4
October 14, 1949
lown.
UE had waged a vigorous fight
against the ruling, through peti-
tions, meetings with state officials
and picketing of unemployment in-
surance offices in Schenectady and
elsewhere. Appeals were filed in
several Local 301 cases and by UE
District 3 in cases. involving the
Syracuse GE plant and other lo-
cals.
These appeals were still pend-
ing however, when the Advisory
Council, policy making body of the
State Unemployment Insurance
Division, ordered the division to
reverse its stand. Even the state
publicity velease-—-acknowledged
there “have been a considerable
number of contests of this ruling,”
according to the Associated Press.
GC. E. Mounteer, director of the’
Claims Bureau of the Division of
Placement and Unemployment In- -
surance, summarized the new
policy as follows:
When claims were disallowed as
the result of vacation lay-off
(whether in a union or non-union
establishment) and there is no
question involved about an indefin-
ite return to work, the state will
allow unemployment insurance
benefits to individuals who didn't
receive vacation pay for all or any
part of the period of the lay-off.
Such workers must have been
available for employment, how-
ever.
The union office urges members
to protect their rights as follows:
Tf any Local 301 member, who
didn’t get vacation pay for all or
part of a vacation shutdown, didn’t
get his unemployment insurance
card signed because the unemploy-
ment insurance office told him not
to file, he is now entitled to press
his claim, He should consult the
union office at once. :
People who didn’t apply for
unemployment insurance because
they heard or read about the rul-
ing and believed they were in-
eligible also are entitled to file
their claims now. They also should
contact the union promptly.
$100 to Chest
The 301 Executive Board Mon-
day night voted a $100 donation to
the Schenectady Community Chest
drive, : ;
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
UE Campaign Won for Jobless Pay Benefits
On Vacation Shutdown; State Reverses Rule
The State Division of Placement and Unemployment Insurance has
‘eversed its ruling which’ disallowed unemployment insurance claims
€ workers who received no pay during all or part of a vacation shut-
Proposed Rules
For Meeting
By unanimous vote of the 301
Executive Board the following
rules concerning the conduct of
membership meetings will be rec-
ommended to the 801 membership
meeting Oct, 18 and 19.
1, “Any member who refuses to
behave in an orderly manner shall
be removed from the meeting by
the nearest available two deputy
sergeants-at-arms,
2. “Because week-end meetings __
have proved to be impractical, Lo-
cal 301 is obliged to hold its mem-
bership meetings in two parts —-
first a session for the first and
third shifts, then a session for the
second shift, Beas
“There must be an end to the
activity witnessed at the last sec-
and shift meeting, where some
loud first shifters made it impos-
sible for the second shift to have
their own discussion. .
“The Executive Board therefore
proposes:
“Members attending the session
other than the one scheduled for
their shift shall sit in the rear,
Members attending their own
scheduled meeting shall have prior
vights to the available seats, At
the opening of each meeting, the
chairman shall call on members
from another shift to identify
themselves and move to the rear.
“Members shall have prior right
to the floor at the meeting sched-
uled for their shift, and shall have
the right to speak on an issue be-
fore any member from another
shift, except that officers and dele-
gates and committee chairmen
making official reports shall have
equal rights to the floor at both
mectings.
“Any motion of substance, not
procedure, which is voted on at
the first part of the meeting shall
automatically be placedin the
same form before the second part
of the meeting for a vote, at the
appropriate agenda point.”
301 Constitution
Copies of the Local 801 consti-
tution are now available at the
union hall for members.
Tough Guy
UE Fights GE Policy On Forced Retirement’
For a long time UE’ has been
carrying on a fight against the
GE policy of compulsory retire-
ment of employees, 7
This fight- has been held up by
a court injunction GE obtained to
stop the union from taking the
matter to arbitration, UIE has ap-
pealed from this injunction and is
waiting for a decision.
The union favors the lowest
practicable retirement age provid-
ed it is voluntary and provided the
retired worker will receive a pen-
sion adequate for him to live on
decently.
UE Demands Arbitration
“The first case which UE tried to
have arbitrated was that of a
Schenectady worker who was forc-
ed to retire. This case had to be
withdrawn last March, a few
weeks after the demand for arbi-
tration was made, because of the
man’s death.
