Electrical Union News, 1948 October 15

74

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

October 8, 1948

Vital to Defend Constitutional Rights
_ Against Hartley Group, Jandreau Says

The aim of the kind of campaign the Hartley Committee is conduct-
ing is “to tell the workers that they must have a company union or have
their union smashed,” Leo Jandreau charged in a radio broadcast Sept. 29.

Jandreau said there are “thosé~

who think that we should defend
the union against such attacks by
rushing in with Taft-Hartley af-
fidavits and begging them to be-
lieve that we are not Communists
and have no Communists among
our members.” ‘

“The only effect of that,” he said,
“would be to invite them to demand
further and further proof, and the
only satisfactory proof to General
Blectric and the Hartley Commit-
tee is company unionism.”

Lesson from the Past

He pointed out that after World
‘War I most unions “were forced ‘to

---beeome-..company....unions...or__be =

crushed by troops and ‘Bolshevik’
scares.” The labor movement was
reduccd to “a hollow shell” until
the Hoover depression, he recalled.
“Then came the New Deal sweep
which brought a new Labor move-
mént. We do’ not propose to. help
America drop back to the 1920’s
and set the stage for another 1929.
“No. We of. UE have a better
answer. It lies in the American
heritage and the constitution of
our own union.” ir

Simple Constitutional Rights

Jandreau listed simple principles
of American democracy embodied
in the American Constitution.

“That free men and women have

Weekly Radio Program
‘Dropped by Local 301

The weekly radio broadcasts of
Local 301 ended this week, by de-
cision of the Executive Board. The
weekly Gaeth broadcasts, sponsor-
ed by the national UE, will con-
tinue. Local 301
will take time
on the radio for
special pro-
grams when the
need arises.

Milo Lathrop,
who had charge
of the 801 broad-
casts on WSNY, |.
has resigned as |
legislative rep-
resentative of a
UE District 8, Milo Lathrop
He will later take a public relations
and education position in the farm
field. He has been with UE in this
district for five years.

. into the political or religious be-

‘night only.

Gets New Duties

Albert Eastman
of Building
16, who was
named by the
Executive Board
~~to--represent
Bldgs, 12, 14
and 16 pend-
ing election
of a Board
member for
the section
including these
buildings, to
replace
Michael Tedisco,
resigned.

Here's the Situation
As to Contempt Threat

At the present time there is no
contempt action against the 11 of-
pte ages ene rminerngna eee wei flCeFS,,. members,..and former.mem=.
Dies-Thomas Committee, Jandreau”) or 301 named by Congressman
declared: Kersten (Republican) and Fischer
(Democrat). There is only a threa
of such action. ;
To carry out that threat, Ker-
sten and Fischer’s recommendation
must be approved by the whole
Hartley committee, and by the
House of Representatives after the
new Congress opens in January.
Then it is up to the Department of
Justice to prosecute the men in the
courts if the department thinks
there is a case.
Attorneys advise Local 301 that
the witnesses conducted themselves

a right to any political beliefs; that
these are their own concern, not
to be questioned as long as they
observe the law of the land.

“That free men and women have
to be judged by their actions, and
their actions alone. , .

“That we are entitled to worship
God in our own way, and belong to
a church of our own choice.”

He said, “We who formed the
UE believed in these principles so
much that we incorporated them in
both our local and national con-
stitutions.”

Hitting the un-American methods
of the Hartley Committee and the

Real Danger to Democracy

“American freedom is in danger
today from this new hysteria more
than from any possible foreign foe.

“Tt is a danger which would
crush organizations of the working
people, drive down their working
standards, and in so doing, destroy
our very democracy. It’s high time
that, somebody stood up to this
danger, and when the inquisitors
poke their noses into political and
religious beliefs, it is high time
that some one reminded them that
an American’s thoughts, like his
home, belong to him alone.

UE Run by Its Members

“Qur members run this union. If
any officer, any board member, any
shop steward, does wrong, the
members will vote him out.

“But when any self-appointed in-
quisitors, with axes to grind and
headlines to build, seek to inquire

their union in the hearings before
Kersten and Fischer, and that
there are no good grounds for hold-
ing them in contempt.

