SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
Friday, June 19, 1953
Philadelphia ~—— UE Local 155
bk a ESET Teed te ee we
Conference Board Urges
Acceptance of Pact Proposal
hag organized a new toolmaking “ UE's General Electric conference board Wednesday recommended acceptance of the com-
job shop and won an NLRB elec- pany’‘s latest proposal providing wage increases of 5c to .16¢ an hour. The board’s recom-
tion there by a 2 to 1 ratio. The mendation will be forwarded to all UE locals in the GE chain for acceptance or rejection.
victory at the. Walter Laussterer,
Inc., plant followed on the heels
of the local’s winning a 15¢ pack- . DCAL 50 | 7 :
age increase for some 700 tool and mp on id
die workers in the Quaker City, | IELD-DA
: kK oko * :
Washington — Pres, John L. a
Lewis of the United Mine Work-
ers has warned’ that residents of
the Pillsburgh area face a threat
greater than the H-bomb, Lewis
said this threat came from “rapa
cious natural gas interests” who
are storing huge quantities of was
under Pittsburgh and near coal
mining” centers, ‘The Mine leader
said that these gas reserves could
explode with a destructive force Fe
greater than that. of the hydrogen LOOKING IT OVER. UE Local 301 members who attended Monday’s _
omb. mentbership meeting had an opportunity to look over a display’ of “
*k ko % Giveaway Program. prizes. Pictured above are several members admir-
Kansas Gity UE members at '@8 the awards, Full field day details ‘are on page 4,
ansas y — UL me Q
the Gk service shop here have
on special inereuses of Ge to 14 S b b Cc B lk d
at. hein’ Tollowing a, ‘eonranies : Gq otage iy arey a e
survey made by the union, ~
aie: Workers’ Contract Fight
New York — More than 40,000
Members of the’ CIO National The story of 1953 negotiations with the General Electric
Maritime Union tied up shipping’ Management can be summed up in one sentence—a determined
on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. fight bythe workers to win a decent contract in spite of re.
this week as (they struck for high- peated betrayals by IUE-CIO Pres-
er pay, better overtime provisions, ident James Carey,
dues cheekol! and a clause provid-; From the very opening of the ne-
ing that all employment of sea-' gotiations, Carey behaved as if he
men must be done through NMU_ was directly employed by GE. He
hiring halls. started off with a long list of de-
wk ok Ok “mands, and then when GE said
Greensburg, la, — An IUE-CIO “no,” he immediately called for
raid has been nipped in the bud strike votes. There was no mobili-
by 1,000 members of UE Locals zation of IUE members, no prepar-
625 and 626 at the Railway & In- ation for the votes, and of course,
dustrial Hngineering ° plant. The no strike votes.
IUE waited until the UE workers As a result of the votes against
were opening contract negotia:. strike, Carey went. back to: the
tions, and- then sent a letter to company without any bargaining
the company saying they ‘yep- power. This was particularly true
resented” the workers, However, because he viciously rejected the
when it came time to petition for proposals of UI, and the mandate
an election, the disrupters were of the membership of his largest
Cy to admit publicly that they local (Lynn GE) for united action,
I not have enough cards. Cavey then went to the company
ke ok O* and proposed to convert the wage
Pittsburgh — The new contract reopener bargaining into full con-
between the CIO steelworkers and tract negotiations. The company
the steel corporations, which pro- greed, but set a 5-meeting limit -
“vides an'SWe hourly increase, will and a May 20 deadline on the
affect 600,000 workers in basie inectings. May 20 came and went,
steel plants, and another 550,000 and Carey got absolutely nothing,.
in steel. fabricating shops, It It was only the persistent fight
brought the common labor rate waged by UE, a fight marked by
up to $1.52 an hour, such events as the tremendous pro- -
iz z
test walkout in Schenectady, as
well as by special meetings among
toolmukers, women, and other
groups, that finally forced GE man-
twement to bargain in good faith
and make its, present offer,
When the offer was made to
both, UE and IUR on the same
day, UE promptly urged united
action to win further concessions,
But once again, Carey did the eom-
pany’s job. He signed an “inter-
im” agreement with GE in which
he grabbed the offer (before his
members had a chance to even dis-
cuss it) and cut the ground from
underneath a further fight,
Carey’s betrayals also extended
to strikes. In Syracuse, IUE Local
320 waged a terrific struggle
against the company, a struggle
marked by GE-inspived strike-
breakers riding down pickets on
othe. lines... However,...all: of this
struggle went up in. sinoke when’
Carey walked in and signed a
closed-door agreement with. the
company, an agrement which com.
pletely failed to meet the workers’
demands,
In Schenectady, local action will
be taken at meetings conducted in
the shops by stewards and execu-
tive board members. This will give
every UE Local 301 member an
opportunity to vote on the con-
tract, : ‘
In recommending the OK, the
conference board, which: includes
James Cognettn, Leo Jandreau and
Fred Pacelli from 801, pointed out
that the contract was fur from
tudequate on a number of points.
