THE VOICE. OF THE UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO. & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA—LOCAL 301 clo
Vol. III—No. 21
SCHENECTADY, NEW. YORK
June 13, 1946
Dominelli Heads Vets Délegation UE, GE Clash
To Demand City Act on Housing On Piece Work
Jeseph Dominelli of Local 801 will lead a delegation of the Joint Veterans
Housing Committee tonight when “the vets tackle the City Council caucus mect-
ing on Schenectady housing shortage.
The committee represents vets of Lo-
ca's 2054, USA; 128, Steamfitters, AFL,
and 301, UE. Any interested veteran is
invited to join the group at 7:30 p. m,
at City Hall. ~
“Schenectady’s number one problem
is housing for veterans,” Dominelli saia
in a_recent statement.
‘
Housing Crisis . ;
“More than 1500 veterans and their
families are without’ decent homes,
Moreover, many other hundreds of our
citizens cannot find a suitable place to
live. .
“Several building programs have been
considered and one or two ‘begun,. but
it is becoming painfully clear that even
if all the proposed housing projects were
to--be completed within the next six
months Schenectady would fall far short
of its housing needs. While there are
hopeful signs of long range Federal
housing programs being started, none of
these will alleviate the crisis for a long
time to come.
Federal Aid Ready
“We feel that steps must be taken to
provide moderately priced emergency
housing as quickly. as possible. Such
housing is available. now under the relo-
cation plan of the Federal Public Hous-
ing Authority. However, ¢
cities of lower priority than Schenec-
tady are making application and are ob-
THE ‘VETERANS KNOW
WHO'S IN THEIR CORNER
Race for Queen
Gathers Speed —
Betty Colandra of Building 69 was
leading the field in the contest for queen
of the Local 301 Field Day in the latest
report by Foster Campbell, chairman
of the committee,
However, there are 17 more days of
June 30. celebration at Pete and Sally’s
Grove. As every ticket sold in a girl’s
.men_elected_is-as follows:
As Week Opens
Negotiations, for the new- .General
Electric contract went into night ses-
sions this week in New York City as UE
and management representatives argued
over the problem. of-piece work. —
“The company and the union are hav-
ing trouble over the piece work ques-
tion,” Leo Jandreau, “business agent of
Local 301,: reported at the end of last
week’s meetings, °
The GE claims that jobs are often out
of line and wants the right to take, a
time study. of any.job whenever it pleas-
es, according to Jandreau.
“Of course the language of the com-
pany’s proposal isn’t as blunt as that,”
he said, “but it means the same thing.
The result would really be an open sea-
son on rate changes.”
The union negotiators told the com-
pany that over the years the union has
achieved some degree of security for
piece workers and won't allow it to be
taken away.
The present contract will expire, July
New Stewards
Are Elected Po
The latest group of shop committee-
Virginia Murphy ...........00Bldg.
Joseph Kelly... eee Bldg,
; i i he : name gets her 50 points, it’s still any- Arthur De Duca... ensesereeeeee Bldg.
a ANGE SBEE SNK a Paria Ge : i taining housing. Unless Schenectady im- body’s crown. es Joseph MeCormick....._................Bldg.
A UNH mediately requests these houses, quo- Girls competing for-the $100 war Joseph Struffolino...............Bldg.
ea
a
A tas now available to us will be allotted bond, title of queen and inscribed cup Chester Salinski....:.......Bldg, 286
” oN
to other cities. We feel that there is no
reason why Schenectady should lag be-
hind. This is the moment to act,
“Therefore, we ask that the Mayor
and the City Council discuss this ques-
tion at the next meeting of the Coun-
cil and immediately file application for
at least 1000 emergency housing units
from the Federal ‘Public Housing Au-
thority.” ow
in¢lude: Marie Sweeney, Bldg. 69; .
Sophie Pajak, Bldg. 14; Genevieve Pug-
lia, Bldg. 58; Doris ‘Dissoway, Bldg. 5;
Corinne ddy, ‘Bldg. 97, and the candi-
date of the Office Workers: Organizing
Committee, Tillie Skrocki.
