A
August '19, 1949
ELECTRICAL UNION: NEWS
White Tells U.S. Senate Committee
Why 301 Disapproves of Tom Clark
Local 301 Fights Delays in Jobless Pay Checks
‘LECTRICAL
Cae ee Oe
THE VOICE OF LOCAL 30)
On instruction of the 801 Executive Board, Shop Steward Marshall
White appeared hefore the Sena liciary Committee at Washington, )
D.C., Aug, 10, to oppose the nomination of Attorney General Tom Clark “oy . : Vol. 7 No. 33
soe oe oe UBER &M. WA,
OTT
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
to the United States Supreme Court,
He read a statement to the com-
mittee deelaring that Clark’s back-
ground asa petty politician in
Texas and his actions as attorney
ment, outlook or approach to sit
on the Supreme Court of the Uni-
ted States.”
August 26, 1949
Walkout at Lynn GE Lobbyist Reilly
- Union Calls Syracuse Meeting
Changes GE’s Mind Does Well for Reilly Pf °
After ose 12,000° Lynn, GE Gerard “Reilly, jor i on For GE, Westinghouse Locals
workers walked off their jobs last General Electrie Company and for Representatives of all GE and Westinghouse locals in UE District
Friday to back up the fight of 800 General Motors, has filed in Wash- 3 will meet next Tuesday night at Syracuse for a special joint conference
maintenance and engineering work- ington his Teport on payments re- on the 1949 eampaign for higher wages, a shorter work week, decent
‘He pointed out that Clark had vote of 22 to 2. Voting for the re- ers, the Lynn management agreed ceived during the second quarter pensions and other needs of the Shorkens,” ,
participated in the “improper and port were Dewey Brashear, John not to tamper with the seniority of 1949. For April-May-June GE The UE Genera] Executive Board
unauthorized action” of the Atomic Brauneisen,~ Phil Cognetta for 4 eo fg ; EE Sogdl and other rights and privileges of Paid him $7,864.11 and GM paid 250 Com Janies recently recommended that such a
Energy Commission in depriving james Cognetta; Albert Davis, ; : . transferred . maintenance .employ- him $6,000. Reilly, an attorney, is Pp conference be called in every UE
Schenectady atomic energy work- Anthony Esposito, Sidney Fried- ‘ “& : _ tte a ees, the former member of the Nation- Settle with UE district in the country to coordi-
ers of UE representation in viola- lander, Henry Kaminski, Joseph ; Workers from the River Works, 4! Labor Relations Board who help- . F h : . :
tion of the UE contract and of the Kelly, Willard Kusehel, Edward J West Lynn andEveretttook partin ed draw up the Taft-Hartley Act. While the General Electric Com- nate the campaigns in the two
; ; Kelly, Willard Kuschel, Edward J. * aa ' : pany and other giant companies in &teat electrical corporations. Both
law and in collusion with the Gen- Lia Bombard, Jz, Michael Donahue the demonstration on working: time. -Russ Nixon, UE Washington rep- the electrical industry have turned GE and Westinghouse have flatly
eral Electric Company. for Joseph Mangino; Robert Phil- Management promptly reversed its resentative, says that Reilly's re- down the economic demands of ‘ejected the union’s contract pro.
“HA TawW Suit Was initiated: by our ips” Helen Quinn; Sams ~--gigbitrary.position..and. agreed _to_._port_shows..that_GE_and_ GMa noses im raiqegie HW TY stitaliey-Posals-and “have ~pefused™
union against GE and AEC in jand Sisto, Stephen Matarazzo for _ faintain previous understandings at least indirectly paying off for- en malier
{ : ter independent corporations , Steps to halt the mounting unem-
which we asked the courts to decide 4, J, Spears, William Stewart, Wil- ee rights and privileges i ae U. 8. Senator Joseph Ball of made full or enatial settlemente Ta ployment in GE and Westinghouse
maintenance and engineering di- innesota, notoriously anti-labor, :
general “indicate he does not have
_the qualifications of a Supreme
Court justice.” i I
, - Cn. day approved White’s report on the
Cites AEC Case Washington hearing by a roll-call
Roll-call Vote
The 801 Executive Board Mon-
whether or not the AEC is above |jam Templeton, Anthony Villano,
the law and whether or not it could
without any basis, interfere and
destroy our contractual relation-
ship with the GE”, White said.