Observers familiar with the ways

mainly to intimidate the witnesses
and the membership generally,
rather than with the idea that the
action could be made to stand up.
The threat was made because the
well-planned efforts of the sub-
committee to split and frighten
the membership was broken by the
resistance of the witnesses.

No Strings Attached

On the eve of a strike, UE Local
485 won a pay increase of 10 cents
across-the-board at Walker-Turner
Company, Plainfield, N. J. The
company had offered eight cents
and wanted the union: to give up
Saturday and Sunday overtime pay
and some piecework safeguards.
The union won the 10 cents with
no strings attached.

liefs of any of.our. members we
shall remind them: that this is still
free America, a
keep it so.” ;

Radio Time Changed

Because of political speeches
scheduled for next Monday night
over the American Broadcasting
Company stations, the UE national
radio program featuring Arthur
Gaeth will be at 10:30 p.m., instead
of 10 p.m. It’s on WXKW, Albany
(850 on your dial)

The change of hour is for that

properly under the law to protect .

of the Hartley committee feel that :
the contempt threat was intended -

Newspapers Very Silent
On Indictments of GE

Newspapers have printed indig-
nant editorials and articles over the
refusal of UE officers and mem-
bers to answer unconstitutional
questions of the Hartley Commit-
tee based on no actual charges

whatsoever. But did you ever read
the slightest newspaper criticism

of GE in connection with the civil
and criminal charges made against
it by the United States govern-
ment or even in connection with ac-
tions which GE has admitted?

Remember the criminal indict-
ment against GE for a price-fix- -
ing agreement on carboloy with the
German Krupp firm? This agree-
ment has. been called one of the
chief bottlenecks hindering Ameri-
ean preparations for World War II.
The case is still awaiting the

court's decision in New York City.

A civil charge against GE, for
monopolistic control of lamp prices,

was tried recently in federal courf:’#

in Trenton, N. J. The judge hasn’t
handed down his decision yet.

In 1942 GE was indicted for col-
lusive bidding on government con-
tracts, and was found guilty. The
company paid a fine of $7,500,

Charged in a civil] action with
conspiring with foreign companies
in restraint of trade, International
GE accepted a “consent decree.”
This means that while not formally
admitting guilt, the company prom-
ises “not to do it again.”

Altogether the U. S. Department
of Justice has brought GE into
court 10 times since 1989 on charg-
es involving violations of the anti-
trust laws, and including conspir-
acies with German, Italian and
Japanese firms.

In contrast to this GE record, not
a single member of UE has been
charged with any act of disloyalty
against the United States.

State Officials Delay
Action on GE Pay Days

The State Labor Department has
notified Local 801 that it will not
act on the union’s complaint about
the proposed change in pay days
at the Schenectady GE plant until
the company files briefs. GE rep-
resentatives conferred with state
officials last week in Albany on
the union’s charge that the pay-
day change is a violation of state
law. «

Earlier an official of the labor
department told the

-REGISTRATI

oe

union hey
agreed that the shift is a violation’

ENDS TOMORROW

“LECTRICAL.

THE VOICE OF LOCAL 30! - - - - -

UE R. & MWA.

way %

BAe

i:
pis

ia!

Vol. 6 — No. 41

SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK

October 15, 1948

GE Convicted
Of Conspiring
To Fix Prices

The General Electric Company,
which dares question the loyalty of
officers and members of UE, was
convicted Oct. 8 in Federal Court
of the criminal charge of violating
the anti-trust laws by a price-fix-
ing conspiracy with the Nazi Krupp
munitions trust.

Judge John C. Knox found GE
guilty of conspiring with the Nazi
firm to monopolize the sale of car-
boloy, a conspiracy which contin-
C3 ed from 1927 to 1940, after Hitler
started the war in Europe. Testi-
mony before the Kilgore sub-com-
mittee of the Senate showed that
this GE conspiracy created one of
the most serious bottlenecks of the
whole American war effort.

Zay Jeffries Found Guilty

Convicted with GE were two of
its subsidiaries, the International
General Electric Company of New
York and the Carboloy Company of
Detroit, and three individuals: Wal-
ter G, Robbins, president of the Car-
boloy Co.; Zay Jeffries, chairman
of the board of Carboloy and a GE
vice-president, and Walter M.
Stearns of Schenectady, former
GE manager of trade relations and
special accounts.

