“TUE
AFL-CIO_
Vol. 4— No. 30
The Voice of GE-Workers, Local 301, Schenectady, N.Y.
May 2, 1958
- District No. 3 Adopts Resolution
On Right to Work Legislation.
Despite the AFL-CIO’s speedy expulsion of unions ei-
_gaged in racketeering, the lobbyists of Big Business are work- “
( “ng day and night-in every state of the union to pass as much
~..zegislation as possible to hamstring the trade union movement
—in other words, ‘to kill it and return to the sweat shop days.
' This is one of the gravest dan-
gers facing ‘us today. For, ‘the
forces ‘of reaction, heavily-financed,
are pushing their “right to work”
proposals all over the land.
Latest danger spot is not an ag-
ricultural or strietly rural states it
is Ohio, which, though it -has many
farms, is. one’ of the most highly-
industrialized sections of the lund.
In Ohio, the Chamber of Commerce
is passing around petitions calling
for a state-wide Feferendum on
adoption of a “right to work” law.
4s usual, vast amounts of money
. ‘Be being spent, with the purpose
“of rendering unions impotent,
As usual, the “right to work” ad-
vocutes say their law would be to
the advantage of workers, that the
elimination of the necessity of un-
ion membership would mean that -
every Ohioan would have the right
to work, :
In the forefront of this drive is
General Electric, whieh-is sending
spexkers to luncheons and other
places where it can hand out its
propaganda in favor of “right to
work.” 7 °
The horrible thing about this
drive is that GE in Ohio, as ‘else-
“nere, hus laid off hundreds of
—orkers with no right to work for
Glu until it pleases that company
to call them back, GE has bitterly
opposed all forms of ‘job security
and was among the leaders in the
fight to bar approval by Ohio of
Supplementary Unemployment
Benefit Plans.
All through Ohio, there are
thousands .laid off Their right to
work has been taken from them.
~Now, the Chamber of Commerce
‘er its allies would take from
“them the right to full protection of
i. Union.
Another danger spot js Cali-
fornia, where Senator William
Knowland, now seeking. the: Gov-
ernorship, is pledged to supporting
and, if passed, sign a “vight to
work” law.
Labor union members, their fam-
jlies and our frivnds can’t. sit
around and say it can’t happen
here. It has happened in Indiana,
another major industrial state, It
has happened in Alabama, Arizona,
Arkunsas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada,
North Carolina, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Tennessee, ‘Texas,
Utah and Virginia,
Many of the other states are at-
tracting businesses which are run-
ning away from unionization of
industrial areas. GE, for example,
has come out openly and said that
it will establish future plants in
“ight to work states”, because
the “atmosphere” is right .for GE,
which we know is a hope on GE's.
part that it will be able to defeat.
IUE organization,
There are bills up in many states.
Some have been killed in commit-
tee, some on the legislature floor
But, this does not deter the “right
to work” wreekers, They have
come back again in many instane-
es and with their vast funds will
be back again,
Every IUE member, every mem.
ber of his family, every member of
the community in whieh the plants
operate has a stake in this “right
to work” fight. The IUE pledges
fullest support to the crusade to
defeat these moves in Ohio, in Cal-
ifornia and wherever else they
come up. Tt calls on every one of
its members to join the “save our
Union” fight. :
Let there he no return to the.
days of the sweat. shops,
Puow AgOuT THAT FCC
COMMISSIONER TAKING
ALL THAT LOOT FOR GIVING
OUT A TV. STATION? 4
and party nights.
301 union members:
Grasso.