~The delegates stressed. that the
Wage increases for lower-paid day- °
Workers and for many piece. work- :
ers-are not sufficient in the Heht
of the needs of the workers and the
company’s huge profits,
However, the board also noted -
the fact that IUE-CIO President
James Carey had grabbed the paet,
without even consulting his own
membership, and that this eut the
ground out from under a further
fight, .
The new contract, if accepted by
the membership, would run for one
year. All workers will get a 3.266)
general wage increase. In addition
day workers getting SL79 oan
hour or more will get special boosts
ringing from le to 8¢, This spe-
cial inerease will also be added to
new piece work job A.E.R’s cor~
responding to the $1.79 or high-
er daywork job rates. In most’
cases, this would mean AER's of
$1.97 or more, since practice in
Schenectady is for AJELRJs to be
3 steps above the corresponding
daywork job rates.
Fringe benefits in the proposed
one-year pact include providing
pro-rated vacations for workers
out sick who do not return to their
jobs before the end of the year,
and maintenance of seniority for
workers laid off for more than one
but less than 3 years,
TUNE IN!
UE on the Air
WTRY
—_——
6:45 A.M.
Senate Revives Threat
Of Goldwater-Rhodes
The Goldwater-Rhodes union-
busting bill, once turned down by
the. Senate labor committee, has
been revived and will come up for
full-dress discussion at committee
sessions’ during the next few
weeks, Chairman H. Alexander
Smith (R, N.J.) announced.
The bill, which would make all
unions and labor leaders subject to
the whim of the Subversive Activ-
ities Control Board, is opposed by
nearly all organized labor. One of
its authors, Sen. Barry M. Gold-
water (R,Ariz.), admitted niore
than a month ago that the com-
mittee had turned it down,
After Chairman William E, Jen-
ner (R, Ind.) of the Senate intern-
al security sub-committee wrote a
plea for so-called Communist-con-
trol legislation to chairmen of the
Senate and House labor and judic-
iary committees, the subject was
brought up again in the Senate.
labor committee. Members dis-
_ cussed it until Sen. Robert A. Taft
(R, 0.) “moved further discussion
be put over until the following
week.
Wins Big Boost
Three Rivers, Mich. — UE Local.
922 has won wage increases of Be
to 14¢ an hour, and inequity ad-
justments of 5¢ to 25¢, for work-
ers at the Fairbanks, Morse & Co.
plant here. The boosts came after
the union successfully defeated a
company “job re-evaluation”
scheme which would have cut the
pay of more than half the workers.
NEW STEWARD. Leonard Cohen
of Building 17 was sworn in as a
shop steward at Monday’s mem-
bership meeting. a
Senator Praises U
On Town Meeting -
ULE’s action in democratizing a
Vermont town meeting © has
brought ‘the congratulations of
U.S. Senator Ralph Flanders.
Flanders sent a note to UE Wash-
ington Representative Russ Nixon,
saying, “I congratulate the mem-
bers of the UE and other citizens
in Vermont in making a live demo-
eratic affair out of the Town
Meeting.” © “Boe S
It was through: the activities of
UE. members atthe Fairbanks
Morse Co., that the traditional ,
New England town meeting in St.
Johnsbury, Vt., was shifted: from
a daytime affair, when only a few
business men and executives’ could
attend, to an evening meeting
when the workers of the commu-
nity could come As a_ result,
thousands jammed the first even- -
ing town meeting,
High Court Frees Bridges;
MatlesFrameupWeakened
The U. S. Supreme Court by a vote of 4 to 3 this week
reversed the conviction of President Harry Bridges of Inter-
national Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union and two
other union officials on charges
of defrauding the government by
conspiring, to obtain American
citizenship for the Australian-born
labor leader.
