‘The Voice of GE.
Workers, Local 301 Jan. 27, 1961.
ry
DUES INCREASE TQ BE EFFECTIVE IN FEBRUARY
PETITION CIRCULATED TO
LOWER RETIREMENT AGE
In light of the growing unem-~
ployment and some of its contribut-
ory causes, such as new methods of
production, new machining and auto-
mation, along with the young people
entering the labor market, we of
Local 301 are of the opinion ‘that a
means for earlier retirement would
help to alleviate. this critical
situation. ; ;
In support of this opinion,
petitions (addressed to our rep-
resentatives in Congress) are being
, circulated throughout our Union. by
~ the Shop Stewards to introduce and’
urge passage of a bill which would
amend the Social Security Act to
ae full pensions at the age
of . uo
If the opportunity were pro-~
vided to retire at age 60, many
employees would take the option
that is provided in many plans for
optional retirement between the
ages of 60 and 65 years.
If you have not already seen
the petition, we urge that you
contact your steward immediately,
REMINGTON-RAND MOVES TO EUROPE
Elmira, N.Y¥., which has already
been listed as a chronically dep-
ressed area, is now facing a future
of even more uncertainty as a comm-
unity unless something drastic is
done in the very near future,
Remington-Rand, which employs
a large section of the population
in Elmira, has made public its in-
tention to move much of its type~-
writer manufacturing to Europe!
Elmira has a population of 45,000.
The big problem is how to find
work for the men and women who
have already been laid off by a
variety of local industries and the
workers who will lose their jobs
because of this move to Europe.
(cont'd. reverse side)
An accordance with Article II
of the GE-IUE (AFL-CIO) National
Agreement, we are notifying the
local management that beginning with
the February 1961 check-off of Union
dues for members of IUE-AFL-CIO,
Local 301, the amount of dues shall
increase seventy-five cents (75¢)
amonth, This will make the monthly
dues $4.89 a month...
The IUE National Convention of
last September adopted an Amendment
to the National Constitution, which
was subsequently approved by a major.
ity of the IUE Locals, to make it
mandatory for those Locals with
monthly dues of less than. $5.00 to
increase dues by 75¢._
Therefore, the legal requirement
under the Labor-Management Report-~-
ing and Disclosure Act has been ad-
hered to,
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Do you enjoy helping others?
jWould you like to take an active
ypart in your community affairs?
Do
you have any hobbies?
The Volunteer Bureau of
Schenectady, a branch of the Comm~
unity Chest, is dedicating the week
of January 30th, to volunteers for
Schenectady, It marks their annual
drive to obtain people with various
sorts of skills and talents to help
carry on many community projects.
In many cases it requires-just
a few hours of your time and -that
time is used in helping others who
need attention and aid of one sort
or another,
The Volunteer Bureau covers
such work as helping those who are
ill, taking part in children's pro-
grams, such as activities at the "Y'
the Scout Movement, Little League
baseball, helping our senior citizens
and in many other ways.
If you are interested, you can
contact Mrs, Rice or the Volunteer
Bureau, EXpress 9-1343.
PRIORITY IS URGED
FOR 6 KEY ACTIONS —
Warning that the nation stands
"on the threshold: of the gravest
economic crisis. since the great
depression: of the 30's," the AFL~CId
has called on the 87th Congress to
act at once to restore the nation's
economic growth.
for "priority" on eight key actions.
The AFL-CIO called for the
following eight-point program:
1, Presidential authority to in-
voke a $10 a week cut in personal
income taxes for 10 weeks when un-
employment exceeds 7 percent.
2. Emergency supplementary unem-
ployment insurance, which would
cost about $205 million a month,
including payments to jobless per-~
sons with substantial earnings
records not now insured. —
3.- An immediate 10 percent hike in
Social Security bmefits, amounting
to $100 million a month,
4, Federal incentive grants of
300 million to stimulate action on
state and local public works pro--
jects already approved but tempor-
arily shelved,
5. Tax relief for small business
so normal tax would be 22 percent
and surtax 30 percent. Reverse is
now the law,
6, Easing terms on FHA and VA mort-
gages to stimulate home building.
7» Accelerated placement of govt.
contracts for construction and
purchase of supplies.
8. Revision.of Federal Reserve
Board policy to provide for pur-
chase of securities.of varying
maturities, with awdlew toward
lowering long-term interest rates,
KENNEDY INCREASES SURPLUS
FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN U.S.
The first major action taken
by President Kennedy to aid depress-
ed areas was an executive order to
inerease the amount and types of
"Surplus Food" for needy families. _
The action was taken the very first
day after his inauguration,
Secretary of Agriculture |
Orville Freeman:-followed up this
week by issuing an order for feder-~
al purchase of pork, beans and dried
eggs for the needy,
Freeman stated that shipments
of canned pork and gravy, dried
peas and dried whole egg solids
The. AFL-CIO called
(conttd, next column)
(Cont'd. )
REMINGTON-RAND MOVES
In mid-October, the unemploy-.
-ment rate in Elmira was 4.7%. The
month before that the Federal Govt.
listed the city as one:.of the
depressed areas in N.Y. State,
In a few months, the layoffs:
caused by a transfer of work to ~
Europe will make it worse, unless
someone provides a quick solution
to this problem of runaway plants
to low wage areas,
In addition to passage of a
depressed. areas bill, a concerted
effort must be made to discourage
American industry from moving
American’ jobs to foreign countries
while our population suffers from
unemployment, _
‘While West Berlin enjoys full
employment made possible by our
American dollars, cities like
Schenectady, Elmira, Detroit and’
others suffer from chronic unem-
ployment, and because of investments
at the rate of $2 billion a-year
in foreign countries, our gold
supply keeps dwindling away.
SEVERANCE PAY EXPLAINED
by Allen E. Townsend
Under the new contract, when
an.employee is put on lack of work,
there are several ways in which he
can qualify for: Severance Pay.
The least known of these is
that if he goes to work for another
company and is on lack of work from
the G.E. for a period of one year
without applying for or collecting
Severance Pay, a lump sum payment
of. his whole Severance Pay will be
remitted to him. This will not
have to be repaid to the company
and would in no way affect his
recall rights and his service
credits when he is recalled.
If he collects only part of
his Severance Pay during his first
year of layoff, at the end of one
year any balance of his severance
pay remaining would be remitted
to him,
will be available to states for
distribution by late February or
sarly March of this year,
He further stated that ‘we ~
are providing essential food for.
those who need it and at the same
time assisting American farmers °
by action that will help to
-docrease our agricultural. surplus."