Later in March the union filed a
demand with the American: Arbi- ~~
tration Association for arbitration
of a similar case involving three
GE workers at Providence, R, I.
GE last August obtained a Su-
preme Court order in New York
state stopping the American Arbi-
tration Association from holding
the arbitration. The union has
appealed. : .
Meanwhile a judge in Ohio, in
another case involving ‘GE, ruled
that the company cannot discharge
employees merely because of age,
even though they ave given pen-
sions. The ruling was made by
Judge A. V. Bowmann of the Com-
mon Pleas Court in a case brought
by the International Association
of Machinists against the Electtic
Vacuum Cleaner Division of GE.
The company had notified 26
men and women last February that
they would be discharged but that
those eligible would receive pen-
sions. The IAM claimed there was
no reason for firing them except
that the men were over 65 and the
women over 60.
“Retirement implies at least
part of the motive power must
originate in the person whose sta-
tus is to be changed,” Judge Bow-
mann said. He pointed out that
no charge of inefficiency was made
against the workers.
Did You Know?
Through repeal of the excess
profits tax the General Electric
Company saved an estimated $90
million in taxes in 1948, muel
more than the cost of the wage in-
crease,
IN THE 35 HOUR WEEK TO SAFEGUARD JOBS
GE undoubted! _ will, appeal.
THE VOICE OF LOCAL 301
UE R.&M.WOA.
Vol. 7 — No. 4!
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK
October 21, 1949 ~~
Wha Will We Use for Money?
MONEY
DON'T G
: STER LA
T SAY ANYTHIN
OUT THAT, SON...
YouRE Nor GOING To SELL
ANY OF THose. cepaes 1S
ET SOME MORE.
To Buy witd...
BUT C
DIDN
\s]
NG
q
RCA Betters”
Offer After
Strike Vote
GE Talks Continue
Negotiations with GE were re-
sumed in New York Wednesday
J_.and_were_ scheduled__to._continue.
yesterday. The company stated
lust week it would give its answer
on every point in the union's pro-
posal this week. No report on this
week’s bargaining sessions was
available when this paper went to
press,
Business. Agent Leo Jandreau
will make a complete report to
the 301 membership at the special
meeting at the Armory next
Thursday night, followed by a see-
ond shift meeting at the union hall
after midnight. (See notice on
this page.)
RCA Negotiations
News tem: Vice-President Chester H. Lang of GE in
people aren’t buying more electrical produets, and other
a speech in Philadelphia said that the only reason
things, is lack of “aggressive selling.”
Turbine Stewards
Meet with Male
A large committee of Turbine
Division shop stewards met last
week with Works Manager Lewis
J. Male and was scheduled to meet
with him again yesterday over a
long list of division grievances.
The grievances were mostly von-
nected with the move to the new
building, A recent special meeting
ot division shop stewards with
Business Agent Leo Jandreau
elected the special committee and
specified the grievances.
On the firing of a third shift
worker for sleeping, Male insisted
on backing up the firing despite
the union’s evidence that the man
was ill and that the first charge of
sleeping was untrue, The case is
Jpeing moved to the New York
“level,
“On the company plan to down--
erade part of the big boring mill
work, Male agreed that the com-
pany would not attempt to use
the proposed new lower timing
vate for roughing work without
one week’s notice to the union
office and shop steward. He said
he was still studying the question.
The committee also brought up
the serious lack of work condition
developing in parts of the
division,
The list of grievances under dis-
cussion also covers issues of
speed-up and piece work prices,
the attitude of foremen, third shift
hours, seniority, and complaints
about working conditions and
service, .
Stewards on the committee in-
‘clude“Arthur Ty Shaniion, Michael
(Continued on Page 2)
Unemployment Office
To Be Open Tomorrow
The Schenectady Unemployment
Insurance office will be open to-
morrow (Saturday) from 9 a. m.
until noon to handle claims of
workers who were not paid during
all ov part of a vacation shut-
down, The state recently reversed
its policy of rejecting such claims,
after a vigorous campaign against
the ruling by UE.