Miss Skrocki, a clerical worker in the
Resin. and Insulation Department in
Bldg. 77, is an active member of the
(Gontinued..on. Page 3)... -
To Attend Convention
Five delegates will represent Local
801 at the eleventh annual convention
-of UERMWA Sept. 9 to Sept, 18 at the
Schroeder Hotel, Milwaukee, Wis.
They are Leo Jandreau, Andrew Pet-
erson, William Mastriani, Marshall
White and Edward. Wallingford... -
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ELECTRICAL UNION... NEWS:
“June 13, 1946
June 13, 1946
“ELECTRICAL UNION. NEWS. -
3
ELECTRICAL UNION :NEWS
Unirep EveerrigaL, Rapio & Macuine
- Workers or America, CIO
Scuenscrapy GE Locat 301
= <Eap>
Published by the Editorial Committee
Dewey Brashear Ray’ Flanigan
Milo Lathrop William Mastriani
Editorial Office - Electric: "Union News’
301 Liberty St. - Schenectady, N.Y.
—— SCHENECTADY PRINTING CO. INC.
~ Warns of Danger
in Truman Order :
- A bulletin by the Civil Rights Con-
gress warns that “President Truman’s
order to, mobilize the U. S. Navy to
break the strike of the sever’ maritime
unions is the latest in a series of un-
paralleled moves: which,. if not_reversed _<
by popular protest, will open a postwar
period of repression by force that stops
at. nothing.”
Skilled seamen get. $28.16 for a 56
tie paycuts were handed them at the end
of the,-war. For seven months, ship-
ping corporations refused to negotiate
the demands of the unions for a 40-hour *
week, eight hour day and overtime pay.
“Tyuman’s order to the Navy great-
ly reinforced the shipowners’ refusal to
bargain,” the bulletin states,
“The maritime unions have made it
perfectly clear that the strike will not
affect the sailing of relief or troop
ships.”
Senator George D. Aiken (Rep,, Vt.,)
has already called for a Congressional
investigation of the huge wartime chip-
ping profits, as “the most shocking story
of collusion, corruption and disregard
of public interest.”
The Civil Rights Congress. urged un-
-ions and individual members to write or
wire President Truman and members of
Congress protesting the use of the U. S.
_Navy_ to break the strike of maritime
workers. - ”
Council to Meet .
Capitol District . Industrial Union
Council, CIO, will meet at 8 pum. Wed-
nesday, June 19, atCIO Hall, 301° Li-
berty St. William Mastriani. of Local
801, new ‘president, and’ other ‘officers
will be installed. !
Joins Housing Group
Robert Northrop, Local 2054, USA, is
the latest addition to the Mayor’s Hous-
ing.Committee. Edward. Wallingford,
‘Local 301, was appointed earlier,
Judge Your Congressman by His Vote,
Not by His Fine Words About Veterans
Veterans should pay attention to tia voting record of theix Congressman, not
to the number of times. he says,.“I’m a friena of the veterans” or “Why, I'm a
veteran myself. ” ‘
‘Who Owes What to Whom?
$75 Question Answered
Did you get the right amount of re-
troactive pay?
If you figure out that the GE still
owes you money, take your facts to the
Local 801. business office.
A retroactive pay case was success-
fully adjusted recently, but the longer
an employe waits the harder it is to
check_backon.all_the facts. _
The employe complained to the union
Dewey Brashear, seerBtaNy) of the Lo-
cal 801. Veterans’ ‘Committee, gave this
advice in a statement prepared for the
EU News:
“Some of the Congressmen who shout
the most about their interest-in veterans
were responsible for Section 800 of the
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1044
which bars unemployment insurance to
veterans in strikes.
