The Voice of G.E.
Workers, Local 301 Feb, 10, 1961,
Vol. 8, No. 7
DENTAL OF UNEMPLOYME
NT BENEFITS APPEALED
co
Approximately 80 employees of
GE-IUE REPRESENTATIVES MEET
IN WASHINGTON
A meeting of representatives
of the major G.E.-IUE Locals was
held at the National Office in
Washington, D.C., this past Wed.,
February 8th, to discuss current
problems arising from the new
contract provisions and also to
Consider other local organizational
matters,
Benjamin Sigal, General Counse
for the National IUE, gave his
legal interpretations on several
aspects of the application of the
new provisions in the contract
affecting the Extension Aid Program
Conditions of uniform applic-
ation in each Local were considered
for the purpose of developing rec-
ommendations to the G.E. Conference
Board.
Attending the meeting were:
John Callahan, Chairman of the
Conference Board; Frank Fiorillo,
Secretary; Benjamin Sigal, General’
Counsel, and Dave Lasser, Research
Director,
Representatives from Pitts-~
field, Mass.; Louisville, Kentucky;
Tell City, Indiana; Ft. Wayne,
indiana, and Schenectady, N.Y.,
were present,
“A snow storm that practically
closed down Washington made it im-
possible for representatives from
Lynn, Mass.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Cleve-
_land, Ohio, and Anniston, Alabama,
to be present, according’ to John
Callahan, Chairman of the Conference
Boa rds : ,
. John Shambo and Leo Jandreau
represented IUE Local 301,
“F
the Schenectady General Electric
Company have been represented at
an unemployment insurance hearing
by attorney Harvey Diamond, who has
been retained by Local 301 in their
behalf, seein
These employees had been given
a lack of work slip effective the
week of October 2, 1960, and were
scheduled to return to work on
October 10, 1960. They filed their
claims for Unemployment Insurance
benefits for this period but were
ldenied them by the local unemploy-
ment division on the grounds they
were disqualified as of October 6
1960, the day the strike started,
We contend that had not the strike
»Started on October 6, 1960, there
would have been no work available .
for these employees until October
10, 1960, and, therefore, their
claims for the week involved should
be sustained,
?
When the claims were denied,
Harvey Diamond filed an appeal and
used two contentions...one was that
the employees involved should be
given credit for the entire week,
and, secondly, that should the first
contention be denied, the 7th of
October, and not the 6th, should be
the day the suspension should start,
The referee denied the first, basing
his decision on a case which was
decided in 1951, by the Appeals
Board, but sistained the second con-
tention,
We have filed an appeal with
the Appeals Board on the denial of
our first contention, as we contend
that the 1951 decision was wrong. to
begin with., The Industrial Commiss-
ioner has filed an appeal on the:
referee's granting the employees.
the date of October 7, 1960, instead
of October 6, 1960, ;
The reason we filed the second
MEMBERSHIP-STEWARDS MEBTING
February. 20, 1961
and shift.......seesesee 1:00 pam
ist & 3rd.o. Se 28 8 we 8 08 7230 Pema
Election of-G.E,Conference Board
Delegates
of October 7th, instead of the 6th,
may. grant some employees who were
establishing their waiting period
week, the full week's credit for a
waiting period and.if a claimant _
“already had his waiting period es-.
tablished, he could be entitled to
{1/4 benefits for the week involved,
(cont'd, reverse side)
contention is that.using the date... ..
DENIAL OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
(Cont'd)
Because the Industrial Comm-
issioner has filed. an appeal on _
the second contention, any benefits
to which the claimants could be
entitled to will--probably be held
up awaiting the outcome of the
appeals,
You will-be further advised
when we receive the decision of the
Appeals Board.
REPORT ON CIVIL RIGHTS MEETING
A meeting was-held in Wash.,
D.C., on February 6th and 7th, to
discuss civil rights and the action
that the IVE should take to aid in
the solution of these problems,
David Gunn, who is the Chairman of
the Legislative Committ.ee of Dist.
#3, attended this meeting.
Mildred Moore from Syracuse,
N.Y., who is Civil Rights Chairman
for District #3, also attended the
confer ence,
The Platform drawn up for the
IUE Civil Rights Program is as
--fol Lows: ;
1. Insure the absence of all dis-
crimination or prejudice in the
operation of local unions,
2,
discriminatory policies in hiring,
layoffs, seniority, promotions, ete.
3. Incorporate non-~discriminatory
clauses in all IUE contracts,
4, Establish active civil rights
committees in every IVE Local and
District,
5. Cooperate fully with other
civil rights and anti-discriminat-
ory organizations of democratic
character,
At the legislative portion of
the converence, Democratic Senator -
Hubert Humphrey, from Minnesota,
addressed the delegates on the Dis-
tressed Areas Bill...in his opinion
this bill should have been passed
three years ago and he said that hel
felt it would be passed in thig
session of Congress. He further
predicted that the bill which will -
provide health care for the aged,
with the Social Security program
providing the financing, would. be
passed by early summer, Senator
Humphrey- also took a strong stand =|
for the $1.25 minimum wage, and
‘feels that $50.00 a week is still
sub-standard for the American
worker, :
Senator Humphreyts attitude was
refreshing to the delegates because
Persuade employers to adopt non-helda,
= ANOTHER FIRST -----
- ADDITIONAL PAID HOLIDAY
For the first time, Local 301
members will not lose 20% of their
wages because of being for
observe a holiday without
In previous years we were ob-
liged to observe either Washington's
or Lincoln's birthdays in February,
with a resulting 20% loss“in pay for
the week. Through the new contract,
signed in October of 1960, each
Local negotiates the day to be ob- _
served and paid for. Because Lin-
coln's Birthday. falls on Sunday,
February 12th, and will be observed
on Monday, February 13th, we felt
that our members would rather have
a long weekend than to celebrate
Washington's Birthday which falls
on a Wednesday, February 22nd.
Because of the additional paid
holiday, each employee will receive
an increase in yearly wages. For
example, $16.64 for R~10 Utilityman,
and $27.44 for an R-25 Toolmaker,
BOARD MEETING POSTPONED
Because of the observance of
Lincoln's Birthday on Monday, Feb.
13th, the regularly scheduled
Executive Board meeting will not be
The next scheduled Board
meeting will be on Monday, Feb.27th.
. . Should any emergency arise, a
special Executive Board meeting will
be called and the Board Members
individually notified.
UNEMPLOYMENT STILL ON INCREASE
The N.Y., State Dept. of Labor.
estimated that the unemployed in the
Albany-Schenectady-Troy area is now
°19,000 as of Dec. 1960, We believe
that the 19,000 estimate is very con-
‘sServative as there is no accurate
way of determining how many people
have exhausted their Unemp.-Ins.,
and those not covered by Unemp.Ins.
plus high school graduates who have
not been able to obtain a job. due
to the serious lack of work situat-
ion, re wy
(the bills he mentioned have long
been a goal of Organized Labor. We
feel that although action in these
fields hasbeen long overdue; Sen-
ator Humphrey, by being Assistant’ >=:
Majority Leader in the Senate, will
do his utmost to further legislat-
pion that will provide the working —
man with protection by law of
matters. regarding. his health and...
general. wel fares =
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