There were 8,653 jobless work-
-ers registered with -the Schenee:
tady Unemployment Insurance
office as of Oct. 7.
end of the shift,
301 Meeting on Negotiations Ti hursday
Leo Jandreau will report on GE contract negotiations at a
special 301 membership meeting next week. The meeting will be
at 7:30 p.m, Thursday, Oct. 27, in the state armory in Washington
Ave, for first and third shitt workers and later that night, at
1248 aa, at the union hall for
Because of the importance of the meeting the Executive Board
voted unanimously to rent the armory. For identification, every
member must bring his 801 membership card for the last quarter
of L949 and his GI badge or eard,
second shift workers, after the
In the meantime, a big strike
vole brought a breakthrough for
UE this week at the Radio Cor-
poration of America, one of. the
major companies under contract.
The membership of the four
ROA plants was scheduled to
vote yesterday on the company’s
latest offer, which goes substan-
tially beyond the recommendations
of the Steel Board of Inquiry.
RCA had previously offered to
meet the Steel “fact-finding”
recommendations. It pointed out
that it was now spending 5.1 cents
on hour per employee on pensions
and insurance and under the Steel
panel report would only “have
to spend another 4.9 cents an
hour, ae
The Steel Board of Inquiry re-
fused to recommend any wage in-
crease and recommended a total
of 10 cents for insurance and pen-
sions. Of this 10 cents 6 cents
for pensions would not have to
be granted until next spring, And
. from the 10 cents the companies
could deduct any existing pay-
ments for insurance or pensions.
The UE membership in the RCA
plants, in Camden, N.J., Pulaski,
(Continued on Page 2) ;
2
__ELECTRICAL, UNION_ NEWS
October 21, 1949
RCA Improves
Contract Offer
(Continued from Page 1)
Va., Lancaster, Pa., and Holly-
wood, Calif., rejected the offer.
“Then they voted strike’ authorizas——
tion, by margins ranging from
4 to 1 to 9 to 1,
New RCA Offer
The new RCA offer is 8 cents
in Camden and 9% cents in the
other plants. It is being applied
as follows:
A wage increase of 3% cents
an hour; this is raised to 544 cents
an hour by the company taking
over the cost of an insurance plan
toward which- the . workers have
been~paying 5 cents an hour;
Complete insurance, hospitali-
zation, and sick benefits; one ad-
ditional paid holiday, making 7
lidays per ‘year; a OF WEEE
vacation after 10 years instead
of 15, with pro rata over 2 weeks
from 5 to 10 years;
Internal wage inequality adjust-
ments at the Pulaski and Lan-
caster. plants... 2... 7
The contract runs to June.1,
1951, with a reopening on wages
and other economic issues sixty
days before June 1, 1950.
Westinghouse negotiations con-
tinued this week. Discussions on
Wednesday. were on pensions and
insurance,
Turbine Stewards
(Continued from Page 1)
DeCelli, Roy Lash, Louis Pannone,
Frank Baumgartner, Edward
Wallingford, Leland Bellinger,
George Roode, B. L. Fertal, Ed-
ward Noiseaux, Casmer Ceglerski,
Marvin Rumrill, John Maietta,
George Crandall, Casmer Kis-
lowski, T. T. Wheeler, Earl H.
Groat, Charles Wood, John Kilmer,
Ray Fredericks, John Marshall,
Edward Kearney and Joseph Alois,
and Board Members. William A.
Stewart and Sam Scott. They are
assisted by Victor Pasche, assist-
ant. to the business agent, and
Helen Quirini and Leo Sisto,
grievance committee members this
month.
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Unirmp Execrricat, Rapio & MACHINE
- Wormrrs or Amestoa, CIO
Scuenzctavy GE Locat 301
Published vy Editorial Committee
Mary McCartin, Chairman
Arthur R, Bertini, Secretary
William Christman Frank D'Amico
-Adam Kolaslonalct Victor Pasche
Troy Snipes
Editorial Office
Exeomnicat, UNton News
301 Liberty St. Schenectady, N. ¥.
Telephone 3-1386
te tenn Dineen abe TIVO 1
Sat oa
—
301 Meeting Elects
White as Treasurer
The 301 membership meeting
this week elected Shop Steward
Marshall White :
of Building 13,
~treasurer-to-fill
the remainder
of the term of
William Downs,
who resigned
on leaving the
plant. White
was elected by
an overwhelm-
ing vote (stand-
ing vote) over
Shop Steward
Carmine DiGir-
olamo of Build- . ,
ing 69. The election was postpon-:
ed from the September member-
ship meeting because of the pres-
sure of business, A former treas-
201,-W
ing as acting treasurer by Execu-
tive Board appointment pending
the election.