“What Rankin and many other Con-
gressmen Gon’t. seem to realize is that
most veterans are’ workers and they
know that an anti-labor vote is an ant:
~ veteran vote
Brashear said that Bernard W. Kear-
office that he didn’t get any retroactive. -ney, World War I veteran who repre-
pay when pay adjustments were made
under the War Labor Board order of
_---_-hour-week,-the-bulletin_points-out.-Dras-—-A.pr,-80,—1945 — ae
“Why, he not only hasn’t any retro-
active pay coming to him’’ the GE man-
agement told the union, “but according
to our figures he was actually overpaid
$75 during the year.”
The union representative suggested
that GE ‘recheck its arithmetic. Sure
enough, the company had overlooked the
fact that the worker had been trans-
ferred to another group.
GE worked out the problem ‘a second
time and said the employe has $60 to
$75 retroactive pay coming to him.
City Can Get
U.S. Housing |
Schenectady can get emergency hous-
ng for veterans free for the asking if
it applies immediately to the Federal
Public Housing Authority.
~The-Local.801.radio. program recently _
gave this tip to the public, with a warn-
ing that if the city doesn’t act soon the
chance may be lost.
“Any city in the country requesting
emergency housing fer veterans can get
it- by applying to the FPHA,” Milo
Lathrop, union’ radio broadcaster, said.
“The FPHA will give the houses to
the city, transport them to the site with-
sents Schenectady in the House, is typi-
cal of the “professional veteran” Con-
~gressman with a bad voting record on
labor and liberal measures,
“There are just a couple.of differen-
ces here and there in the Rankin and
Kearney votes. They rank just about
even in the record of bad voting.”
Brashear said veterans at GE know
that the Case and Truman bills are
threats to both their Areadon and their
lunch pails.
Prepare New Issue
Of ‘Office Digest’
The publicity committee of the Office
Workers Organizing Committee met
Tuesday to plan the next issue of “Of-
fice Digest’’, its news sheet.
The publicity group includes Tom
Herkenham, Mildred Winney, William
Galusha, George Bason and Dr. Habe
Green,
In its organizing sek, the OWOC has
been greeted by many questions con-
~eerning-the--coal,-railroad-and- maritime =~ -—
strike situations. The committee de-
voted a session to discussing these prob-
lems thoroughly, to be able to answer
office workers’ questions fully and ac-
curately, George Katz led the discus-
sion.
At FEPC Dinner
Dewey Brashear, Local 801 delegaig,
out charge, ‘ahd put them up, — The - represented the Capitol District Indus
only cost* to? ‘the: ‘city would be prepar-
‘ing the site?”
The housing consists ‘of relocated
Army batracks,” a
Lan aN A ae
trial Union Gouneil, CIO, at a recent -
dinner meeting in Albariy in connection
with the organizing of an Albany FEPC
Council. us
_ Displaced Workers _
Start Back to Jobs”
The General Blectrie Co. had shared
reinstating Schenectady. employes who"
were displaced by veterans in violation
of the UE contract seniority provisions.
These reinstatements are the result of .
the recent United States Supreme Court
decision against veterans’ BURarneniGty
ity. -
The displaced workers, some of them
laid off and others demoted, were.
“bumped” by veterans with ‘less senior-
ity. The GE took the stand that the
Selective Service Act gave any returned
veteran seniority over any non-veteran
regardless of length of service.
The Supreme Court decision made .
clear that a veteran’s seniority can
based only on_his_ time in_ Taigeuet.
‘plus “his time in military service. He
doesn't have priority over someone hired
earlier than he was.
Any member of the union who has not
the. Local 301 business office at once.
CIO Council to Aid.
Freeport Committee
The Capitol District Industrial Union
Council, CIO, has voted to aid the Jus-
tice in Freeport Committee. This com-
mittee was formed after a Negro soldier
and his brother were shot-to death in
Freeport, L. I. Feb. 5 by a white police-
. man,
The committee has urged Governor
Dewey to order a special investigation
of the killings, but so far the Governor
hasn't even” met, with the-group, The
policeman. was whitewashed by a grand
jury which did not indict him.
