ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
Friday Sept. 28, 1951
BY YOMEN .
“Take that aie back!
Union Sends Thanks to
‘Police on Subway Duty .
A letter was sent to’ the Polié .
‘partment by the officers of U.E. Local
301 thanking the police for the job that
was done by them in preserving order
at‘the Subway.Gate during he came
paign.
- +A letter was algo sent by fhe Union
officials ot the Mayor and: City Manager
requesting them. to pay ‘the. policemen
for the etxra hours they were required
~'to be on duty, over and above their reg-
ular schedule. .'So far ‘the: policemen
havernot beer, paid for their | ‘overtime. :
J refuse to be influenced by my constituents.”
UE Member Ine :
Request for Blood Donors |
Mary Ravas; a U.E..member working
in Bldg. 285, is requesting .a blood dona-
tion, Her mother has been ill and owes
the hospital three (pa of blood.
Any member willhg to help” this sister
member’ can contact the Union office or
Sam Scott, Executive ‘Board representa-
tive-in Bldg. 2865, £s
The: Union pays one how lost time to
blood dgnomEe Os »
meas Make Tt 100% UE
oS Stock Room. Members to Meet. October 10°
‘On Rates of Pay and Job Definitions
A special meeting, willbe held at Un:
ion Headquarters on Wednesday, Ovto-
ber 10th, at 7:30 pam, for members.
Accumulate...
classified..as. Stockhandlers,.
ors, Tallymen, and those occupations Tee
lated ta Stock Rooms.
There has been kengial dissatisfaction
xpressed by these fhember Ls ‘conver ning
their rates und job delinitions,
The meeting will take up any ques.
tions relating: to -these- oecupationsy-.
commiltee will be elected. from the meet-
ing to process a ease directly to man-
agement.
“the membership.
Delegates to Convention
To Report Monday
The, delegates, who attended the 16th
Annual Convention as representatives of
Local.301, will make their report to the »
membership on. Monday, October 1st.
In a brief report to the Executive
Board last’. week, the delegates stated
that the victory of U.E. Local 301 in the
N.L.R.B. election -over the I.U.E, was :
‘given recognition : by the 500. delegates, .
‘by making 2. special order of business
in the convention, with the Schenectady
delegates coming to the platform to give
report. on the: victory. ie
Seek Contributions
-« Among the many zesolutions that were
“adopted,
‘that was causing. some confusion in the
the delegates explained one:
shops because’ ofthe. local newspaper
stories. The resdlution proposed estab-
Hshing a. million dollar defense fund
based. on voluntary contributions from
At the same.time the
resolution proposed the organizing of
the unorganized workers in conjunction
with the raising of the defense fund. ¥)
There never has been ‘iin assessment in &
ULE. up to the present: time.
The deleg ates reported that the full
five days of convention was devoted to
discussing the problems of.the member-
ship, and very little time was-taken up
by speeches from the platform, A full,
detailed -report will be made bythe dele-
gates to the -membership on Monday,
October 1st.
| Notice. to Injuréd Workers
‘The services of Leon Novak, the Un-
ion’s . lawyer, are
U.E. In order to provide the fullest
protection to the worker, it is necessary
that full information and a euse history
be given to the lawyer before the case
cames to court. The lawyer must have
advance notice of a hearing if he is: ‘to
be of any. service to the: worker, The ”
practice of usking the lawyer for help
for the first time in court on the day of
-a worker’s hearing makes it difficult for
him to give adeqate service and also
makes trouble in.expediting the cases
the lawyer has scheduled forthe other
inembers who have followed’ ’the pro-,
cedure of furnishing ‘the required: infoi+,
mation to his office. “Once again Wovare
requesting that members who want to
A> vavall themselves: of: the Union-lawyer’s
services on" compensation should report
to the lawyer’s office in the Union hall
before going to cout. |. ° .
available to injured -
-workers who ave members of Local 301
ELECTRIC
& THE VOICE OF THE UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS
L
NIO
News"
OF AMERICA . -- LOCAL 30],
Vol. 9 — No. 20°
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK.
= Oct. 5, 1951
q F-301 |
CERTIFIED
Court-€lears
Emspak, Matles
The National Labor Rela-
_tions Board has certified UE
Local. 301 as the collective -
bargaining representative: of
GE workers in Schenectady
following UE’s smashing: aes
to 1 victory over IUE-CIO in
the September*14 NLRB bal-
loting. That was on Tuesday
of this week.
Twenty-four hours earlier,
Federal Judge Sylvester Ryan
_ threw out contempt proceed-
ings against Julius Emspak,
‘UE’s secretary-treasurer, and
James J. Matles, director of
organization.