’ Clark in Schencetady |
“While it would be expected that
Mr. Clark would participate in be-
half.of the AEG in court, we
neither condone, approve nor tol-
erate his action in the course of
‘that suit, On Oct. 27, 1948, Tom
Clark while appearing in the City
of Schenectady, N. Y., in response
lo questions by reporters stated
that it is ‘the usual tactic of sub-
versive groups’ to bring such mat-
ters to court and to institute such
leval action.
“Tt is indeed strange that a nomi-
nee to the U. S. Supreme Court
bench should express such-feclings
about an organization utilizing the
arderly process of the courts to
protect its interests. We do not sec
how a man who believes it, sub-
versive to protect one’s legal rights
by utilizing the courts and laws of
the land is qualified by tempera-
Did You Know?
On Oct. 25, 1929, President Hoov-
er said “The fundamental business
of the country—that is, production
and distribution of commodities,--
is on a sound and prosperous
basis.”
And despite signs pointing tow ard
a second great depression, Secre-
tary of Commeree Sawyer said
June 27, 1949, “There is not one un-
‘sound element in our ceanoniy . ..
it is... in superb condition.”
Vice-President William Hodges,
Business Agent Leo Jandreau and
Assistant Reeording Secretary
John Green. _- °
Voting “No” were Recording
Secretary Frank Fiorillo and Chief
Shop Steward Stephen A. Watts.’
Leland Bellinger, alternate for Ray-
mond Flanigan, abstained from
voting. President Frank Kriss
presided. Treasurer William Downs,
Stanley Bishop, William Mastriani
and Fred Pacelli were absent.
Se
Local 301 picket line in. front of the State Unemployment Insurance
‘office in Broadway Aug. 9, protesting: the needless delays in issuing
unemployment insurance checks, At the table unemployed workers are
shown signing a ULE petiion to Governor Dewey asking for a special
session of the legislature on unemployment,
GE Illegally Docked
Workers for Tools
A worker in Motor Generator
was recently transferred to an-
other building because of lack’ of
work, he company said he must
pay for all tools that were not ac-
counted for or he would not ‘be
transferred and would therefore be
out of a job,
Under this pressure, the worker
signed. an authorization under
which GE deducted $16.12 over
a four-week period from his wages.
He tald the union the facts in the
“ase and a complaint was filed with
the State Labor Department July
19 through 801, A complaint was
also filed in a second case which
“ame to the union’s attention, in-
volving the docking of another
Members of the volunteer committee of unemployed 301 members elected worker $3.51 for tools.
last week by jobless 301 members to help carry out the union's program
The Bureau of Enforcement of
on unemployment. Front row, left to right, Caroline Reger, recently of the Labor Department notified the
Building 10-C; Robert Northrop, formerly of Building 17, chairman of the union last week that GE had vio; ~
301 committee on unemployment; and Eleanor Wolfe, formerly of 89, lated the law and that the cork)
Rear row: Philip Bayer, who was in 52; Myrtle Tooley, 89; Dennis Jack. DANY had agreed to reimburse, the
son, 17, and George Anderson, 273.
men for the iNegal deductions,
fEEK TO SAVE JOBS
vision workers,
The company had ordered 187
maintenance workers to report to
new locations at the plant Monday
of last week as part of decentral-
izing the maintenance and engin-
eering division. Although these
were the only ones to be moved
physically at present, about 800
workers in the division would be
affected by splitting the division
and assigning the employees to five
other divisions. The - proposed
change threatened seniority and
other rights and conditions that
“(Continued on Page 2)
Reilly reports that he paid Ball
$3,575 in these three months for
“analysis and digest of committee
This $3,575 came from
the money Reilly collected from
hearings.”
GE
Reilly has other important ac-
counts beside GE and GM, by the
way, so that he shouldn’t begrudge
Joe Ball a share of the “take,”
Stewards’ Meeting
‘The Local 801 shop stewards will
meet at 7:80 pm. Tuesday, Sept.
6 at the union hall.
and GM.
1949 contract negotiations with
UE. ’ ;
Final settlements already achiev-
ed this year with some companies
run as high as 20 cents an hour in
raises. oe
The big companies apparently
are hoping to break up the union
and get rid of strong national.con-
tracts in, their plants in prepara-
tion for a drive to break down
working conditions and seniority.
These big companies hope in this
way to take full advantage of the
conditions of unemployment caus-
ed by their own profiteering and
speed-up.