Forget-Me-Not Drive
«The annual “Forget-nie-not Drive” of the Disabled American
Veterans’ being held today is a worthy cause. ~Funds collected go
towards helping hospitalized ‘veterans with donations, cigarettes
Among the workers on this committee are some active Local
Executive Board Member Herman Podell,
Shop Steward Tom Brzoza, Frank Pidgeon, Joe Pidgeon and Al
New Benefit Rates Under Amended
Unemployment Insurance Law:
Higher unemployement benefits have gone into effect under the new
law and are retroactive to July Ist, 1957,
Weekly benefits are figured
on the average weekly wage of the worker during his base period which
generally is.the average weekly wage-in the year before his unemploy-
ment,
table:
oAY K
Ave rage weekly wage
Less than $16
$16.00 more but less than $17.00
$17.00 more but less than $19.00
$19.00 or more but less than $21.00
$21.00 or more but less than $23,00
$23.00 more but less than $24.00
$24.00 more but less than $26.00
$26.00 more but less than $28.00
$28.00 more but less than $30,00
$30.00 more but less than $32.00
$32.00 more but less than $34.00
$34.00 or more but less than $386.00
$36,00°or more but less than $38,00
$38.00 more but less than $40,00
$40.00 more but less than $42.00
$42.00 more but less than $45.00
$45.00. or more but less than $47.00
$47.00 more but less than $49.00
$49.00 more but less than $52.00
$52.00 more but less than $54.00
$54.00
$57.00
$59.00
$62.00
more but less than $59.00
more but less than $62.00
more but less than $64.00
$64.00 more but less than $67.00
$67.00 more but less than $70.00
0 or more bit less than $73.00
00 or more but less than $75.00
or more but less than $77.00
or more but less than $79.00
or more but less than $81.00
or more but less than $83.00
or more but less than $85.00
or more but less than $87.00
or more but less than $90.00
$90.00 or more
Puan... WE 44D PAID
TV. ALL ALONG ANO
NEVER KNEW IT fo
more but less than $57.00
Benefits on a weekly basis can be computed from the following
“up
Benefit rate for each
Accumulation
of four effective days
$10
12
13°
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
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29
30
31
32
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43
Ad
45
Buy Union Label
At the April 21st membership
meeting, Mr. Henry Beeker, Na-
tional Representative of the Amal-
gamated Clothing Workers of
America, APL-CIO, spoke on the
importance of buying Union Label,
A Union Label Committee. will
be set up in Local 3801 to work with
other union label committees.
In suits most of the labels are on
the inside pocket. On shirts it is
on the tail. If you can’t find the
Union Label, ask the salesman,
IPO PE SSPE ECE I OE
Es
TONED
od ae
seem nn nT EI EE EN
~ Current Events In My Section
Bigot by Allen E,
Docket, #8328-58 is a fine exam-
ple of real collective bargaining
with the Company. This. docket
protested that the breaking-in rate
in the winders and. conneetors
group in Bldg.°50 for the new per-
sonnel coming in on the job was
inadequate, The foreman’s answer
at the step one level stated that
the rates were proper. At a pre-"
liminary step two meeting the Un-
ion bargaining committee made
several telling points in’ arguing
this cise. Management at that
time asked for time to look into
this case further. At a second step
two meeting they agreed. to pay
one or more steps increase in the
startifig rate to several workers,
They agreed to pay this retroactive
to the time they started on the job.
General Docket #8249-58° pro-
tested the numerous salaried work-
ers doing work in Bldgs, 81 and 85
normally dene by bargaining unit
employees. At a step two meeting
the Union committee made the fol-
lowing protests: -
1. Methods people doing wind-
ing work in Bldg. 81.
Methods people doing instruc.
ting work in Bldg. 81 on both
«rotors and turning and bal-
ancing.
Engineers — doing
work in. Bldg. 81.
Salaried technicians doing
instructing and trouble shoot-
ing in Bldg. 85 on the 250
line and special line.
A foreman doing test and re-
pair work in Bldg. 85 on the.
280 line.
Salaried help doing machinist
work in Bldg. 85.
After two second step meetings,
the Company agreed that’ these
practices mentioned, were wrong
and agreed to correct these prac-
tices at once, A. periodic cheek is
being made by the Board Member
and the Stewards in thé’ affected
machine
Townsend Pee ae ee
area to make sure this promise is
kept.
Dovket 8280-58 was filed in
protest of a violation of Article XI
(3) of the contract. This article
states that an employee trans-
ferred from the bargaining: unit
to jobs in the non-hargaining unit
may be returned to their former
classificution, in the ° bargaining
unit in accordance with their total
continuous service,
‘In this
was given a foreman's job. When
Hie Was reached on tack of work,
he was placed back inte the. bar-
gaining unit as a Horizontal Bor-
ing Mill Operator, At a step two
meeting with Coordinator Christ-
man and Board Member Wager
negotiating for the Union, the
Company — representatives agreed
that it was wrong to place this ex-
foreman on the horizontal boring
mill job. Furthermore, they agreed
to place the ex-foreman on Cl. B
Toolmaking where he belonged in
the first place.
Men's employment went to a
new low during the past week.
According to the Company, a man
on lack of work must have at least
11/1/51 service to be plated on
common labor, They alse informed
us that a further reduction of 800
workers by Sept. 1, 1958, is con-
templated. This will add further
to an already bad unemployment
situation, .
Women’s employment is still on
the down trend. As of April 28,
1958, the dates on cleaning women
and offiee service stood as follows:
40 hry 8/8142
40 hy, (Cafeteria) 9/23/12
SO hy (Cafeteria) 10/29/42
30 hr. 2/21/48
25 he. 3/16/48
20 hey 4/29/43.
