4
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS ©
~ June 17,1948
facts for Gi: Workers
GE Price Policy
And Propaganda
The General. Electric Company's
-price policy is to charge what the
traffic will bear. It has not only
‘increased prices to pile up super
profits, but it has made use of
prices as 4 propasranda weapon. It
has timed price jumps to follow
wage increases in order to argue
that wage increases cause price in-
creases.
GE staged a price reduction hoax
in December 1947 for propaganda
purposes when it made some trifli-
ing price cuts in some appliances,
with a great publicity splurge.
This was intended to cut the ground
from under the UE wage cam-
paign. At the same time GE laid ~
the groundwork. for increases of 29
per cent in its most. important
line, —heavy electrical equipment.
Price ‘Raises
The company raised the price of
large motors and generators from
5 to 10 per cent Dee, 27, 1948. The
explanation was that increased
eosts required the price jumps.
There were no wage increases at
that time. Moreover, increases in
costs would have affected all of
GE’s products. The real reason for
the price increases was that there
was a hacklog of orders for mo-
tors and generators. The demand
for appliances, on the other hand
was weak.
In 1949 GE announced some de-
creases in appliances and in con-
struction materials, The reductions
on appliances were only trifling,
except in the case of automatic
washers and television sets. These
articles were overpriced in relation
to. GE competitors. For example,
the GE automatic washer sold for
$849.75 as compared with others
selling for $50 to $100 below that
price. All in all, the decreases
amounted to less than 2% per cent
of the sales,
Too Few Price Cuts
GE claimed it was “passing on te
the consumer the cost economics
made possible by expanded produec-
tion, Such cost economies were
far greater than the small reduc-
tions. And the ceonomies applied
to penerators, turbines and other
products too. But their prices
weren't lowered.
Bring the Whole Family
“ * 'Po 301 Wield. Day
Meet the Newest Group of 301 Shop Stewards
President
Frank Kriss,
extreme left,
swearing in
new shop
stewards
June 7 at
301 Hall;
left to right,
J.C. Favato,
Building 18;
Frederick
Nikander, 18;
C.C. Powell, 405
Ralph Jeffers,
273 and
N,. J. Prusko, 18.
More Lay-off Notices Workers Pick UE
Lay-off notices continued to he By a vote of 71 to 40 workers at
handed out during the past week Monroe Calculating Company, Moy-
in various parts of the plant, ristown, N. J. recently chose UE
There were 89 notices in Punch as their bargaining agent. County
Press; 6 in Cabinet and Box; 4 in Judge Frank Searbo supervised the
Bldg. 101; 2 in Aeronautics and Or- voting. Ul lost an clection at the
dnance and a number in Porcelain, plant in. 1946.
FIELD DAY PROGRAM
Sunday, June 19
HANS GRELL’S GROVE
2390 ALBANY STREET
11:00 am. GROVE OPENS.
1:00 p.m. CHILDREN’S CONTESTS.
2:00 p.m. HORSE SHOE PITCHING.
BOCCI BALL AND OTHER SPORTS
2:30 pm. BOB COWARD, Pantominist
3:00 pm. HAROLD VINE, Magician
3:35 pm. PIE EATING CONTEST
3:40 pm. PRIZE FOR FATHER WITH MOST
CHILDREN PRESENT
3:45 pam. AL MOSS, Singer and Guitar player.
4:10 pm. ALBANY FOLK DANCE GROUP
4:15 pm. GIRLS’ SOFTBALL GAME, Local 301 vs,
Pittsfield UE. ~
6:00 pm. AWARDING OF STUDEBAKER and
other prizes.
6:10 pam. MEN’S SOFTBALL GAME, Holiday Inn
vs. Webster's Tavern
Lilienthal Must Be
Very Much Annoyed
Chairman David E, Lilienthal of
the Atomic Energy Commission
should be learning by now that a
former “liberal” can never become
“vespectable” in the eyes of reac-
tionary Congressmen no matter
how much boot-licking and = red-
baiting he does,
In spite of conspiring with the
General Electric Company to vio-
late the UE contract and deprive
atomic workers of their union
rights, Lilienthal now finds he is
being investigated by Congress.
Maybe Congress will get around —
to checking a couple of items men-
tioned by a Washington radio com-
mentator recently. It was reported
that Lilienthal peid one firm $192,.
