sn
CSET IE TIH
am 26.40 on 40 hes,
Val 4 — Now
_ SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
Friday March 30, 1951
Piece a
Additional Earnings
piece workers may’ think that -
the pas voll additions to earnings just
grow there out of generosity on the part’
of the Gis. Company. They happen to
be an accumulation of raises won by the
U.N. since 1941, Fok example, forevery
hour a ‘piece worker has on chis or her
clack card they receive a. substantial
wage dake out over and above the eamn-
“ings mide on the price,
If you work on a job rated—
1.20 AUER. you receive 66¢, per hour
Same
Li0l, AJTELR, (you receive G8 "ae
hour or 27.40,0n 40 hrs,
“172 AJR you receive Fhe per hour
or 28.40 on 40 hrs. we
Most, AER, your redeive T2'e per,
pe t
hour or 29.00 on 40 hes. ; :
vive Te per ligt
*o. AJE.R. you re
sor 000 on 40 hrs. >
General Electric refused to -put ‘these
increases into the A,E.R. rate -because
the’ percent of carnings on PW. prices
exceeded the tinting rates to such an ex-
(ait they did not want this pull out’to
he applied against’ the raises that were
ranted. ‘These raises represent a large
portion of the present piece workers
“earnings: We won, them through the
Us, and we need ‘the UE: to -protect
them,
Day
c Preuss:
workers received. similar in.
Stoppage i in’ Turbine.”
"Phe seeond. shitt.on ‘the Boring Mills
inthe Turbine Department stopped work
When the foreman claimed a job: would
have: to be finished even though: theres
yas Ho. Maney lett to "pay the operators,
She prive: ww as set by comparison “and
estimates. ‘The operators accepted the
Salter’ in’ good faith, however, “pointing
out that itwas. not cnoughsmoney on the
joh. * After the money was used up and
the job was not tinished,: the boring mill
operators camplained. © ‘The foreman
claimed he did not question’ the effort
‘ol the mill operators, while the job was
in’ piocess, however, refused | to prant
more money. 4
The. men refused -to “work far ‘nothin’
and stopped. When other workers henrd
"of -the situation, they stopped work to
Support the fight against. the proposed
cut in earnings. A Union committee was
in the process of negotiating the SSG
vos When we went to press,
~ REPORT OF UE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE”
Aetininian, Cr ommillec
Gets Louis Prima Band’
“UME. Local 801
has made final. arrangements for bring.
ing Louis” Prima and his hand to Sche-
neetady on, Saturday, April 21st.’
Tickets will setl for $1.50: tax included:
and may be abtained from shop stewards
and Executive Board: members. en
© When you see Louis Prima, the hai.
* hgidary at the State Armory’ on April
ist, you're also seeing one al America’s
‘toy showmen. =
The Primi organization, besides offer-
ing sizaling song renditions, cute up
"enough “ape acto. Keep "thé audienée
IN PERSON
Jaughing ard wondering what's ‘eoming
up next. Louis and the boys are not
just a bunch of wooden pers glued to
their seats during sa performanes,’ for
they're liable to get right up and, start
Activities Committees
On theawery first teat lode Of national witee
negotiatiolis with GE, under (He reapens
er clause of the National” UE-GI Con.”
“trael, the Company’ indieated that it
would be very huppy to get rid of the
Wage deat inds of its i, lifhlogenens by
, he Gieniainy ‘Fail
> teered tor souls ue from the Wage
Stabilization Board of whatever few,
cats may"turn up, “in oniler to treat aul
employees alike,”
The National Negotiating Conunittce
{ the UE laid hefore Gi a demand for
At \ 32-eent- -ah-hour increase, out of Come. ,
pany profits, to make up for losseg Git”
workers have suffered, from {price
creases and speedup, -
The UE Committee demanded, in’ ad-
dition ‘to the 82-cents, that GE should
vliminate tale discrimination against
women employees, rate “diserimination
between plants on an area basis, and
Wage discrimination ayaiiist day wort
‘ors, The Union pdinted out.that GE has®
fin along time taken special advantage
of these groups of workers, a,
The- Company indicated ita belief that
collective bargaining for 1951 should be
Wi ished out by the escalator deal it made
last: year with the company union IUE-
C 10, and by employer control over Ad-
ministration Wage-freeging machinery,
The Company also made it plain that it
hopes that its 1UR deal and the WSB
/ will oliminate any need to. take care of
day Work rates, women's rates and area
differentials as well as disposing. of the
ageneral wage question, :
~The? Negotiating Committee informed
> the Company that, it must meet the
needs’ af -GE. ‘employ ces through vallec-
tive ¢, bargaining, and that it cannot “es”
in-
“Continued on
playing in the, aisles or oug among the
audience,
Lotig Prima likes to keep hive audi-
ences happy, toos The. result of this
heart-felt desire is constantly evident in
the work of the organizition, They
make their aidienves forget their roles
aus. spectators to participate incone great,
big, good, tline,
Louis Prima and his’ orchestra are*a
terrific musical aggre gation plus —- they
play what the people want to hear aad,
in addition, they put on a tervilie show,
'
&
Friday, March 30, 1951,
Stoppage— Bldg. 89
The workers in the Industrial Control
Division, Bldg. 89,
pany made on’ two cases that had been
‘processed — through the grievance pro-
cedure.