UE Files Affidavits
The national UE office last week
filed with the Taft-Hartley Board
in Washington the affidavits and
financial statements required in
order for UE to appear on the bal-
lot in Taft-Hartley Board elec-
tions. The affidavits were signed
by the general officers: President
Albert J. Fitzgerald; Secretary-
Treasurer Julius Emspak; Direct-
or of Organization James J. Mat-
les, and the vice-presidents, who
include Leo Jandreau.
Rules For Meetings
Approved by 301
Rules recommended unanimous.
ly by the Executive Board to im-
prove the conduct of membership
meetings were unanimously ap-
proved by the 801 membership
meeting this week.
One rule is that any member
who refuses to behave in an order-
ly manner shall be removed by the
nearest two deputy sergeants-at-
arms. :
Another rule establishes- for
‘members attending the session
scheduled for their own shift the
prior right to seats and the prior
right to speak, over members from
another shift. Members attend-
ing a session scheduled for ‘another,
shift must sit in the rear and iden-
tify themselves. Any motion of
substance, not procedure, which is
voted on at the first part of a
meeting shall be automatically
placed in the same form: before
the second part of the meeting.
Voice of GE .
Union-Star Wants
CIO to Expel UE
After two years of interference
‘with UH’s business through lying
stories in its news columns, the
Schenectady Union-Star on Mon-
day ran an_ editorial demanding
that the CIO expel UE as a “red
union.”
The editorial made very clear
what the Union-Star meant by a
“red union.” It meant a union
which insists on taking orders
from the membership instead of
from a group of high-paid top of-
ficials of CIO. ,
The Union-Star, of course, is the
paper which in the past year has
most faithfully carried out the
hag-hean-serv-..GH's aim of spreading confusion_
and disunity in the membership of
801. Its so-called - news _ stories
have. consistently lied about the
Simplest facts of internal matters
in 3801,
What Are Real Motives?
Now the Union-Star says CIO
should: expel
ions so as to strengthen the CIO.
You are asked to believe that the
Union-Star ‘wants the labor move-
ment to be stronger, Presumably
the Union-Star also wants GE
workers to force a 35-hour week
and a big raise out of GE. Now
you tell one!
The Union-Star editorial wel-
comes the supposed fact that UE
and some other unions in CIO
“face suspension unless they
purge themselves of present lead-
ership.” In other words, to satis-
sy the Union-Star, the membership
must not be allowed to pick its
leadership. Outsiders must do it.
Ignore the Facts
The Union-Star of course plays
fast and loose with facts. It says
that the Farm Equipment Work-
ers are defying CIO “by merging"
with UE. The fact is that the FE
leadership is putting. the question
to a referendum vote of the mem-
. bership.
heen trying to confuse 301 mem-
bers with the lie that UE wants
to withdraw from CIO. Now its
editorial states:
“The electrical workers and
some others apparently intend to
fight ouster:from the CIO."
Then the editorial demands that
CIO throw UE out if it does not
“pow” to the “orders” of CIO.
The Union-Star serves GE well.
It serves neither democracy nor
democratic-run un- .
Templeton Appointment
Okayed by Membership
Appointment of William Tem-
pleton as an assistant to the busi-
ness agent was
unanim ously
approved by the
301 member-
ship meeting
this week, on
unanimous rec-
ommendation of
the. Executive
Board... Temple-
ton was named
in August to
succeed Wil-
liam J. Kelly,
who. decided to
return to his
job in the Turbine Division when
his maximum three-year leave of
absence from the plant ended.
Templeton’s appointment was
Templeton
September meetings, but action)
Ce
was postponed because of th
pressure of business, Templeton
has been succeeded.on the Execu-
tive Board by Shop Steward Lewis
Craft of Building 18 (shop elec-
tric) pending an election for the
Board post.
“Board Statements
Approved by 301
The 801 membership meeting
this week approved statements
adopted by the Executive Board
that: ;
1, Urged the membership to
unite against the efforts of James
B. Carey and his followers to
wreck the union.