000 a year for managing the City
of Oak Ridge, Tenn., over and
above the salaries and wages of the
firm’s employees,
It was also reported that the
Atomic Energy Commission paid
$90,000 for the management of a
bus line, although the commission
hought all the buses and paid all
upkeep and wages.
Did You Know?
In 1989 GE. sold a washer wring-
cr for $60. During the war and
afterwards the eampany changed
the model number, made small
changes in style and kept hiking
the price up so that early in 1948
the washer sold for $142.50, a jump
of 187 per cent. GE claims it isn’t
the same washer, so it doesn’t i
clude this price jump in
“weighted average” prices.
SAVE JOBS WITH A SHORTER WEEK
and HIGHER PAY
‘the needless- lay-offs;
Ic
THE VOICE OF LOCAL 30!
NION
ULE R. & MW. AL
Vol. 7 —~ No. 24
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
June 24, 1949
GE Says People Have Too Much Now
Profits Per Worker 7
GE Tries to ‘Ease’ Minds of Workers
As part of a program in all General Electric plants, the Schenectady
management this week started holding meetings of workers in large
groups, division by division.
Top division managers addressed
the groups in an obvious effort to
offset effects of the widespread
lay-offs and to try to divert the
growing demand for -higher pay
and shorter hours to protect jobs.
Workers have been expressing in-
creased anger and resentment over
‘To Allay Uneasiness’
The talks are “designed to allay
any uneasiness workers may feel
about the future of their jobs”, ac-
cording to an article in the Sche-
nectady Gazette Tuesday reporting
‘1 statement by Works Manager
Louis J. Male. ; :
But in his statement Male quoted
the prediction of GE President
Charles E, Wilson that the present
industrial decline may continue in- »
to the second quarter of next year.
and that business may not be back
to the 1948 level until 1961.
And on the Same Page!
On the same page of the Gazette
appeared a story about GE an-
nouncing permanent lay-offs of 350
~-employees-at-Syracuse were scheds ~~
uled for yesterday and today. Act-
ually the Syracuse GE manage-
ment last week told a UE commit-
lee there might be up to 500 per-
manent lay-ofls this week. But
when the union announeed this fact
GE issued the statement about the
number being: 350. In addition
about 200 temporary lay-oit's are
planned within a few weeks, Syra-
cuse is a plant where production
(Continued on Page 8)
Prize Winners
At Field Day
Winner of the 1949 Studebaker
sedan, the biggest prize at the 801
field day Sunday at Hans Grell's
Grove, was George Pratt, 1034
Helderberg Ave., a union member
in Building 269, ;
Mixmasters were won by: Mil-
dred Baird, 1307 Rugby Rd; L.
Craly, 2354 Harrison St; P. Shu-
chuk, 629 Hamilton St; RF.
Morse, Amsterdam, and Stewart
iE. St
Toastmasters were won by: Z.
Andryszezyk, 1721 Bernice Sty J.
Dillenbeck, Bldg, 62; A. Fusen,
1265 Wing Ave; Dan Hickey, 155
Lafayette St., and Leopold Morelli,
2029 Neil St.
Winners of radios were W. J,
Armstrong, Aqueduct Rd; F,-
Brush, 1 Spruce St., Fuller Rd., Al-
~ bany; Ed’ Crosby, 1111 Regent St.;
Sadie Iovinello, 628 Pennsylvania
Ave, and Fred L. Lannert, Delan-
son,
Won't Worry
Itself About
Unemployed
General Electric’s answer to the
workers’ problems of lay-off and
reduced carnings is that General
Electric has no responsibility to do
anything about it, pes nce
The UE negotiating committec,
made up of representatives of GE
locals, reported on the opening ses-
sion last week that the company’s
proposals on meeting the unem-
ployment situation amounted ‘ to
this:
The unemployed should get along
the best they can with the help of
neighbors.
More workers should be laid off.
Those left on the job should be
speeded up further to what the
company calls higher productive
efficiency.
The company’s position in the
negotiations was stated mainly by
Vice-President L. R. Boulware. He
referred to “boom ‘and bust”, and
blamed the present “bust” on “ton
much inventory.” He not only
found too much inventory in ware-
houses, but added:
Says Homes Are Overstocked
“There is too much inventory in
the home. People are overstocked
on food, clothing, and appliances.”
But the company was unable to
see that its own profiteering and
speed-up had caused its own huge
inventory of unsold goods.