The three companies are: subject
to possible fines totaling $25,000
each and the individuals can be

Who Is Un-American?

Zay Jettries, GE vice-presi-
dent convicted of a conspiracy
with the Nazi Krupp firm to fix
the price of carboloy, made a
speech in October, 1946 accusing
union leaders of having “un-
Anjerican objectives.” He ap-
pealed for the crippling of the
Wagner Act and opposed “high
wages” for labor.

fined the same amount and can be
imprisoned for five years each.
No business man has ever been
sent to prison in this country for
G pons law violation. The only
“4penalties have beer fines which are
tiny compared with huge profits
made by price-fixing.

Sentencing Postponed
Judge Knox postponed the sen-

Pian United Fight of G F Locals)

AXNIONS ARE A THREAT
To our SECURITY!

e

mee ogee
CERTAIN LINIONS FoR SECURITY REASONS

ORDERS Afottic
GAIN WITH

UE Delegates
Hit Actions.
Of Lilienthal

General Electric locals of UE
will not be blackmailed into letting
GE clamp “government-enforced
company unions” on its employees,
the GE Conference Board of UE
declared at a meeting in New York
City Tuesday. ; oun

The Conference, composed of del-
egates from GE locals throughout
the country, called on the member-
ship “to unite against company
propaganda and disruption for the
protection of their hard-won rights
and gains.” wy

Publicity Campaign

A statement on the Atomic
» Energy Commission's aid to GE
against the union was adopted
unanimously by the delegates.
The statement said: :

“The General Electric Company
and Chairman Lilienthal of the
Atomic Energy Commission have
just blossomed out in a sudden
joint publicity campaign against

_ UE. The attack has been centered:

teneing in the carboloy case. GE
and the other. defendants could
have had a jury trial, but chose to
have the decision rest with the
judge alone.

The Krupp firm was named in
the indictment, but was not tried
because it was outside the court’s
jurisdiction.

Judge Knox found that the four
companies (including Krupp) “ac-
quired patents which were so used
as substantially to dominate the
entire interstate and foreign com-
meree of the United States in the
field of hard metal compositions,”

$453 a Pound

The government charged that GE
and its fellow-éonspirators set a
price of $453 a pound on some com-
positions as compared with $48
charged by the Krupp firm in Ger-
many. .

GE issued a statement last week
complaining because the govern-
ment dared bring a criminal action
against it. If business men must
act “under the constant threat of

a criminal conviction” in such cases,

Section Night Party

The section represented by
Board Member James Cognetta
will have a section night social
Monday: night at 301 hall. The pro-
gram will include, beer, hot dogs,
ping-pong and cards, This will be
the first of a series of get-to-
gethers for various sections. The
Executive Board asked the Activi-
ties Committee to arrange the af-
fairs,

_ UE Broadcast

Tune in on the Arthur Gaeth
broadcast, sponsored by the na-
tional UH, at 10 p.m. every Mon-
day on WXKW, Albany (850 on
your dial),

GE declared, “then there are dark
days ahead for the development of
new business enterprises.” Ap-
parently GID thinks criminal action
should be taken only against work-
ers.

Gin) declared that nothing — of
which the government complained
was continued after 1940.

around the question of whether or
not a few hundred UE members in
Schenectady may be represented by
UE if and when they are employed
in GE’s unbuilt atomic energy
plant. The company and the AEC
couple this with a threat to deny
collective bargaining rights to
some 800 UE members. now cover-
ed by the UE national contract at
their present place of employment,
the Schenectady Peek Street Plant,

No Notice to Union

“No question of representation
had been raised by the union or its

(Continued on Page 2)

Membership Meeting
To Elect Delegates

Delegates to the UE District
3 Council and to the Capital Dis-
trict CIO Council will be elected
at the membership meeting of
Local 801 next.weelk at the un-
ion hall. First and third shift
workers will meet at 7:30 pam,
‘Tuesday and ‘second shitt work.
ers at 1 pam. Wednesday.

2

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

October 15, 1948

Plan United Fight
Of All GE Locals.