These figures will probably be
obsolete by the time we go to
press.
Annual Clean-up Drive in May
May 3 to 17-has been announced ‘for the annual clean-up paint-up,
fix-up drive in Schenectady. Among the books at the Schenectady County
Public Library which will help you to
hazards are:
The Art of Home Landscaping.
Garrett Eckho,
beautify the city and eliminate fire
Dodge, 1956. T12K18ar.
Problems of grading, planting, surfacing, fencing, and providing for
storage, service, and recreation space are included.
First Aid for the Ailing House, 5th rev. ed.
R. B. Whitman, MeGraw,
1958, 643.7W61a3. Covers most up-to-date materials and methods.
Gardens are for People; How to Plan
Reinhold. 1955. 712C56,
Goodheart=Willeox’s
for Outdoor Living. T. D. Church.
Painting und Decorating Encyclopedia; 1 Complete
Library of Professional Know-How on
Painting, Devorating and
Wood-Finishing, W, D. Jarvis. Goodheart-Willcox. 1957. 698.1088.
Walks and Paths—Drivewuys, Steps, Curbs, and Edgings. R. R. Hawkins,
Van Nostrand, 1951, 698H89.
If you have a request for other materials not included, write
ial Committee, Loval 301, 121 Erie Blvd.
'
editor-
The Schenectady County Public
Library has been very helpful in their selections of the above mentioned
books. Let’s.all.do our part in this year's drive,
vase a CL, BR Toolmaker,
§ Operation Upturn
(A Slogan Is Not Enough)
We agree up to a certain point
with Board Chairman Cordiner on
his “Operation Upturn” program.
The point is—if the need to “avoid
panicky measures” is as important
as. Cordiner feels, then employee
scurity for the “General Hleetric
Chain will provide vovery calming
influence om General Electric em-
ployees, their families and the pub-
lic as a whole... If the people see
that not“only is General Electric
saying they interested in’ the
future of their employees but will-
ing to put down on paper, in the
form of a supplement to our Na-
tional Contract, that the General
Electric «will pravide stable em-
ployment, stop runaway shops and
the other "protections needed hy
General Eleetric employees for job
security, we are sure that this will
-prove to the American public that
the General Electric Company is
not just interested ino making up
cautchword slogans, but is actually
taking a step forward to provide
security for their employees.
The Scheneetady employee has
seen division after division moved
from Schenectady and currently
has seen female employees with 15
years of service and over unable to
hold a job in the Schenectady plant
because there was no work for
them, The employees have seen
mile employees vith almost 7
years of service unable to hold
any type of job in the Schenectady
plant. Therefore, when “Operation
Upturn” is accepted wholehearted-
ly by General Eleetrie Company
and they come to their.employees
and say not only are we asking you
to have confidence in the General
Klee sompany, but here is
something signed hy us in the -form
of Employment Security, then the
employees will have — confidence
that the Gide, will not just give lip
service to their employees and the
country but actually are interested
in “Operation Upturn”.
UNION MEMBERSHIP...
GE. Continues
Attack on Carey
General Electric in their re-
cent publication of “Let's
Talk Shop” - continues to
charge National I.U.E. leader:
with | provoking . local labo
trouble. Local management is
still trying to hide the real
issucs which forced our Tur-
bine members to strike.
Local union leaders had tried “to
resolve this case on all three levels.
of the grievance procedure — but
could not because of General Elee-
trie’s attitude on working people
out of classification. General Ilee-
tric may think that by sending out,
many copies of “Let’s Talk shai’)
1c
to community leaders, the publi
will he fooled into thinking that it
was National 1U.I. officers rather
than local leaders who tried to ne-
gotiate this case.
GE. is trying to cover up their
shortcomings by telling the com-
inunity that President Carey wants
tu set up a push button strike in
October, They said the same thing
in 1055, but neither the communi-
ties nor the members of the T.U.E.
were fooled in the least. They won’t
be fooled by such progaganda in
1958 cither. G.E. doesn’t fool any-
ene when they try to tie local prob-
lems in with the ’58 Reopener
Clause of our Contract. Many tim d
in the past local leaders have asket
muinagement if they would leave
things “status quo” while negotiat-
ing a problem, but their answer was
always “no” This is one of the rea-
sons why Uhere are soo many loci
problems. GE. must take the
blame for any local strike, as many
of the problems facing our mem-
bers today would have been re-
solved peacefully before decentral-
ization of the Schenectady plant.
if GR. believes they can hood-
wink the public into thinking Pres-
ident Carey can foree local planta’
on strike in preparation for the
1958 negotiations, they are
mistaken. The record speaks
itself. For many months Pres:
Carey has asked G.E. to sit down
well ahead of the September 1st
negotiation. date so us to have
plenty of time to discuss’ any mis-
understandings of the 58 Reopener.