The decision was the latest vic-
torious climax for Bridges in re-
sisting 19 years of concerted ef-
forts by the-shipowners:and gov-
ernment to deport or jail him..The
campaign began in 1934 after
Bridges rose from obscurity. to
national prominence by his suc-
cessful leadership) of the San
Francisco general strike.
In the light of the high court
action, the Justice Department at-
tempts to deport UE. Director of
Organization James Matles may
have to be reconsidered. The basis
‘for the frameup against Matles
is, if possible, even flimsier than
that against Bridges, —
Informed of the decision by
ILWU Washington Rep. Jeff
Kibre, Bridges at his union head-
quarters in San Francisco voiced
his. tremendous relief and said:
“Now it’s business as usual for
ILWU. We're going right on mak.
ing union progress.” ; :
Justice Harold H. Burton read
the majority’ opinion to a hushed
courtroom on ‘the final day of the
present session. He was joined in
the opinion by Hugo L, Black,
William O. Douglas and Felix
Frankfurter. Chief Justice Fred
M. Vinson and Sherman Minton
joined in a dissent read by Stanley’ )
Reed. Justices Robert H. Jackso
and Tom C, Clark did not par-
ticipate.
The court threw out the 5-year
jail sentence imposed on Bridges
and the 2-year sentences ordered
for Vice-President, J. R. Robert-
son and Henry Schmidt, veteran
union leader, by federal judge
George Harris in. San Francisco
in. 1950. The 4%-month trial was
marked by defense charges of per-
jury against government wit-
nesses and jail sentences imposed
on defense attorneys Vincent Hal-
linan‘and James M. MacInnis for
contempt of court.
It-was the second time Bridges
won an outstanding victory in the
country’s highest court. The
prosecution of the union leader
which began in 1934 at the city ,
level was picked up by the Labor
Dept. Despite the findings of a
distinguished investigating ~com-
mission under Dean James Landis
that there was no evidence Bridges’
was.a Communist, the Labor Dept.
against. him. ,
On June 18, 1945, the Supreme
Court reversed the deportation
order and the late Justice Frank
Murphy, in a resounding decision,
branded the persecution of Bridges
“; monument to man’s intolerance
of man.” :
- brought. deportation a?
Bldg, 12: Group of hand tapers
protest attempt to cut paychecks
for 2 weeks in violation of past
practice, The union. demands
«restoration .of cuts. ys
Bldg, 17: Eugene Hartwell is
classified as ‘a B toolmaker with.
a vate of $2.14. His jobs require ©
the skills and_ experience of an A
toolmaker. “The union demands
that he be upgraded with proper .
rate increase.
John Gusielek and Kenneth
Westcott have been unable to
maintain . previous punch press
earnings because of installation ‘of
obstructive guard. The union de-
mands that.they be paid average
earnings ‘for ‘time involved. .
‘Punch: press operator B. Kwisa
is suffering a loss of earning’s. be-
cause of obstruction caused by in-
stallation. of guard. The union de-
muds and upward adjustment of
the-price on- his. jobs-to “enable ‘the
worker to maintuin his earnings.
On. rotary punch 6304640 8.0.
219-7619R, 1661, operator reported
blanks as part of the-setup opera-
Thousands of grievances are handled by UE Local 301
cach year at all levels from the steward up to final appeal
in New York City. To keep members posted, we shall
‘each week list some of the grievances that have not been
settled at the steward-foreman level and have been re-
ferred to the executive board-management level.
ery ar Seow aNcE
pol bay
tion. The union demands payment
‘of setup rate for the iwork per-
formed.
“Guard on press. 129 is proving
an obstruction to the operators
and resulting in earnings losses.
The union demands payment of
average carning’s to ‘compensate
‘for ‘the losses. :
Bldg. 46: As.a result of a last-
minute “change in method on a
sleeve job, Thomas McElroy was
deprived of work on Saturday,
May 80 (Memorial Day). This is
a case of diserimination, and. the
union demands that McElroy be
paid for Memorial Day,
Bldg. 49: William Cooly pro-
tests violation ‘of article TV-1 of
the’ contract by. General Foreman
Lomini, who has been seeking to
intimidate and interfere with the
work of shop stewards, He further
protests the fact that Foreman
__ A.B, Lee is. doing work belonging...
“to: production employees. The
wnion demands that the conduct
of stipervision in this area be im-
mediately investigated. and cor-
2 © Friday, June 19,1953
rected by management,
A: Vincent is giving normal per-
formance on: his Lucas machine
“Job. The union deniands that he
be paid the job rate.