(Continued from Page ‘1)
membership to bring on the issue.
The question was made front-page
news by the company and the com-

missioner, acting in collaboration,

without any prior notice to or dis-
cussion with the union. They rais-
ed the issue on their own initiative
and timed their announcement to
suit their own purposes,

“The announcement came just.
before GE was found guilty on all
counts of a federal indictment.
charging criminal conspiracy with
the German firm of Krupp, chief
armaments, maker for the Nazis.

GE, Hartley Meet

“In preparation for the atam
war on the union, GE brought rep-
resentatives of the Hartley Com-
mittee to Schenectady to act.
advance propaganda agents.
rangements for the Hartley Com-
mittee’s smear campaign against
UE were made between representi-
tives of the company and the com-
mittee at a meeting in New York
City during the weekend of Aug-
ust 28-29.

““GE and Mr. Lilienthal base
their propaganda blast at WE upon

“a pretended concern for the secur-
ity of the United States.

“GE knows that union represen-
tatives are excluded from all places
where atomic work goes on, that
grievances may not be investigated
nor deadly health hazards checked,
to the detriment of the workers and
the preat advantage of GE.

Agents

Security No issue _

“GE and AEC know that every.

worker on atomic projects is check-
ed, sereencd, investigated -and: ap-
proved as to character, associa-
tion and loyalty by the Army, the
Navy, the FBI and the Atomic
nergy Commission.

“The whole country knows the
record of this union, its member-
ship and its leadership, in protect-
ing the best interests of American
workers. and of the country.

“There is no issue of security in-
volved.

“GE and Mr. Lilienthal have

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America, CIO
Scurnectapy GE Locan 301
od
Published by Editorial Committee
Mary McCartin, Secretary

Arthur R. Bertin! Clayton Pudney
John G. Grasso Victor Pasche

Editorial Office
Exzetrica. Union News
301 Liberty St., Schenectady, N. Y.
Telephone 3-1386

w t P
OING TO EUROPE TO INVESTIGATE
101 GONAMERICAN ACTIVITIES.”

BY YOMEN

Py ame

The Thomas Committee on Un-American Activities announced recently
that it will now carry its investigations right into the gloomiest depths of

Africa.

It’s worried because a group of French, Belgian and Dutch sci-

entists plan to gaze at stars from a $9,000,000 international observatory

which is to be built in the Belgian Congo.
‘in the vicinity, the committee pointed out suspiciously.

There are uranium deposits

joint and separate motives for their
present collaboration, Mr, Lilien-
thal hupes to promote his continu-
ation. in-office: by insuring that he
will never again be red-baited as he
was last year by. the U. 8. Senate.
He expects to do so by rushing to
associate himself with GE, Herr
Koupp's American partner.

Atomic Profits

“Both ‘GH cand the Atomic In.
ergy Commission hope to shut off
by their anti-union propaganda any
public discussion of how it happens
that the secrets of atomic energy,
developed at-a cost of billions of
dollars of American taxpayers’
money have been handed over for
the private profit of a trust whose
connections® with the industrialists
of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis are
notorious throughout the world.

“GE hopes to use the Atomic
Energy Commission as a tool to ex-
clude bona’ fide unionism in its
plants. Tt hopes to extend this pre-
gram from atomic work to all oth-
er government work, using other
government agencies in turn as en-
foresrs’ [ts seheme is to smash all
unionism in its plants, and to set
up a kind of company unionism

new to America, with subservient
governmental bodies — exercising’
control over the unions on behalf
of” the -vorporation. GE has gotten
more than price-fixing patent deals
out of the Nazi industrialists, It
has taken over from them its whole
hew program for labor relations,
GE Wants Company Union

“GE hates the UE, the union of
its employees, and has publicly an-
nounced that it will be satisfied
with no union unless its members
and leaders completely accept GE’s
ideas on wages, hours and working
conditions, which is what they
mean when they talk about “free
enterprise.”

“The company pretends that it
objects on security grounds to the
association of UB members with
the leadership of their union. Gh
knows that every important decis-
ion in UE is made by the member-
ship directly involved. It is be-
cause of that very fact, that con-
trol of UW is in the hands of its
menibership, that GH hates the un-
ion, Tf UE were the sort of union
in which leadership exercised dic-
tatorial control over the members
in the interests’ of the company,

Just Another Plug.
For Company Unions

In his~ latest red-baiting cam-
paign of intimidation against GE
workers, Vice-president L. R. Boul-
ware in last week’s Works News
came out as an expert on Commun-
ism. .

