-Peter=" ~~
son publicly appealed to the people
to join in. Picketlines of house-
wives appeared before supermar-
kets. Housewives also picketed,
with their childen, before a nation-
al dairy outlet, in protest against’
the announced penny inerease per
quart of milk. '
Both Peterson and Dr. Walter S.
Gross, candidate for State Senate
in the Democratic primary, sent
wires to Governor Dewey urging
that he order the Erwin Commis-
sion on Agriculture to act without
further delay against the milk
monopoly. They said the milk trust
was responsible for keeping prices
sumers,
Referring to the “complete fail-
ure of the Special Session to do
anything about rising food prices,”
Peterson urged support of the meat
strike, and ‘said: — ! noe
“Such action will help bring
home to our federal government
‘that it must use all its powers to
prosecute the food trust, which
robs the farmers and consumers
and squeezes the small business
man. An aroused people can yet
force the restoration. of price con-
trol and put an end to the present
profiteering orgy. ..
“The meat strike is aimed at
the food trust. The farmers and
the small grocers are being hurt
along with the consumer by the
climb in prices.”
Raise Won by Strike
A month’s strike at the Kidde
Manufacturing Company and
Bloomfield Tool Company, Bloom-
. field, N. J., ended when the com-
pany agreed to pay an increase of
10 cents across the board. UE Lo-
cal 487 went on strike there July
7 because the company, which op-
erates two plants, refused to give
a single penny raise.
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America, CIO
SoHENEGTADY GE Locat 301
a
Published by Editorial Committee
Mary McCartin, Secretary
Arthur R. Bertini Clayton Pudney
John G. Grasso Victor Pasche
Editorial Office
ExvectricaL Union News
301 Liberty St., Schenectady, N.Y.
Telephone 3-1386
ee ak Pe Oe apne
UG Oa LOL COL"
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Housewives Picket Against High Prices |
New York City housewives picketing i
against high prices. This week-the movement reached Schenectady,
following a public appeal by 301 President Andrew Peterson urging the
people of the area to support the meat strike. '
1
-UE Wins Two Elections
Workers -at two plants at Cam-
den, N. J., voted this month to be
represented by UE, in elections
conducted outside the Taft-Hartley
Board. William Karpinsky, New
-Jersey state mediator, supervised
the voting at the Precision Drawn
Steel Company and a clergyman
conducted the balloting at Harman
Manufacturing Company.
Appeals Day
Any .-801 member dissatisfied
with the way a grievance has been
handled can appear before the 301
Appeals Committee at 4 p.m. any
‘Wednesday at the union hall. Sec- .
ond shift workers can be heard at
1 p.m. , ¢
Phelps Dodge Raise
A straight 12 cents-an-hour pay
increase has been -negotiated by
ity
Ny
August 20, 1948
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Boulware Back at Old Propaganda Stand Again,
Selling Glories of Taft-Hartley and Low Wages
_ General Electric Company, through Vice-President L. R. Boulware,
has resumed its campaign of articles in the “Works News” and expen-
sive newspaper advertisements, just as before and during the spring
contract negotiations,
The campaign is aimed at con-
vincing the public and particularly
the GE workers themselves, that
the Taft-Hartley law is “good for
labor,” and that wage increases are
bad. It is aimed mostly to make
union members believe that their
interests are different from the in-
terests of their union, that they
should look at their union with
suspicion.
This One is Clever
The latest Boulware piece on the
Taft-Hartley Act is clever. The
great majority of the UE member-
ship stood up to the ‘company’s
Taft-Hartley maneuvers: and split-
"UE for workers at “the ~ Phelps
n the nationwide meat strike
Dodge Copper. Products Company
plants at Fort Wayne, Ind. and
Bayway, N. J.
_ Pay Increase
“Korfund Company, New York
City, has agreed to an immediate
raise of 10 cents an hour and ‘to
another five cents in six months,
in its new contract with UE Local
1227.
Medicine for Scabs
UE strikers at Sterling Electric
and Mullenbach plants in Los An-
weles, discovered a way to cut
down on scabbing. They published
a list of names of scabs and- called
upon neighbors and acquaintances
of these workers to urge them to
respect the picket lines, Accord-
ing to reports of strikers making
check-ups at the factory gates,
svabbing “greatly diminished” at
both plants after the publication of
the list. °
Pay Raise Negotiated
Wages at the Janette Manufac-
turing Company, Chicago, are
boosted. from 10 to 18 cents an hour
under an agreement negotiated by
UE,
Recognition and Raise
After UE was reorganized as
bargaining agent through a card
_ check, a contract was negotiated
with Roselle Foundry Company,
Roselle Park, N. J, Pay increases
range from 10 to 15 cents an hour,
)
\
ue
ting efforts in the negotiations and ~~ :
_ which will repeal it and return to
thereby pulled through in fair
Cybave despite Taft-Hartley. Now
re
/Boulware tries to twist this fact
into showirig that the company did
not try to use the new law to weak- '
en or destroy the union.