“The rheostat wiremen and the develop:
mental coil makers requested a reclassi-
fication of their-job'so it compared with
‘the rates paid on other jobs requiring
the ‘same skills. After many discussions
° with the management on all levels, -the
“'yequest was turned down. The workers
involved ‘were
with the Company’s position. .To make
_ the situation” worse, . the Rate Depart.
ment refused ‘to give an adequate price
Gn coil taping so the. operator's coupld
mates their regular’ earnings. This case
was processed to local ‘management and
turned down. ; ’
The Stockroom Attendants have heen
complaining about their working ‘condi-_ ,
tions and™ trying, to . negotiate some
_ changes during tlis same period with
supervisién and have not been able .to
settle their complaint.
_The -dissatisfaction created= genera ally.
in“the building through unsettled gricv-
ances caused the people involved to™ ston
work. ee cs
The Union office tiotified the manage-
‘ment that a Union committee elected by
_ the workers, in the shop stood. ready to
, hegotiate: these differences, and resume:
work while doing so, aulicnbitonyflig man-
agement was ready.
At’ the time. of going to press, Thee
day vio veply.was made by management,
, AND HIS oRcHESTRA
‘The man wha ptoys pretty for the people
‘ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS:
Unirep Exvrarrica., Rapio & Macnine
Workers or AMERICA
Scuznzorapy GE Loca 301 UE
Published by the Editorial Committee
Presidont...... WILLIAM J. KELLY
Vice-President... JOSEPH MANGINO
Recording Secretary. JOHN P. GREEN
Ass’t: Recording Secretary... FRANK D'AMICO
TYOMAULPcsssssescears HENRY KAMINSKI
Chief Shop Stewurd. JAMES COGNETIA
Business Agents. LEO JANDRBAU
$01 LIBERTY ST. SORENICTADY, N.Y
stopped ‘work last
. Friday in protest to the answer the Com-
completely ‘dissatisfied _
“ward by UE General
Scribner who pointed out that Panzino
CONGRESSMAN
BY YOMEN ~~
a | introduced a bill outlawing the, word profit | but those dopey colleagues ~
° ~ of mine said it vouldn’t look nice”
Frank Panzino Acquitted
Washington, D. C.—Another Federal
judge threw out a frame-up case against
a UE member today when Judge T. Alan
Goldsborough of Federal Court acquitted.
Frank Panzino of UE Local 601, Pitts-
burgh, of the charge of “contempt of
Congress”.
Despite the attempt of the prosecu-
_-tion.to frame Panzino,. long a UE lead-
er in thé Pittsburgh Westinghouse plant.
the Court upheld the defense put for-
Counsel
had availed himself of the protection: of
the Fifth Amendment in refusing to
help the Un-American Committee frame
himself and others,
The. outpouring of protests from UE
locals and members over the jailing of
UE. Secretary-Treasurer Julius Emspax
and Tom Quinn of-UE Local 601 a few”
weeks ago is looked upon as weakening
the case of the prosecution. This is the
third consecutive acquittal of UE mem-
_bers ‘in recent weeks by three different
UE Director of
Fderal Court judges.
Organization James J. Matles was ac-
quitted by Judge Letts.on March’ 8th.
Esther Tice of UE Local 757,.Cincinnati,
was, acquitted by Federal Judge Kirk-
land on March 12,
With GE until late. 1951,
David .
Report of Negotiating
Committee
(Continued tram Page 1)
ape that necessity by déals with either
company unionists or politicians, .
UE’s national wage negotiations with
GE this spring are: being conducted on
behalf of all GE employees. The IUE-
CIO,. by\the terms of its escalator deal
last- yer, barred itself from negotiations
carrying the wage fight. forall GE
plants, Support for this fight is develop-
ing everywhere in the GE chain.