Meanwhile the .War Department
granted full pension rights to the widow.
of the soldier, Charles Ferguson, after
a thorotgh investigation ofthe -cases——"———~
General H. J. Arnold recently issued
an unusual citation to the late Private:
Ferguson, ‘who gave his life in the per-
formance.of his duty, Feb. 5, 1946,”
The citation states also that Ferguson
‘dived to bear his country’s arms, He
died to save its honor— And we who
pay him homage and revere his memory
in solemn pride rededicate ourselves to
a complete fulfillment of the task for
which, he so ‘gallantly has placed his life
upon the altar of man’s freedom,”
Still no word from Governor Dewey!
“Union Calendar
Monday, June 17—Activities
Committee meeting.
Tuesday, June : 48—Hedutae”
Membership meeting. ;
Office Workers Organizing
“. Committee.
Wednesday, Fane 19—Capitol
District. CIO Council Meeting,
Monday, June 24-—~Activities.-
* meeting. : ,
Race for Queen
Gathers. Speed |
_
Stubborn Owners Cause
Copper Supply Shortage
Shortages in copper are due to’ the ..
stubborness of the copper companies in
refusing to settle with UE and the Mine
Mill arid Smelter Workers, CIO, for’ an
18% cents an hour raise.
This situation is described in a letter
to Andrew Peterson Local 301 president,
from the UE research department. f
Peterson requested in: ormation be-
cause of the close connection between
copper supply and GE production.
The Mine, Mill and Smelter workers
have the big three copper mining outfits
organized, Phelps-Dodge, Anaconda and
Kennecott. UE has the copper fabricat-
ing industry in Anaconda Wire and
(Continued_from Page _1) ++ Gable-—(three--plants)--PhelpssDodge-atz=~
“Office Workers Organizing Committee.
Additional names are expected to be
entered in the race this week.
.yet-been-returned—to-a job-from-which— ——-Other-features of the Pield-Day- sched=—
he was removed under the GE super--
. seniority interpretation should notify
uled for 10 am. to midnight include
movies for children, a pie eating con-
test, boxing and wrestling matches, and
a softball game between champion girls’
teams of the GE. There will be dancing
‘from 8 p. m. to midnight.
The Activities Committee in charge
-of the program will arrange for any
kind of game or sport requested, if peo-
ple interested will contact them in ad-
vance, 2
There are ample facilities for picnick-
ing and in addition there will. be beer,
hot dogs, hamburgers and potato chips
on hand.
Prizes will include an automobile and
five radios.
Buses. going up State St. to the out-
‘ing place will have signs “To the Field
Day.” People driving their cars to the
grounds will have free ‘parking under
supervision of the city police.
It, Wayne and Elizabeth, N. J., and
Essex Wire and Cable at Ft.. Wayne.
The IBEW (AFL) has Phelps Dodge
at Haverstraw_and_two_plants_of..Gen-_
eral Cable. ‘
About three months ago, MMSWA
and UE asked the copper companies for
and 18% cent an hour across-the-board
raise. When the companies refused,
MMSWA struck the copper mines and
UE struck the west coast plant of Gen-
eral Cable, Phelps Dodge and Anaconda,
IBEW settled for 10 cents an houn.at
its two plants at General Cable, in New
Jersey after some wild-cat strikes,
‘Here is the score at present on the
CIO strikes. MMSWA won its Anacon-
da strike by getting 1844 cents and is
still on strike at Phelps Dodge and Ken-
nécott mines.
UE won the General Cable strike and
the Essex Wire and Cable strike with
the full 18% cents. UE is still on strike
at Phelps Dodge. * :
Phelps Dodge management is making
“a real effort to-completely destroy the
union”, the national UE office said.
Ties $500 Gilt
For UE Strikers
The Executive Board of Local 801 has
recommended that $500 be donated to
UE strikers at ‘Tonawanda, who have
been or the picket line since April. The
money will. be: divided between ‘Loeal
306 and Local: B19. -
This recottittiendation was approved
by ‘a recent Committeemen’s meeting
and -will be presented’ to the general
membership meeting next Tuesday.