2, Declared that the attempt
of President Frank Kriss to ad-
journ the membership meeting at
the armory Sept. 29 was illegal
and declared the Sept. 29 meeting
adopted the report of the 301
delegates to the UE convention.
The statement on the Carey
group pointed out that all talk
of “right wing” and “left wing”
only feeds the division which “the
outside forces behind Carey are
trying to create.’ It emphasized
that there is always room for
~—---For—weekts—the-- Unions Star—has-—onest-differences_of_opinion.and.
honest contests for office within
UE, but that the fight against the
Carey group “is the fight of the
membership. against those who
would destroy the union to help
the employers,”
the people, 3
The Union-Star is expert at
breaking up ClO unions. It:did a
thorough job on® the American
Newspaper Guild unit at its own
plant,
October 21; 1949 -
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
3
Settle Singer Strike
At Elizabeth Plant
The UE Local 401 strike at the
Singer Sewing Machine Company
at Elizabeth, N. J., has been
settled by an agreement which im-
proved conditions which existed at
the plant and improved on the
terms of the Bridgeport local’s
settlement.
Gains achieved by. Elizabeth
strikers included securing a per-
manent umpire to handle griev-
ances rising about piece work under
the incentive system. A piece work
grievance will be sent to an um-
pire within 6 to 18 days, instead
of dragging along for weeks and
months while the worker suffered
from unfair rates.
In Elizabeth, people on piece
work will continue to receive aver-
301 Votes to Help
Steelworkers' Strike
The 301. membership meeting
this week voted unanimously. to
back the Steelworkers’ strike with
moral and financial support. The
amount of the financial contribu-
tion was: left up to the Execu-
tive Board, ‘
As the 301 shop stewards and
Executive Board pointed out in a
statement recently, a press cam-
paign has already started to
blame the miners and steel work-
ers for lay-offs in other industries.
“We must understand clearly
that the mine owners and steel
companies bear the whole blame,”
the statement declared.
This week Schenectady news-
papers gave prominent space to
lay-offs at the Erie, Pa. GE
which management blamed on the
steel strike,
cy" their own.
\~F Loeal 401 also won a broaden-
ing of seniority protection and
fought off company efforts to sad-
dle it with-a clause like Bridge-
port’s, letting the company select
a large group of people for super-
‘seniority for “special value and
qualifications to the company.”
The 2 cent to 6 cent wage in-
creases for day workers were only
part of what could have been se-
cured in wages except for the be-
trayal of the strike by the settle.
ment agreed to by Bridgeport
leaders, followers of James. Carey.
Even so the Elizabeth local se-
cured increases for 2,000 hourly
paid employees, :
The Bridgeport leadership
knifed the Elizabeth workers just
at the point where real progress
was being made in negotiating a
good settlement. The company
showed willingness to negotiate a
decent contract: at a meeting Sept.
12 with the Elizabeth committee.
Two days later its attitude
changed completely, after a secret
deal was made between Tom
Williams, president of the Bridge-
port Singer local, and the com-
pany.
Flanigan in Hospital
"Executive Board Member Ray’
Flanigan is ill at St. Clare’s Hos-
pital where he was taken from his
home Oct. 8 His condition has
improved in the past week and
he has been allowed to see visitors,
REhe 301 Board members at their
last meeting contributed for a
“gift for him.
Flanigan is being temporarily
replaced on the Executive Board
by Shop Steward Earl H. Groat of
Building 49, }
Union Wins Back Pay
For 8 in Building 17
Back pay, won for eight! Build-
ing 17 workers through union
grievance procedure, was issued
last week by GE. The individual
amounts varied from $89 down.
‘Several of the workers involved
are. short service men who are out
of the plant now for lack of work.
The grievance was filed in
March by Shop Steward J. A. Mar-
tin with the assistance of Board
Member Sidney Friedlander... It
concerned rates paid on set-up
work done by piece work punch-
press operators on a day work
basis under a peculiar system ex-
isting only in Building 17, in an
index group.
Settlement was reached on the
New York level on a compromise
basis.
Jandreau, Running Mates
Elected to UE District
Local 301 will be represented
for the next year on the UE Dis.
trict 3 Council by Business Agent
Leo Jandreau, Board Members Jo-
seph Kelly, William Stewart and
William Mastriani, and by Phil
Cognetta of Building 52.