But after hundreds of
quoted by Boulware as. coming
from Communist. writers, Boul-
ware's main point. came in this
paragraph near the end of his
““message:”

words

“Communists in America — and
those hack of them abroad —’seek
to get their agents into top jobs in
unions, both nationally and .local-

ly; seek to. appear to be running,

‘good’ unions in the members’ in-
terests . . . so that the members
will be ready in some national
erisis to act instantly, and unthink-
ingly, on their leaders’ orders —
to America’s ruin,”
There it is, GE workers,
union is a good union, run in the
members’ interests, you must be
suspicious of it, says Boulware. It
is probably a Communist plot to
ruin America, says Boulware. Only
a company union is safe for Mr.
Boulware’s“idea of America. Only
two weeks earlier he had put forth
the same thought in the message
“A Plague on Both Your Houses.”

As one member remarked:

“Does Boulware think we're
fools who would just ruin America
because some one. told us to? Of
course, he doesn’t really think any
such thing. He knows we, the
members, run this union. He knows

.our leaders. have never given us

orders -—- they’ve taken our orders.
That's just what Boulware doesn't,
like about UE. It belongs to the
members.”

District 3 to Handle

Christmas. Tree Orders

‘Handling of FDR Christmas tree
orders for Local 801 members has
been turned over to UE District 3.
The 801 Executive Board decided
recently it would be simpler to
have all orders placed through the
district.

- When the 301 office recently
learned from Flllot Roosevelt that.
there would not be enough balsam
trees available to fill all the orders,
shop stewards vecanvassed their
groups to see how many would
take spruce instead. About 25)
expressed
spruce,
neither GE nor the Atomic Energy
Commission would have a word of
complaint to make.”

If vou)

willingness to tak’

October 15, 1948

ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS

Community Chest
Donations Needed

Many members of Local 301
haven’t contributed yet to the Com-
munity Chest drive. 301  Vice-
President, William Hodges, co-
chairman of the campaign at the
GE works, this week urged these
members “to give serious consider-
ation to the Chest.”

The last 801 membership meet-
ing voted overwhelmingly to sup-
port the Chest campaign, he point-
ed out.

“We all know how necessary the
services are of the 23 agencies de-
pending on the Chest,” he said.
“The campaign got off to a slow

start, but I am confident that the

quota, can be reached in the shops.”

Hodges asked collectors to com-
plete their canvassing as rapidly
as possible. The drive was sup-
posed to be over on. Wednesday of
the present week. Ata meeting of
campaign workers Tuesday, how-
ever, reports showed the drive at
the plant had only reached the half-

away mark,

The quota is $114,000 for. the
shops and $51,000 for the office em-
ployees. _

fey

301 Board Distributes
Anti-Sales Tax Petitions

The 301 Executive, Board this
week circulated petitions in the
plant opposing any sales tax, pay-
roll tax or inereased tax to home-
owners and asking the Board of
Supervisors and Schenectady City
Council to raise any additional
money needed by a tax of 8/10
of 1 per cent on commercial busi-
hesses with gross receipts of over
$100,000 a year.

Immediate action by union mem-
hers on the tax question is wigent,
the Board decided at its meeting
Monday night, because city and
county authorities are considering

‘a sales tax or boosting the tax

on homeowners.

The petition campaign. in Sche-
nectady was started by 801 Presi-
dent Andrew Peterson, Dr. Walter
Gross, and Mario Tovinella, ALP
candidates tor Congress, State Sen-
ate and Assembly. They are run-
ning on the ALP ticket. Their
tampaign representative brought
the matter before the Board. .

The Board drew up its own peti-
tions for distribution to 301 mem-
bers,

12) 12/2 Cent Increase.

‘An agreement negotiated by UE
Local 1189 at Minneapolis with
Stockland Road Machinery Com-
pany won a genera] pay raise of
12% cents an hour for the workers.

Papers Try to Dignify
Hartley Sub-Committee

As was to be expected, the news-
papers have been teaming-up with
the Hartley sub-committee to make
the people believe that the sub-
committee is “the government,”
and. that union witnesses who re-
fused to answer questions were
“fighting the government.”