Pfoves Frame-tp
The-dismissal of the court pro-
dings three weeks
_ Schenectady election proves to,the
hilt that the subpoenas were a
frame-up engineered between IUE-
CIO and anti-labor politicians ‘to ”
swing the election to ‘the Carey
clique. ve
The UE national officers: were
subpoenaed-on the eve of the Sche-
nectady vote in connection “with
their non-Communist affidavits.
Judge Ryan’s decision clears them.
» Nails Lies ee
. WilKam Kelly, President of UE
Local 301, today recalled that IUE
President James Carey had boast-
ed that Emspak and Matles would’,
be in jail before the Schenectady '.
returns were in and that UE 301
would not be certified " by . the
NLRB if it won. “That- nails two
-more.lies inte the IUB-CIO. sent"
he declared.
President Kelly said that these
developments also cleared the deék. a
for the fight of.:GE workers.
throughout the country, .to. get
moreé'than 244 perecent-out of the
company.
workers’ wages are still be-
low budget requirements. -
The present. ‘estimated GE wage «
: for'52 weeks is about $3,848,
. ‘The, BLS Budget for a family of
four is’ $4,000, 8 cr
The Heller. Committee Budget
for a family of four is M447,
after’ thé:
Members \ Vow. Fight for Wage Boost
After Hearing GE Threw Out Demands ©
The UE-GE Conference Board is mobilizi
‘all-out fight, to protect the living standards ¢
ing GE locals throughout the GE, chain fir an
f ‘members and families,
_ A Local 301 membership meeting on Monday approved, Without a dissenting. vote, a
A. Red fold .
. inequities of day
, has recommended
’ tion of the ‘membership and
“I think we can afford to be generous.
Our profits.are up 55%
over last’ year. Shall we say 2% percent’ is a fair wage offer?
wmdoe lie Adininistration’s tax program, a worker's family of
four with an income of $3000 will have to pay $788. 50 a year
in Federal, Stato and local taxes.
» declaration which turns down
the Company’s miserly ay
|, percént wage offer,
Present, living standards,
inadequate as they are, can-
not be maintained on the basis
of a few pennies, President, -
William Kelly said today.
“We're going to be hit and
hit hard by new taxes,” Kelly
said, “and everyone in busi-
ness is going to try to pass on
his increased taxes to. the’
Working people'iii the form of
higher prices. |
“We're going to lose some
of the things we now. own and
give up our. plans ‘for new.
things unless we get a real
; wage increase,”
Record Profits
-As GE workers faced this
erim threat . fo themselves —
and their families, GE is-roll-
ing. in. the highest profits in
its history, this year’s -profits
running 55 percent over last
year, Yet 214 percent is all
GE says it can give!
GE ; refuses, according to
the UE Negotiating Commit’
tee, even to discuss the wage
workers,
women workers, skilled
trades. -As a result, no fur.
ther meetings are scheduled
with the Company. .
The UE Negotiating Coni-
‘mittee has informed all GE
locals of the situation, ° and
mobiliza: .
immediate. preparations for a,
strike vote.
The Local 301 meeting on
‘Monday approved ‘a petition
~ which ‘notifies “the “UE-GE
- Conference Board that the
GE. offer is unacceptable and
(Continued on Page 8)
.
ELECTRICAL, “UNIO.Ns NEWS. .
:
‘ '
._ Friday, Oct. 5 1951
MEMBERS. APPLAUD
CONVENTION REPORT GE Stalling ¢ On Gri ievances
. Schenectady delegates to the
16th International UE Convention
reported, to the October.1st Mem-
bership Meetings on the unity. and
fighting spirit of the Convention
of 500 delegates from all over the
country.
They told about the ovation
which greeted James Matles and
Julius Emspak when they entered.
the New Yorker Hotel Ballroom
on the afternoon of the first. ses-
sion following the postponemeiit of
the Grand Jury hearings. The
phony proceedings have since been
thrown out of court,
The 801 delegates commented
enthusiastically on the rank and
file character of ‘the convention.
No hig-shots were around to hog,
the floor. From the moment Pres-
ident Albert J. Fitzgerald took the
chair and announced. “we are go-.
ing out. to fight”, .the delegates
from the plants’ took over.
The Schenectady. delegates, alt
members of important convention
committees, testified té the demo-
cratic manner in which‘ resolutions.
on the wage freeze, civil’ rights,
social legislation ‘and foreign po-
licy were drawn * up.” The unity of ©
- the convention expressed itself _in
the full discussion and unanimous
‘adoption of a score of resolutions. .,
‘The three general officers, Fitz-
werald, Emspak and Matles were
unanimously re-clected..