___They were elected at the 301
“membership meeting this week,
defeating the “following candi-
dates: President Frank Kriss, Re-
cording Secretary. Frank Fiorillo,
Martin Stanton of Building 69,
and Shop Stewards John Warren
of Building 273 and John Rej of
Building 42, _ / -
The vote was as follows: Jan-
dreau, 883; Mastriani, 323; Kelly
and Stewart, 822 each; Cognetta,
819; Kriss, 92; Fiorillo, 82; Stan-
ton, 81; Warren, 76, and Rej, 75.
FE Members to Vote
Gn Merging with UE
umerous stories have appear-
ec/ in the ‘anti-labor press to the
effect that the Farm Equipment
Workers, CIO, were planning “sec-
retly”” to join UE, and that such
action would be “eontrary-to a CIO
directive,” ,
The simple fact is that the gen-
eralsexecutive board of the Fart
Equipment union is recommendizig
affiliation. with UE, and that the
decision will be made by the mem-
bership. in a referendum. That
means that the decision will be
strictly up to the only. people who
‘have the right to make the decis-
ion — the workers.,
The background of the proposed
merger is as follows:
Attacked by UAW
Pe foe Peart reens BEpeoee, 5p SAEs, LOpep NMEA, 5, Penn ren samainer
ited Auto Workers Reus
ther leadership has been demand-
ing control over Farm Equipment
(FE) for some time. More than a
year ago the Auto Workers organ-
ized a raid against FE at the Cat-
erpillar Tractor Works in Peoria,
Il. The union wag on strike and
was under violent attack by the
company and every reactionary
force in the city. The UAW smash-
ed the strike.
Then the UAW was able to have
the executive board of the nation-
al CIO adopt a resolution, in No-
vember 1946, ordering FE to affili-
ate with the Auto Workers. This
order was rejected by every local
of the FE and by a special con-
vention of FE.
FE Rejects UAW Merger
Despite this membership decis-
ion, the national CIO leadership
proceeded to back the Auto Work-
ers in a nationwide campaign of
raiding against every local of FE.
In one attempted raid alone the
Auto Worker leadership spent
half a million dollars. The Auto
Workers petitioned for Taft- Hart-
—
Second Shift Holds
Plant Gate Meeting
Because of rain, the plant-gate
meeting for second shift workers
last week was postponed from
' Wednesday to Thursday at 6 p.m.
The program was the same as at
the first and third shift meeting
at 11 am. Wednesday. Vice-Presi-
“dent William Hodges read a state-
‘ment by Business Agent Leo Jan-
dreau. President Frank Kriss, who
presided, called for unity behind
the contract demands and so did
members of the Executive Board.
Several hundred second shifters
didn't hear about the postpone-
ment and left their jobs Wednes-
day to meet at 6 p.m. Victor
Pasche, assistant to the business
agent, read them the Jandreau
statement:on contract negotiations
» and GE’s refusal to settle griev-
ances,
UE Continues Fight
To Renew 52-20
Pointing out that hundreds of
thousands of veterans are in urg-
ent need of unemployment insur-
ance benefits, Albert J. Fitzgerald,
president of UE, recently called
upon. the heads of all veterans’ or-
ganizations to join this union in
putting pressure on Congressional
leaders to get the 81st Congress
to reinstate “52-20.”
ley elections. Despite this, the FE
members rejected the Auto Work-
ers in one election after another,
and preserved their union.
Then last May the CIO executive
board passed a resolution declar-
ing that since the FE had refused
to obey what the resolution called
“CIO policy,” the board would rec-
ommend that the next CIO Con-
vention revoke the FE charter.
If FE joins UE, it will be be-
cause the members want it, and
see that such action is the way to
preserve control by. the member-
ship in every local of FE.
Did You Get Your
Membership Card?
The practice has now been established in Local 301 of requiring
every member to identify himself .at membership meetings by his cur-
rent 301 membership card and GE badge or card. Any member who
hasn’t his membership card_should_fill_ont_the.form_below and hand...
“it to his ‘shop steward. There is space for him to mark if he needs a
membership card and space to mark if he isn’t getting the UE News.
ADDRESS _
NAMEL Check Now
I have no-801 membership card for the last quarter
(October, November, December) of 1949.
I do not receive the national UE News.
!