The Union-Star went far in that
direction Oct, 2 in a highly-colored
piece entitled “Dignity of U: S.
Government Takes Beating at UE
Probe,”

The writer of the piece pretend-
ed to believe Congressman Ker-
sten’s declaration that he was not
out to wreck labor, and that the
Congressmen showed “good will”
lo the witnesses.

Kuew Committee's Record

Of course the Union-Star had
been given ample proof that the
Congressmen’ were against labor.
The Union-Star knew of the sub-
committee’s strikebreaking inter-
ference in Dayton, Ohio, and other
places, and the fact that the Hart-
ley committee had promoted the
use, of foree. and violence against
workers in Evansville, Ind. But
why bother with facts when you're
writing a story to attack labor?
Plain GE workingmen had dared
tell a couple of Congressmen off,
and that was just too terrible for
the Union-Star.

Not the Government

The fact is that the Congress-
men are not the government. They
were elected to serve the people,
but have been doing a job against
the people. In their socalled “in-
vestigation’, they have been mis-
using the power of Congress in the
manner developed by the Dies Com-
mittee. It means that people ac-
cused of nothing at all can be
smeared in the newspapers by us-
ing irresponsible Congressmen and
irresponsible witnesses to say any-
thing, under Congressional im-
munity, and with no chance to
cross-examine them.

Until the recent war scares, even
most newspapers did not dare de-
fend such abuses.

Canadian Contract

~The first UE agreement with

Canadian Allis Chalmers brought,

a raise of 10 cents an hour, retro-
active to May 22, and eight paid
holidays. The contract covers 285
workers at Lachine, Quebec,

Transport Union Dance
301 Executive Board members

are selling $100 worth of tickets’

for the dance which Local 159,
Transport Workers Union, will
give tomorrow night at. PNA,
Hall.

wee we 374 GPS .
Here's your man, S.B....lte cant see the reason Soe
Unions... OF anuthing else Aor that matter...

Pay Increases Won
For Bldg. 42 Trio

The union has obtained a new
classification for two workers in
Building 42, both with over 20
years service, and a third man in-
volved ih the same grievance case
has been transferred to piece-work,
with higher earnings.

A. C. Stevens stated that the
company made the changes “out
of sympathy” and. not beeause of
the merits of the grievance case.
While accepting the pay increases,
the union will take the case to the
Howell level to press for retroac-
tive pay for all three.

The work of the three included
operating a milling machine, a de-
greaser, and a rim-stripping ma-
chine and assisting in operating a
quality control system. They re-
ceived $1.18 an hour, six cents less
than porter’s pay.

After a grievance was filed four
months ago, there was a shop in-
vestigation in which Chief Shop
Steward William Mastriani, Board
Member Willard Kuschel, and Wil-
liam Kelly, assistant. to the busi-
hess agent, took part, and Paul
Thompson of Bldg, 41.

At a meeting in 41 last week the
company claimed the pay rates
were justified by physica) handi-
caps. Union representatives point-
ed out that the three perform their
work satisfactorily, despite any

Radio Appeals Fail -
To Get Strikebreakers

Radio appeals by Belmont Radio
Company, Chicago, for  strike-
breakers fizzled when not a single
person answered the call. The
company appealed for help over a
Joliet radio station and offered to
transport workers by bus. from
Joliet to the plant, where a UE
strike is in effect.

UE Local 1149 bought radio time
on the same station and warned
Joliet citizens that by accepting
Belmont’s offer they would be
strikebreaking. To bolster its un-
successful radio plea the company
issued leaflets. Again, no luck.

Happy Ending

The company has found a ma-
tron’s job in Building 1 for the-
elderly woman recently laid-off in
Bldg. 40, who wants a chance to
keep on earning until she has to
retire Dee. 1 at the age of 60. At
first management told the union
there was no worl available for
her. :

handicap. A. C. Stevens said he
wanted to investigate the case per-
sonally,

Stevens pave a new classifica-
tion, miscellaneous machine oper-
ator, to the two. older workers,
with a job rate of $1.274% ‘an hour,
an increase of 141% cents.

outer

eS,