.- Group: has been suffering loss
. of earnings due to excessive idle
time and-day work. The union de-
mands assurance from manage-
ment that steps will be taken to
insure against further losses for
these workers,
Group of piece workers protests
the repeated delays in receiving
their vouchers, The union demands
~ ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE
WORKERS OF AMERICA (UE)
Local 301
ETB 2-
Published: by the Editarlal Committee
Prasidont..--nnaeeneeeetames J, Cognetta
“Vice Prostdont..nnn.eannane--Josoph Alois
Treasurer wenenJosoph Whitbeck
Recording. Secrotary...-.--~-—Milus Moon
Asst Racording Secrotary...-Rudy Rissland
Chiof ‘Shop. Steward....Wimmian Mastrtant
Dusinoss. AgantannnnnenenennhOo
301 LIBERTY -ST.
Jandreau .
SCHENECTADY 5, N. Y.
a SES ETE
correction of this situation.
Bldg. 60: Electricians protest
the fuct the-test men are being
used to do their work in Bldg. 16,
As-a result, the electricians are
frequently called in to do jobs
that have been incorrectly done by
unqualified ‘workers. The union
demands that management guar-
antee that electricians’ work be
confined. to electricians,
Bldg.. 273: During the month
of February, Foreman Snare was
absent from work, and his place
was. taken by Foreman Connor.
" Connor asked S. Barbaresi to leave
his regular worl: and do a job for
him. Barbaresi_ did this and was
promised 24% hours pay for the
work. Now Connor, not only re-
fuses to pay for the work, he
denies “having any recollection of
«it. This is impossible to under-
stand since there have been re-
peated oral contacts on the matter.
niaintained an evasive, irresp
sible attitude, characterized at o
oint by his taking a $5 bill from
his ponkee ‘offering to pay for the
work with it, and then putting the
money back in his pocket. His
ee attitude. has, been. intoler-.
able
munagement take steps to correct
it, and to: pay Barbaresi the money
to which he is entitled.
To make things: worse, Connor ‘@)
\
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
nd the union-demands that.
Board Ruling Hits
Sex Discrimination
In a precedent-setting decision
in Rochester, a referee of the State
Labor Department, unemployment
insurance division ruled that if a
(om quits her job because:she is
etting unequal pay, she is entitled
to jobless benefits.
The decision, made pubiic June
10 by the department’s division of
employment, upholds a previously
untested law that has been on. the
books since 1944. Sec. 199a of the
labor law provides: “No employe
shall, because of sex, be subjected
to any discrimination in the rate
of his or her pay.”
Involved in. the test case was a
woman employe of a Rochester
firm who worked on a speed lathe.
She was paid 25 cents an hour
less than men, who were doing the
same work, The woman quit after
the employer turned down her re-
quest that she either gét the same
pay as the men or be transferred
to less fatiguing work.
She was denied unemployment
insurance on grounds that she did
not have “good cause” for quitting.
On appeal, ‘the referee held that
denial ‘of equal pay “was cause
and granted the woman the un-
employment 'instiranée. His find-"
ing was not made public for’
. pes a month to allow the em-
‘oyer time to appeal. No appeal
was made. .
305 Wins 10¢ to 16c
And Saturday Holidays
UE Local 305 has won 10c¢ to
1ée wage increases plus retroac-
tive payment for the 2 Saturday:
holidays in 1953 as the result of
wage reopener negotiations with ~
the Blackstone Co. in Jamestown.
: “The . agreement was reached
only after the 650 Blackstone em-
ployees had quit work for emerg-
ency. meetings to .discuss ‘strike
action, An. overwhelming. vote to
strike unless the company met
union demands was taken.
In the holiday settlement, the
company agreed to pay. all work-
ers who lost Memorial Day, and
have all Saturday holidays cele-
brated. on the following Monday
in the future. :
Ten cents of. the wage hike was.
in the form of a general increase.
¢ “led workers, got an additional
../ and 160 other workers were
given inequity adjustments of up
to 20¢ an hour.
Aiding the local in negotiations
were District
King, International Representativ
Michael Jimenez and Field Organi-
ner lid Landi,
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
President . Lewis
7
1 DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF A Communist You
» ATE «+. You REDS ARE ALL THE SAME To ME !
Papers Try To Involve U.E.