The negotiations resumed this
week on Wednesday. The union is
requesting an over-all increase of
$500 per year per worker, It is
i i 55. ne
with 40 hours’
pay to reduce lay-oft's; higher pay,
to increase purchasing power and
slaw down the depression; better.
pensions and health programs.
Union Urges Wage Increase
The union took the position that
Boulware’s theory of “overstocked
homes”. is nonsense. UE nepoti:
ators declared that the way to fight
unemployment is to raise the peo-
ple’s standard of living and their
(Continued on Page 2)
= to RLRR RUN MR Be TAEAT PHETRRALAT aE A
2
eer
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS...
June 24, 1949.
GE Says People |
Have Too Much
(Continued from Page 1)
wages, so they can buy. They de-
clared that the company can easily
meet the union’s proposals and re-
duce prices out of its enormous
profits, which are the highest in
th: company’s history.
The following are a few of Boul-
ware’s remarks on the unemploy-
ment problem:
“We live in a boom and bust sys-
tem. In this country the neighbors
help out a bit when these troubles
come, In other countries a man’s
neighbors are just looked at as
omeone to steal from.
“We are living here in an econ-
mie fairyland. We have boom
and bust here. Everywhere else
they have bust all the time. Here
many people have to go on diets
to keep from getting too fat.”
~~ Another company ~~ negotiator
said:
“The standard of living went up
during the war. We can’t expect
to maintain it, We need a breath-
er.” It was evident he meant that
unemployment is needed to com-
plete GE’s “boom and bust” cycle.
Boulware’s reasoning apparently
was that despite the company’s too
great inventory, further speed-up
would “entice” people who have
some money to buy, and this would
somehow solve the “bust.”
Leo Jandreau, 301 business
agent, is on the UE bargaining
committee. International officers
and representatives also partici-
pated. The company had _ present,
in addition to Boulware and George
Pfeif, 17 people, including two
lawyers and several publicity men.
$50 for Strikers.
At Fawick Airflex
The 801 Executive Board last
week voted to send $50 to the UE
strikers at the Fawick Airflex
plant at Cleveland, Ohio. The strike
is now in its sixteenth weck.
The company has obtained court
orders banning all picketing, :for-
bidding strikers to congregare
within 1000 feet of the gate and
outlawing the distribution of most
leaflets. 0. ees ae
| ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Unirep Evecrrican, Ravto & MACHINE
Woniens or Amenica, CIO
, Semenectapy GE Loca, 301
Published by Editorial Comimetitee
Mary McCartin,’ Chairman
Arthur R. Bertini, Secretary
William Christman Frank D'Amico
Victor Pasche-
Editorial Office
Evectrica,, UNron News
301 Liberty St., Schenectady, N. ¥,
Telephone 3-1386
_ ~
| rearoc
CONGRESSMAN DRIPP
"WHAT A NIGHTMARE! | DREAMED 1 HAD
TO WORK FOR A LIVING!" TO) -eED
By YOMEN
(FF) Yost,
$4,368 Award For Arm Injury
The General Electric Company
has been ordered to pay a work’
men’s compensation award of $4,-
368 to Charles Holmes, employed
as a railroad man, for an injury
to his right arm suffered in April,
1947. The company fought the
case since the time of the accident.
Other awards made recently in
cases also handled for union mem-:
bers by the 801 attorney Marshall
Perlin, include:
$3,904 to Joseph Tobarro, Build-
ing 107 carpenter, for injuries to
his left, hand suffered last Sept, 17.
$1,952 to John Hedlund, Build-
ing 49 machine operator, for in-
juries to his left hand suffered last
July 23.
$978 to Thomas W. Ward for in-
“juries to his right foot in an acci-
dent last July 28,
$780.80 to William H. Woolcock,
Building 60 tool grinder, for in-
juries to his right hand last Aug. 2.
$520 to Ervin R. Johnson, Build-
ing 227 truck driver, for injuries
to two toes last Nov. 1.
$160 to. Joseph . Nienaltowski,
Building 97 crane follower, for in-
juries to a finger last Sept. 3. |
$160 to Stephen Machovoe, Build-
ing 109 battery truck operator, for
injuries to a finger last Nov. 3.