This they have refused to do. They
say 30 days will be time enough.
In view of the present unemploy-
ment situation, the Contract Re-
opener on Employment Security is
of extreme importance
. GE, is ne
behind many of the major con! e)
panies on unemployment compen-
sation of any kind. This is just one
of the many things they should
correct, Our National “Hight Point
Program” is a good one and if GE.
would only spend-half of the time
negotiating in good faith as they
do attacking local and national
leaders
tually sateled,
Os
sad oy
» mentators
; the problems could be mu-
ff
REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP.
(LEGISLATIVE INSTITUTE).
by William Garrison
It has become increasingly evident ‘over the past few years
that if we, as free American Joined together in the democratic
trade union movement, stand to maintain the gains we have
ade for better working conditions and improvement of liv-
g standards for our families which, each in turn, add to a
better future for our children in generations to come, we must
realize that, as individuals, our responsibilities and interests
on the legislative front cannot be confined to the sole principle
Election Day.
We as individuals must be alert
on the legislative front 865 days a
year. to the type, of: -legislation.
State. .
pending before our Lécal,
and Federal governments, ¢ In ‘our
J,ocal we have a ‘Legislative Com-
( hitee comprised of union mem-
“Bers who study the various laws
and other legislative processes that
are being ‘considered for enactment
by our Local, State and Federal
governments: ‘This committee aft-
er a careful study of the implica-
tions of this legislation, points out
to the membership the good or bad
points of the legislation and us to
whether or. not it is harmful or
beneficial to you as an individual.
Viewing our local activities in
the legislative field over
few years, it is obvious that there
is a greater need for individual and
collective participation, With an
is field, the International office
as ‘to aiding and helping us in
‘of the IUE-AFL-CIO in Washing-
ton, D. C., set up an Education
Legislative Institute, which was
held in Washington from April 20-
24, 1958. The delegates attending
_ from
Local 301 were: William
Stewart, Chairman of our Legisla-
tive Committee and Co-Chairman
of our Committee on Political Edu-
cation, and William Garrison,
Chairman of our local Committee
on Political Education (COPE).
Daily sessions were held at the
instiute from 7:45 am, through
9:00 p.m., each day at which time
the delegates attending held ses-
ns with U, S. senators and rep-
Fesentatives, both Democrat and
Republican alike. Sessions were
also held with top union officers
and nationally known news com-
along with Herb Block,
world famous cartoonist of the
Washington Post. :
Included on the agenda were vis-
its to sessions of the Senate and
the House of Representatives; alsd
visits to various committee hear-
(: see The delegates also had the
pportunity to visit the Embassies
of Malaya and India.
As you can readily see, the In-
stitute ‘covered in a broad. sense.
the legislative processes of: our
Federal Government which aifect
us both at home and abroad. In
the future through the implemen-
tation of the knowledge gained by
your Local’s participation in the
-International’s Education Legisla-
the past ”
easily.
“of being a member of a political party and voting as such on
tive Institute, it will be the mem-,
duty and responsibility”
bership’s
to act upon the recommendations
of the Committee of Politics al Edu-
cation and your Legislative Com-:
mittee us the means to making ~
your vote count not only on Elec-
tion Day, but 365 days of the year.
LOCAL 301
PARTY NITES
EVERY TUESDAY
7:00 p.m.
UNION AUDITORIUM
Token for Granted
“Many of the hard won gains of
labor are often taken for granted
by the averaje employee. This
happens more often with the short-
er service cmployecs. The oldtim-
ers of our Union who took part in
many of these fights remember la-*
bor’s battles for benefits. other
than wage increases,
More and more contracts today
include such paid time benefits as
Vacations, Holidays, Personal
Leave, Shift Differentials, Over-
time Premiums and Call-in Pay.
Few workers get the benefit of all
these “fringes”; however, Unions
are making strides in this area
through collective bargaining
whieh will benefit all workers.
The average worker should be
reminded that the employers did
not give these benefits through the
goodness of their hearts. These
improved conditions did not come
All of the above mentioned
improvements and many more are
the hard fought gains of Organized
Labor and should not be taken for
granted.
IVE-CIO LOCAL 301 NEWS
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF LOCAL 301,
REPRESENTING SCHENECTADY
GE WORKERS
Rie 2
Published by the Editorial Committee
~Harry Williams
~John Shambo
~Gerald O'Brien
Prosidont
Vice President
Treasurer
Rocording Secretary.