Boulware starts out by saying
that the charge that Taft-Hartley.
is a “slave labor” bill is ridiculous.
Ask the miners, or the railroad
workers, or the seamen, who found
it forbid their leaving their jobs,
if the name “slave labor” law is
ridiculous,
Tougher on Grievances
Or just consider what the com-
pany has been doing in cutting
piece work prices, refusing craft
rate adjustments, and violating
seniority, and then decide: for what
purpose GE has used Taft-Hartley.
The fact is of course, that GE
used Taft-Hartley for all it was
worth in the negotiations in an ef-
fort to frighten the members out
of fighting for their rights, to di-
vide them by red-baiting, and_to
weaken the union security clause,
Bulware tries to take credit for
agreeing to a two-year contract.
The truth is that a two-year con-
tract was a mutual concession in
settling the dispute, with advan-
tages to both sides. Once the com-
pany found that the union member-
ship did not cave in so easily be-
fore Taft-Hartley maneuvers, it
favored the greater stability of a
two-year contract.
A Strange “New Freedom”
Boulware again tries to sell asa
‘new freedom” the right of a
member to withdraw at any time.
Actually what he means is the free-
dom for the company to organize
an anti-union move within the un-
jon at any time, the freedom for a
few workers to weaken their fel-
low-workers’ bargaining power at
any time, It is just like advocating
the “freedom” for any American to
refuse to pay income taxes to the
government at any time, :
After a year of Tatt-Hartley
millions of American workers have
felt its vicious efforts directly on
their living standards. We at GE
are feeling its effects daily in the
company’s attitude. on grievances.
We can expect the use of Taft-
Hartley to get worse after the
elections, unles we do a job in the
elections.
A year of Taft-Hartley has al-
ready proven the need for greater
unity than ever to resist Taft-
; ment
the Wagner Act- and the’ Roose-
velt tradition. —
i
2
Taft-Hartley Action Out
A novel clause was written into
the national contract: recently con-
eluded by the UE and General
Cable Corp. which states that
neither the union nov the company
will try to give the other the busi-
ness under the Taft-Hartley slave
law, Under the terms of the agree-
ment neither side will resort to the
use of the Tatt-Hartley Board, the
courts or any other government
agency during the two-year lite of
the contract.
The agreement covers workers at
General Cable’s plants in Los
Angeles and Oakland Calif. and in
Rome, N. ¥.
AE
374 leew
12-Cent Increase _
Vickers Inc, of Detroit, Mich.,
has signed a contract with UE pro-
viding for a general wage increase
of 12 cents an hour
UL NEWS StRVICE
374 ~ECR ES
ne
‘The company has decided ovr morale needs a hack.
What is "Un-American,"
Chairman Thomas?
The Thomas Un-American Activ-
ities Committee has made a prac-
tice of flinging widespread accusa-
tions of “un-American” activities
against labor people and Roosevelt
supporters. Every’ once in a while
UE is, the target.
For this reason a number of 3801
members have commented on the’
recent story of some of the activi-
ties of the committee chairman,
Congressman J. Parnell Thomas,
which appeared in Drew Pearson’s
column. The story was particular-
ly interesting because it appeared
in the Hearst-owned New York
Daily Mirror which supports the
Thomas committee noisily.
Pearson reported that for four
years the Congressman had a girl
on his government payroll kick
back all her salary to him, then had
a cleaning woman listed as a clerk
to do the same thing, then put his
wife’s old aunt on the payroll until
he could get her put on public re-
lief in New Jersey. After that his
daughter-in-law took over the gov-
ernment salary, Pearson reported.
There. were further interesting
activities connected with keeping
aun Ts-yeurold young suldier from
being sent overseas’ by “Chonias’
representing him as an agent. of
the committee, Pearson said.
This is the man who sets himself
up as a judge of “patriotism” in
Congress today, with the help of
daily front page headlines. .
WEAR YOUR UNION BUTTON
HEAR ARTHEUR GARTH
MONDAY 10 PLM. WAKW