The following awards were
made for facial scars:
$400 to John Hayostak, Build-
ing 17 punch press operator, in-
jured last Sept. 29; $250 to Rich-
ard Paige, Building 17 punch
press operator, injured Aug. 135,
$200 to Michael J. Riggi, Building
79 varnish maker, injured last
Sept. 23; $175 to Raymond Kory-
» towski, Building 57 molder, in-
jured last Sept. 1; $175 to Samuel
Cipriano. Building 49 assembler,
injured May 19, 1948; $175 to Hd.
ward Bernadt, Building 46 tool
maker, injured last Sept. 2; and
$150 to Ralph Guerra, CAP Race-
track handyman, injured July 81,
1947. The company never report-
~edd Guerra’s--accident;
¢ STAT
10 p.m. Monday
WXKW
Charlie Wilson Wants
Some ‘Labor Statesmen’
GE President Charles E. Wil-
son wants union leaders to show
- “a little statesmanship” right now
and tell the workers they shouldn't
~ask.for-higher wages.
“Mf they are ever going to start
‘being economic statesmen, why not
now?” he asked in a recent speech
at Atlantic City.
_ (With GE contract negotiations
just starting, Wilson would be very
happy indeed if the UE leaders de-
cided to become labor. statesmen
instead of carrying out the instruc-
tions of the.GE workers.)
Wilson repeated the usual phony
argument that a wage increase
would have to mean price increases.
He didn’t admit that the buying
power of the: people has dropped
so that they can’t buy the goods
GI and other companies are pro-
ducing... Instead _he..claimed..GE
was “the victim” of its own price
reductions and had created a “wai
for more” attitude in the market.
We suppose those 5,000,000 unem-
ployed workers in the*country are
just waiting to buy?
_ Wilson’s only solution is a big
sales campaign. —
He predicted that the production
of consumer goods in the electrical
industry would drop at least 20
per cent during 1949, as compared
to last year (the highest produc-
tion and profit year on record for
GE).
GE Engineers’ Leaders
Do Usual Parrot Act
The executive council of the
Schenectady General Electric En-
gineers Association did its usual
Charlie McCarthy act for the com-
pany last week by issuing a state-
ment against a general pay raise.
Echoing Daddy Boulware, they
called for increased production
through increased individual effort,
—speed-up. They claimed that a
wage increase would cause higher
prices.
Again this year they completely
ignored the fact that high prices
are caused by monopoly control of
production and greed for profit,
and have no-velationship to wages.
Leaders of the GE Engineers As-
sociation have blocked real organ-
ization of the underpaid engineers.
During the 1946 strike a Schenec-
tady officer of the group urged
non-production workers to go back
to work.
UE has never heard of leader
of the GE Ingineers Association
:
‘handing back any pay raise that
comes’ their way after the union
has won a general increase for its
members, r
i)
it
June 24,1949
__ELECTRICAL
UNION NEWS
Meeting on Silicosis
Arranged with GE
The GE. management was to
meet with the union yesterday, aft-
er this week’s EU News went to
press, on the serious health condi-
tions revealed recently by the Lo-
cal 301’s medical check-up of work-
ers in the Porcelain Division.
Seventeen silicosis cases were
discovered among the 36 men and
women given medical examinations
by Dx. Saul Solomon, New York
City lung specialist, as a follow-up
of X-rays. There were 20 other
workers X-rayed, but they did not
have the examination later. The X-
1ays of one of this group show he
has a severe case,
The percentage of _ silicosis
among those examined is even
higher in Schenectady than at El-
mira where UE conducted a similar
survey and revealed 90° cases; -Dr.
Gloves was retained by the un-
on for that health check-up also.
301 has asked management to
conduct a joint survey ‘of condi-
tions in Building 68 and other sec-
tions of the plant needing investi-
gation, to provide special-compen-
sation for workers affected by sili-
cosis and to guarantee them
against. any loss of earnings
through transfers.
Why Mind Lay-offs?
Servant Problem Solved
The June Industrial Bulletin, the
monthly magazine printed by the
State Department of Labor, has
the cheerful heading, “Household
Help Avaliable” over an article
stating: .
“The shortage of household help
which has prevailed since the early
days of the war gradually is eas-
ing off — despite the fact that
women who forsook household em-
ployment for war work or other
better paying jobs are not volun-
tarily giving them up.”
Undoubtedly Governor Thomas
E, Dewey, whose name heads the
title page of the Industrial Bullet-
in, is glad to know there shouldn’t
be any more servant problem at
the Executive Mansion or Pawl-
ing. And undoubtedly it’s good
news to Charles E, Wilson and his
cirele of friends.