In Un-American Probe
Local newspapers try to involve
UE Local 301 by’ making reference
to the Kersten investigations and
- printing the old lie, that UE was
“thrown out of the-CIO. 8
Kersten came to Schenectady
with the intention of attacking
local 301 and found out that the
Union was too strong to be weak-
ened by newspaper headlines, and
the membership of Local 301 was
better informed than the Congress-
nian from Wisconsin as to the poli-
cies and activity of thelr Union.
He had the blessings of the Gen-
eral Electrie Company when he
cume here and the lies of a pro-
fessional informer, While Kersten’s
payoff was a job. with’ General
Klectric following the investiga-
tion, he certainly learned a lesson,
that the membership knew their
leaders and their Union and judged
them on theiy record and not by
loase statements. ,
The papers don’t take the time
to cheek their source of propa-
anda against’ the UE. or they
would find that the UIE had held
up their per capita to the CIO for
several months prior to the CIO
convention, because our Union .
would not give'a blank check to
the leadership of CIO on their
political action progvam, The reso-
lution ‘passed to expel us was a
belated action due to refusal to pay
per capita and. refusal to be sub-
jected to CIO dictatorship. The
papers carried headlines to the
effect that UE pledged to fight the
Un-American Committee's investi-
gation in the Capital District, This
is nothing: more than a provocative
headline, hoping ‘to encourage the
29 stents a te
wat
committee: to involve UE in
investigation,
We. want to make ow position
clear to. everyone insofar as UE
Local 301 is concerned on this
matter,
As fur as we know to this date,
we are not being harrassed or in-
volved in these investigations and
we do not see any need for any
premature statements or unneces-
sary activity on our part. We do
not believe there is any cause for
alarm when we have not been
harmed, We have a_responsibility
to protect the interest of our mem-
bers in and aut of the shop when
they are unjustifinbly dealt with.
Until then Loeu! 801 will continue
to service own membership and the
community, which keeps us very
busy.
. Women to. Meet
Next Thursday
UE Local 301 will hold its third
monthly: women’s meeting at the
union hall next Thursday evening
at 8 o'clock. All workers in the
plant are invited, particularly the
women und those men who, as
executive board members or shop
stewards, represent large numbers
of women.
Next. week’s women’s meeting
will discuss the problem of winning
equal pay for equal work for wom-
en workers, and will talk about the
handling of grievances involving
women,
The meeting is likely to get off
‘on an extremely optimistic note
since the results. of the first 2 meet-
ings, and of the fight being made
by UE to end pay discrimination
on account of sex, are being felt
throughout the Schenectady works.
Prodded by this activity, the
company has undertaken a survey
of all women’s jobs: As a result,
59 jobs on which nearly 400 wom-
‘en are employed, have been raised
3¢ to 15e. Most of the new rates
are at least equal to common labor.
Thus far, only panel wiring jobs
have been surveyed. The survey
is continuing, and it appears. that-
before it is finished about 1,000
women: workers may have bene-
fitted by. substantial wage increas-
es, These pay boosts are, of course
ever and above the general wage
increases and special hikes* won
through national negotiations.
However, these increases do not
come close to completely licking
the problem of pay discrimination
against women, a discrimination
which puts $5-billion in extra prof-
its into the treasuries of the cor-
proations every year. .
The fight to end this “racket”
has been spurred in UE by a na-
tional women’s conference attended
by more than 400 people from
throughout the country. The meet- .
ings now being held by Local 301
are in Une with the recommenda-
tions of the national conference.
ment for many years.
facilities for the company,
Tung-Sol Strikers Score Smashing Victory
Scoring a smashing victory us the result of a 2-week strike,
3,000 UE. Local 483 members returned to work this week at four
Tung-Sol Co, plants. The Northern New Jersey workers came
back armed with a settlement that provides a general wage in-
crease averaging better than 10¢ an hour, and which ‘breaks
through the sex discrimination practiced by Tung-Sol manage-
Faced with. 100¢¢ solidarity inthe ranks of the strikers, the
company backed down on. every point, including a “disciplinary”
firing and: payment for Saturday holidays.
Feature of the strike was area labor unity.
came from IUE members at the Bloomfield Westinghouse plant
and. CIO auto workers ‘at Bendix. The AIL building trades re-
spected the picket lines and halted all work on constructing new
In addition, local merchants contributed large quantities of
_ food. forthe strikers... The four Tung-Sol, plants, all under UE
contract, are in Newark, East Orange and Bloomfield. The com-
pany makes bulbs and electronic tubes. ,
Contributions
‘Friday, June 19, 1953" ©