After this first meeting with the Com-
pany, GE issued a «press release term-
Tig, the UE’s 82-cent. and other demands
“unrealistic”, —
The fact is, eowauss, that GE’s profit :
report for the first quarter of 1951 proves _
that GE could pay a 82-cert-an-hour
wage increase out of profits, and show a
profit at the end of 1951 some twenty
million dollars higher than the record-
breaking — $178,000,000° it. reported for
1950.
The negotiations were recessed to al<
low the Committee to report back to the
membership. The Union is to arrange
-with the Company next week on a suit.
_ able date for resuming negotiations,
UE is ‘thus:
Friday, March 30, 1951
Hits
st ae
“membership.
“We can always get the government to pay for expanding the plant.
“They
wouldn't want to be. called unpatriotic, would they?”
_ Experiences at G.M. with Escalator Sta
During the two year period from June
1948 to August 1950, under the escalator
clause in the, G.M.-C.1.0, auto workers’
contract, the’ G.M. workers received a
Wage cut of two cents an hour from the
richest corporation in the world. Dur-
ing that period of time decreases of 5
cents per hour’ cancelled out increases. of
8 cents an hour based on cost of living.
‘Between the start ot the Korean War
and the end of 1950 inflation has been:
so great as to result in cost of living ad-
justments amounting to’ 6 cents an hour.
What the G.M. workers can expect: to
happen under this escalator clause under
their.5 year contract is shown by what .
happened during the past bye years.
Comparison of Wages under General" sited Cost-of: Living
Escalator Clause and Company Profits
Cost of Living
Quarterly Adjustment ‘Dates
Contract signed May 29, 1948
May 81 to Sept. 1, 1948
Sept. 1 to Dec, 1, 1948
Dec. 1, 1948 to Mar, 1, 1949
Mar. 1 to June 1, 1949
June 1 to Sept. 1, 1949
Sept: 1 to Dee, 1, 1949
» Dee. 1, 1949 to Mars, 1950
May, 1 to June 1,, 1950
Total — 2-year period
+8¢ increase
Cost of Living ©... —.. GM
Quarterly Adjustments :
None
—2e cut
—le cut
- None
None
—2e cut
None.
289,252,388
292°081,305
844,602,386
256,041,643
361,368,765
$2,388, 784,480
§2/388,734,489
—2e cut
Profits per Worker for 2 years oh}
Profits per Worker her Hour .
~ an inerease of only 22.8%,
> Workers
Quarterly Profits
219,152,550.
218,980,878 --
469,314,624
Cost of Living
Escalator Clauses
The main objective of any Union which
“puts the welfare ofits members first is
to improve the standard of living of its
Militant trade . unions
have, therefore, opposed’ tying workers’,
wages to so-called cost of living or es-
calator " clauses. Tliese clauses ’ keep.
workers on a treadmill “which” prevents
any improvement in their standard of*.
living. Moreover because these cost of ;
living clauses measure the increased cost’
of living by means of the extremely in-
adequate B.L.S. consumers. price index,
wages tied ta these clauses detually lay
far behind the true cost of‘living, © 7
C.1.0. condemned cost of living form.-,
ulas ‘at the G.1.0: 1939" convention. and
a resolution was passed - unanimously,
saying: “The COs chereby condemns
as-pernicious and inadequate the prin
ple that wage increases must be related"
to, ineredses ‘in cost-of living as simply a
way to.chain labor forever to its’ present
inadequate share in the’ wealth of this
country”, ~
John L. Lewis. said: “T think it, is well
that our people ‘should be constantly on
guard, and without apology, at all times
decline to accept that status that is giv-
ens labor: by’ “thase who say—'Oh, yes, 1,
am perfectly willing that if.the price of”
milk goes up in a community, wages
shall be increased: sa ‘that the worker can
il get “exactly the same amount of
milk for his children’,” * ‘
During World War.IE the A. F. of La
and the’C.1.0. including the-U.E. caoper.>
ated on a study Which showed that, while
living costs had actually increased 45%
between January 1941 and March. 1944,-
the B.L.S, consumer price index showed
Tn other
words a cost of living. esealator clause
would*have given workers with a $1.00
an hour wage an inerease of 22.8 cents
an‘hour while in order to keep. up with
prices, they would need to have 45 cents
-increase,
During” the company’ union days‘ the’
General Electric “Company
a cost of living plan ‘which was
eliminated in. 1941 by demand _ of, the
G.E.- workers through their Union, the
U.E., after years of bitter experience,
(See other column on G/M. escalator.)
‘The open charter closes
March 3lst. |
Last day to join
free.
gave the .