The women who have been laid
off in Industrial Control and other
oS of the GE works here prob-
ably don’t have exactly, the same
reaction! - :
Don’t Be a Free Rider
Join the Union
30! Asks GE Arrange
Meeting with MBA
Local 801 has asked Works Man-
ager Louis J. Male to arrange for
a meeting of officers of the Mutual
Benefit Association with union rep-
resentatives, with GE management
sitting in on the conference, indi.
cations are that the meeting will
be arranged. ‘
The union objects to the present
set-up under which employees pay
all contributions toward MBA ben-
efits and GE pays nothing but has
controlling power. It regards pro-
posed amendments to MBA, sched-
uled to be voted on today by the
MBA General Committee, as un-
satisfactory. Ata meeting of the
General Committee June 10 the
amendments failed to get the two-
thirds vote necessary to pass.
Business Agent Leo Jandreau
has notified Male that under the
new. State Disability Law the MBA
plan is clearly subject to collective
bargaining between the union and
GE.
More Boulware
Fatry Stories
Alice in Wonderland had nothing
on L, R. Boulware in the Works
News,
For two successive issues of the
company paper Boulware tried to
glorify the “good speed-up.” Then
in the issue of June 10 he explained
that the whole trouble today is “in-
ventories,” too much unsold mee-
chandise,
Evidently Boulware doesn’t ad-
mit that the speed-up caused the
huge inventories, and that low-paid
or unemployed people cannot buy,
No, it seems customers just are
not “in such a rush any more.”
Nothing about their lacking cash.
But don’t worry, Daddy Boul-
ware will get you out of it all—
not with more jobs and pay, but
with “product improvement, price
attraction, sales appeal.”
Maybe some of us remember
1929 and 1930, when Herbert Hoov-
er told the people to “sell apples,”
and “prosperity is just around the
corner,” And things just kept get-
ting worse.
Of course, it’s probably un-An-
erican to remember 1929,
Senator from UE
A member of UE was elected to
the Wisconsin state legislature re-
cently in a special election. He de-
feated a Milwaukee industrialist
who operates a non-union shop,
The victorious candidate is Casi-
mir Kendziorski, a member of UE
Local 1181 employed at Louis Allis
Company, Milwaukee. '
Even the Losers Enjoyed This Race
There was real competition in the pie-eating contest at the 301 field day, ~
it’s plain:for everybody to see.
Tremendous Jump
In Jobless Figure
With the start of the new benefit
year the number of jobless men and
women registered with the Sche-
nectady Unemploynient Insurance
office jumped to 3,380. This was
the figure reported as of June 10,
in contrast to 2,647 June 3. It was
an increase of 733, or over 28 per
cent. .
The Schenectady report bears
out the warning of the union that
government figures for months
have been underestimating the real
‘extent of unemployment. Indica-
tions are that there will be another
heavy increase in the Schenectady
figure for June 1%.
Just One Explanation
Prices. are shooting up again, as
anyone knows who has been doing
the family marketing for food or
household supplies. And there has
been no “new round of wage in-
creases” for Big Business to blame.
This time the reason for the price
increases can’t be disguised. Just
plain greed for profits.
AFL Raid Beaten
The AFL teamsters were de-
feated recently in an effort to raid
the UE local at the Harrison Sheet
Metal Company, Chicago. The
workers voted against the team-
sters 191 to 120 in a Taft-Hartley
' election,
GE Tries to 'Ease'
Minds of Workers
“(Continued from Page 1)
was expected to increase because
of television.
The talks to make GE workers
feel more secure started a few
days after the Pittsfield GE plant
announced that 600 workers in the
chemical department had been put
on a four-day week.
And the talks started while the
situation in Schenectady was grow-
ing more serious than ever. Wom-
en with six years of service are
waiting to be called back after they
have been out for several weeks.
Additional lay-off notices are be-
ing handed out and short-timing
is on the increase,
Board Plans Drive
Against Sales Tax
The 301 Fixecutive Board recent-
ly made plans for an active cam-
paign against the City Planning
Commission’s proposal for a 2 per
cent tax on retail sales-of $1 or
more.
Local 801 has gone on record
against all such sales taxes, as an
unjust burden on the people least
able to pay. The union has urged
.that localities receive larger. shares
of state taxes and that large cor-
porations and the upper income
groups be made to pay their proper
share of taxes.