AND WE BELIEVE. IN PAVING }
WAGES AS HiGH AS ANY IN
THE COMMUNITY.
|
PERSONNEL
MANAGER,
BY MOVING THIS PLANT Ta
BOXTOWN WE'LL BE ABLE TO
CUT WAGES 204 PER HouR!
UE NEWS SERVICER
plants.
Delegates from 301
Local 801 will be represented at
the Syracuse conference by six
delegates elected Monday by the
Executive Board. They ‘are Busi-
ness Agent Leo Jandreau, and
Board Members John Brauneisen,
Dewey Brashear, William Mastri-
ani, Helen Quirini and William
Stewart,
The call to the Syracuse confer-
ence said its purpose is “to ex-
change experiences and views and
work out ways and means to con-
duct the most effective campaign
in order to attain our objectives
in 1949,”
When this week’s issue of EU
News went to press no date had
been announced for the meeting of
the GE Conference Board. It is
expected to be in early September
instead of in late August as orig-
inally planned, .
GE Locals Act
The Local 801 delegates to the
Conference Board are authorized
by the membership to call for a
formal strike vote throughout GE
locals. Similar authority was voted
by a number of other GE locals and
action is still to be taken by a few,
The big Lynn, Mass., local ata. .
membership meeting Monday night
voted practically unanimously to
-instruct its delegates to call for a
strike vote if necessary. Local 628
at the Pittsburgh GE plant recent-
ly voted the strike-vote authority
unanimously,
The Pittsfield, GE local. plans. a
shop-gate meeting next Monday
-and has invited UE International
Representative Albert Smith to be
a speaker,
“sy te
‘a
August 26, 1949 August 26, 1949
301 Resolution
_ On Foreign Policy
2 ; . ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Walkout at Lynn
‘. (Continued from Page 1) |
had been previously guaranteed.
Reward Them Well!
—
_ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Singer Strike Issues — Vow Really, Mr. Reed
| Industrial Progress
Affect Workers Here © Remember the Record
N
GE refused to agree that senior-
ity and other rights and privileges
fexred, workers. refused. to take the
new posts they ‘were’sent home by
management, In protest against
this:lock-out, all 800 workers in the
division voted Tuesday of last week
not to work until GE agreed to
meet with the union.
‘The thousands of workers who
walked out in protest last Friday
attended a huge meeting at which
they voted full support to the main-
tenance. workers.
The company then agreed that
seniority would not be impaired
and that other existing conditions
would be continued, like the equal
distribution of overtime work, and
-->monthly-—-meatings—of-maintenanee
and ‘engineering shop stewards
with the management on. mainten-
ance problems including outside
contracts.
' At the-request of the local, the
nat.anal UE office sent a represen-
tative, Albert Smith, to Lynn to
assist in handling the situation
during the entire weck. In the first
part of last weck while the contro-
versy headed to a showdown, Bus-
iness Agent Fred Kelley of Lynn
was at Fort Wayne and Cleveland
campaigning for the presidency of
UE, on the Carey “Democratic Av-
t.on” ticket.
The clear-cut victory won by the
Lynn membership through ‘their
militant action in the maintenance
dispute was followed by a well at-
tended membership meeting Mon-
day night. This meeting heard a-
report by UL International hepte-
sentative Joseph Turkowski on the
deadlock in GE contract negotia-
tions. The.meeting voted practic-
ally unanimously to authorize its
delegates to the GE Conference
Board to call for a strike vote if
necessary.
Various speakers emphasized
that the kind of united, militant ac-
tion that foréed: GE to drop its
plan for scrapping the seniority of
maintenance workers at Lynn
could force the company to meet
the -unign’s .contract.-demands, ;
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
-Unrren EuectricaL, Ravio & MacHing
Workers of AMERICA, CIO
Scuenecrapy GE Locan 301
Published by Editorial Committee
Mary McCartin, Chairman
Arthur R. Bertini, Seeretary
William Christman - Frank D'Amico
Victor Pasche
Editorial Office
Buecrrica, Union News
301 Liberty St., Schenectady, N. ¥,
; Telephone 3-1380
Oy
\
“4... and as a bonus for more work per hour they get a personal
handshake from you, J. 8.”
Unemployed Members
If you are laid off for lack of
work, protect your unemployment
insurance rights and your job
rights at GE by coming to the Lo-
cal 301 office, corner of Liberty
St. and Erie Blvd, immediately.