Ass't Recording Sacretar
Chief Shop Steward
V21 BRIE BLVD, SCHENECTADY, N. Y.
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PN eR SM ee eM RB eB
oe AS ESEEID
Ot tees eee: by CHARLES SCOTT 6 9.99: 9.0.st esis
As I have been reading many
fairy tales lately, both in the local
press and in the G.E. News, per-
haps that.is what ‘people are now
conditioned to, ‘and so I will at-
tempt this week to write one also,
‘ Once upon a time in the Howack
Valley in; the State of New Cork
was a, company called the Allpur-
pose Lightening Company which
was located in the City of Gelectri-
eady. The, Company had ‘a- policy:
“of moving: parts of the ‘plant after
they were fully-developed to other
parts of the couttry where labor
_ was cheaper so-the Company could
make higher profits. The labor
union who represented the workers
in the Allpurpose Lightening. Com-
pany complained of this transfer-
ring of jobs to both the City Fath-
ers and the State but these com-
plaints fell on deaf ears; for the
policy of these astute politicians
owas, “Above all don’t irritate ‘the
Company”.
As the Allpurpose Lightening
_ Company grew throughout the na-
tion, the plant in Gelectricady was
not inereased proportionwise. Then
the Company’s heads came oul
with a program of how to double
production without any additional
help and how the Company felt
that. plants should only employ 10,-
000 people because large plants
were a thing of the past. :
‘The tabor union contacted the
City Fathers and showed them this
program of the Company, telling
them that the Gelectricady Plant
employed over 30,000 and this
would mean a great loss to the
community. :
The City Fathers pondered this
question «and asked Company su-
pervision, who were among the
City Fathers, what this would
mean, After asking this question
and not receiving an answer, the
City Fathers thought that we had
better ignore this statement of the
Compiny's; for, if we question
them about it, the Company may
become embarrassed.
As time went on, the Company
continued on with its program of
“making the Gelectrieady Plant
smaller. After many thousands of
Gelectricady citizens had lost their
jobs, the City Fathers finally got
up enough nerve to ask the Com-
pany about the future of Gelectri-
eady. The answer from the All-
purpose Lightening Company was
short, “You ain’t got no culture’.
The City Fathers were amazed
by this direct, intelligent answer to
their question ..and.- spent. .much
time discussing this profound state-
ment. After much discussion, the
City Fathers finally figured they
had better ignore this statement as
again—“We had better not irritate
the Company”!
‘time “were: the
- With: for sale signs to the
_of the Company to other
As layoffs continued in the Gel-
“eetricady plant, the total of em-
ployees laid off came close to 12,000...
Citizens began to ask the City
Fathers—didn't they think it was
about time they spoke to the Com-
pany about these people .losing
their jobs?) The answer from the
Ctiy Fathers was—we are now
busy ‘on other major problems; we
will think about this minor trouble
in a while. Some of the major
problems under discussion at this
town pump is
broken and what kind of grass seed
far the locul golf course. Of course,
the citizens of Gelectricady. had to
agree that these were indeed press-
ing problems und, anyway, who
“would want to put the City Fathers
on the spot by insisting that they
ask the Company embarrassing
questions about employment,
So all the good citizens of Ge-'
lectricady went homeward past the
blank, store fronts with for rent
signs and down the ‘streets filled
homes;
reminding themselves. that indeed
the City Fathers are handling this
matter real well; for when the
Company says we must move partse
areas ‘for
higher = profits, and ~ employees
should work at a lower standard in
the Gelectrieady plant, the Com-
pany is really doing the citizens of
Gelectrieady a favor; for we all
know what is good for the Allpur-
pose Lightening Company is good
for everyone, beeause the Com-
pany’s motto is, “A Lower Stand-
and of Living for, Employees and
Higher Profits for the Company is
Our Main Goal”.
Any resemblance between Gelec-
triendy and any city dead or dying
is intentional,
Cost of Living
Up Again
The United States: Bureau of La-’
bor Statistics reported that the
Cost of Living Index has risen to
123.3, an inerease of 1.7 points
over last December, Therefore, un-
der the IUE-GE Contract, GE. em-
ployees will reeeive anothér small.
wage increase,
The Cost of Living provision in
the IUE Contract will provide for
an inerease of about 1449.
The General Hlectrie Company
says that this is inflationary; how-
ever, it was the long range plin-
ning of our National Negotiating
Committee and at their insistence
that this provision was put in our
contract ta help our members olff-
set the increase in the cost of liv-
ing. r
Attend Your
Union Meeting
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