Be sure to apply for unemploy-
ment insurance the day after you
leave work.
Keep your ynion membership by
paying 10 cents a month dues,
If your unemployment insur-
ance checks are delayadl,
If youvhave any grievance re: ©
garding your unemployment in
surance,
If you have any relief or evic-
tion problem, .
Or if you have any problem
due to being laid off,
Come to the union hall. The
union will do its best to help you.
IS YOUR SHOP
100% UE?
Shorter Work Week
Would Create Jobs
A cut in hours with an im-
proved standard of living is an
immediate means of giving jobs to
the millions of laid-off workers in
America.
A 10 per cent cut in the hours
in manufacturing would result in
1,830,000 more jobs. In the electri-
cal industry, a 10 pex cent cut in
hours would provide 54,000 more
jobs. In General Electric, the 10
per cent cut would increase jobs
by 19,900 over all GE plants in
the country. ~
Primary Day
Remember that Tuesday, Sept.
6, is Primary Day.
If you are enrolled in any
party you can vote in the pri-
mary elections. BE SURE TO
VOTE.
Polls are open from noon till
9pm -:
The 301 membership and stew-
ards’ meeting last week passed the
following resolution on foreign
policy..to introd uce_at_the national.
UE convention in September.
“Our country’s foreign policy
must be re-examined to date frankly
and honestly, in the light of the.
growing unemployment which has
hit this country.
“The Marshall Plan was sold to
the American people with the prom-
ise. of full employment here and
better conditions abroad. It has
brought us more than five million
unemployed in America and grow-
ing unemployment in Europe. It
was sold to us as a measure to help
the working people. It has made
the condition of the working people
both here and in the Marshall Plan
ployers on both sides of the ocea
have profited from. it at the éx%
pense of the American taxpayers.
“The Marshall Plan and the rest
of our foreign policy today was
sold as a policy of peace. It has
brought the growing threat of war.
“The final proof of the bank-
ruptey of our foreign policy was
given in the ‘White Paper’ on
China. Our government spent bil-
lions of dollars on a policy whose
aim in China was completely defeat-
ed and it has brought us only the
lasting enmity of the Chinese.peo-
ple.
“Our foreign policy is promoted
through the endless propaganda of
government agencies, newspapers
and radio about ‘Russian Aggres-
sion’, but this is achieved by the
simple device of labeling ‘Russian
Aggression’ any movement by the
working people anywhere to win a
better deal for themselves, just as
every progressive action at home
is ealled ‘Communist’,
“While the bi-partisan coalition
offers our present foreign policy as
being in defense of democracy, it
actually expresses itself in support
of the most reactionary forces in
every country in the world, speci-
fically of the very forces in Ger-
many and Japan which drove those
BMo ot me
countries ‘to war against.America,----.
“Our foreign policy today is not
one in the interest of the American
people but of, for and by Big Bus-
iness. It is the product of the
same people who put over the Taft-
Hartley Law and taxation for the
greedy-instead of the needy. Wu.
eall for return of our foreign policy.
to the hands of the people in order
that the Roosevelt program of in-
ternational peace may be restored
and peaceful trade will put our
unemployed back to work.”
Issues in the Singer Sewing Ma-
chine Company strike should con-
vern every GE worker, Business
Agent Leo Jandreau pointed “out
this week in a letter to Local 301
shop stewards.
“The Singer Company has made
this strike a testing ground for Big
Business,” he said. “It has thrown
everything it has into this strike to
bust the union in the shops.
‘Tf Singer succeeds it will make
it easier for GE and other large
companies to do a job on their.
workers, On the other hand, if the
Singer workers win their strike, it
will.add a great deal of strength to
every union and especially those in ;
the process of negotiations.”
The letter urged shop stewards
sn theiy groups for the Singer
Brite, now in effect over 100 days.
Members have been asked to do-
nate 10 cents or more a week.
So far $885.45 has been turned
in at the union headquarters by
shop stewards. Board Member
Sidney Friedlander had the best
collection record of any shop stew-
ard for the past week, as he turn-
ed in $27 from his group.
~urday in wh
to make regular weekly collections _
va :
..-- wountries....worse,—While—big-—eme ey it.” he_said
Out of GE's Mouth
In view of the GE propaganda
that higher wage rates would be
“bad for the country” because they
would mean price increases, there
is an interesting item in the “Hm-
ployee Relations News Letter” for
May 20. The “news letter” goes
to higher supervision and is mark-
ed “For Cireulation Among Gen-
eral Electric Management.” The
item reads:
“TWO new and compelling in-
fluences seem to be keeping em-
ployers from being the push-
overs they have seemed for most
of the last fifteen years. First,
the cost of wage increases cannot
be passed on in whole or in part
to customers. Just the opposite is
true — for price euts are the order
of the-day.?----.. 5 —- ee eee
That’s the real reason for GE's
saying “No.” It does not want to
yield any of its vast profits.
But the “compelling” reason for
GE to say “No,” is a compelling
reason for GE workers to demand
“Yes.” More purchasing power,
a shorter work week with 40 hours’
pay, paid for out of profits, is just
what the American people need
to fight the depression.
By the way, when was GE a
“push-over” for higher wages?
piece of propaganda sifee a recent
Philip D. Reed, chairman of the
Board of the General Electric
Company, made a speech last Sat-_.
he mentioned “un-
employment insurance in which we
so deeply believe.”
GE has fought unemployment in-:
surance the way it has fought all
social security measures... It did
more than any other company to
weaken unemployment insurance
in’ New York state by forcing
through the merit rating law giv-
ing huge rebates to Big Business.
In his speech to the GE Quar-
ter-Century Club Reed declared
that the “vital competitive incen-
tive system” of American industry
must be continued “at all costs.”
“If we maintain and improve
thore—-ayill-be-—no
ficulty about increasing the amount
and duration of unemployment in-
surance in which we so deeply be-
lieve, and other desirable measures
to guard against life’s hazards and
old age.” ;
He warned against government
“control” of industry,
He didn’t mention that huge cor-
poration profits, high prices,
speed-up and lay-offs have been
produced by the “incentive” system:
which GE advocates. And he didn’t
mention that some of the govern-
ment “control” GE has fought in-
cluded price control, the minimum
wage law, and improvements to
workmen’s compensation and unem-
ployment insurance.
In praising the increased effi-
ciency of pawer machinery he said,
“We are lengthening the work-
man’s arm, so to speak,”
But he didn’t mention the right
ot the worker to higher pay for
the work that “longer arm” does,
or the company’s responsibility for
the workers displaced by the speed-
up. . .
Carey Group Spreads
Some New Propaganda
The Carey “Democratic Action”
group has been spreading a new
Wiha se iG als
To Shout 'Pump-Priming'
The General Electric Company
has attacked the UE program to
meet unemployment and the de-
veloping economic crisis as “pump-
priming.”
GE and‘ other great corpora-
tions, having dried up the well
of workers’ ‘savings and purchas-
ing power to build their own enor-
mous treasuries, now refuse to
gi ny of the wealth to help
meeting staged by this anti-UE
faction at Pittsburgh.
They are putting out the story
that they have the majority of the
coming national UE convention in
September, but that the convention
will be “stolen” from them. There-
fore they have to prepare for a
rump convention in November, they
tell people. :
In doing this they are admitting
that they expect the UE conven-
tion to repudiate them,
the people.
This attack on the’ UE pro-
gram as. “pump-priming”’ comes
with poor grace from a company
that has never rejected any of the
enormous aid the government has
given it. During the war GE re-
ceived special depreciation. allow-
ances. from. the government. which
added substantial sums to its re-
serves. In 1946 GE received a tax
rebate of $24 million from the gov-
ernment to pay its losses during
the strike. It gets huge state. re-
Meeting for Jobless
Because the first Monday of Sep-
tember is Labor Day, the monthly
meeting of unemployed GE work-
ers will be Monday night, Sept. 12,
at the union hall.” After that the
meetings will be the.first- Monday
night of each month,
3,294 Jobless
There were 3,294 unemployed
workers registered as of Aug. 10
“with the Schenectady ~ Uneinploy-"
ment Insurance office. No explan-
-ation was made of the drop from
the 8,750 figure as of
Aug. 5.
bates on unemployment insurance.
The company has bought govern-
ment plants at a fraction of their
cost. The company is receiving. jui- .
cy military contracts, But as soon
as legislation providing for social
security, housing, etc. is proposed,
it is labeled “communistice”, “soc-
ialistic” or “pump-priming” by GE,
reported