The report on the convention
Was approved by. the membership
meetings,
AN ANTL-UE MAYOR:
“sMayor .Owen Begley - of. Sche-
nectady was branded a -“labor-
hating. mayor, not fit-to’be mayor
of an industrial city” in a vesolu-
tion unanimously adopted at a UE
B01 Membership eee on Oc-
“tober 1 a
The " pesolition veealled. sé that
Mayor Begley backed the Taft-
Hartley Law and flatly rejected a
“plea by UE Local 301 for City
Council intercession® ‘against the
anti-labor law.
It:-was noted that when in 1049,
the Carey-IUE clique set out to
destroy honest trade unionism at
_ Schenectady. GE,..Mayor Begley.
set himself up as a one-man un-
American Activities’ Committee
and sought to place the member-
ship and officers of UE 304 on
trial.
Again in ‘the last election, Mayor
Begley bent-.every effort to weak.
en labor in Schenectady, the reso-
-; lution declared. .
‘of dity property to the JUE-CIO
and himself appeared at an anti-
UE rally,
-He gave.free use.
The Company is refusing
to settle grievances; foremen
in some instances are behav-
“ing with unbelievable arro-
gance.
The Company’ Ss “objective
is to introduce IUE conditions
_in Schenectady.
The: Union is’ not letting
them get away. with it. UE
stewards are on-the joi. .-
Key to the situation is the
wage fight. If we can—and
we CAN—win the wage fight
we can win on inside-the-plant
conditions. Conversely, if we’
don’t go out and lick the Com-
pany. on the all-important
wage front, GE will try to
make life miserable for every
worker, ‘piece worker or day
worker, woman or man, :
GE wants an, open Shop.
That's why it is spinning a
Operation
Organization
Two UE puombers left here
yeslerday { - Morrison, Ik
where GE a producing the Re-
frig. Control Assembly lines.
formerly turned out in Bldg.
52. The job is now being done
under open shop conditions ‘and
wages.
Frank D'Amico and Ida Ca-
prio, both of Bldgs 52, have the
assignment of organizing the -
plant so that it will not threat-
en the wages and employment
sof ‘organized Schenectady work-
ers.
network of open shops in 17.
states. That’s why it wants a .
company-union, like IUE-CIO,
asa bridge to no union.
In Turbine, Management tries [
ride. rough-shod over ‘seniority
rights and ds bringing in people
off the streets for the better jobs.
In, Bldg. 18, the Company is:ov-
erloading workers scandalously,
asking Accumulators to run bat-
tery, trucks, act as Crane Follow-
ers, be exypediters and do paper
work in. their spare time, They
won’t get’ away with it!
Over in Bldg. 46, Supervision is
chiselling on’ the prices of the En-
gine Lathe group on all.” three
shifts. “Supervision says, “take it
_ ror. else!” And. there’s. piece prica
trouble in Bldgs, 69 and 285 where
Management attempts td slash
prices every chance it gets and is
now paying. as low was $1. 19 an
hour.
8
As usual, the Company is taking.
' advantage of the women, despite
_its pretty ads ‘about the “little
woman” surrounded by her glitter. -
ing GE labor-saving appliances.
Girl inspectors handling sensitive
gauges and micrometers are get-
ting the’ “K” rate, lowest: in the
scale. Men’ would probably get
the .“C” rate for the same work.
Why not women?
In Welded Products where the
Union has been catrying-on a.con-
tinuing fight to. keep up prices,
Management is trying to re-evalu-
ate each job with a consequent cut |
“of from’ 50c¢ to $1 an“hour,
In Bldg. 285 and in many others,
_ the Company arbitrarily changes
prices overnight, Over in Bldg
273 where there is upgrading out-
side of seniority, 3rd shift’ inspect-
ors are being arbitrarily downs
graded.
Management refuses to dé any,
thing about the filthy condition
in Chemical — Bldg. 77, where.the™
rats get tangled up in the Glipto
compounds on the floor and die.
In Bldg-*17, the Company refus-
es to ‘pay full compensation to
workers whose clothes were..dam-
aged by acid ‘from: defective bat-
tery trucks,
The Company’s: attitude on these
and many other grievances was
taken up at a meeting between the
Union and Louis Mayo, Plant) Man-
ager yesterday, too late for a re~
port in this:‘issue. of the paper.
Company disrégard for the safety
of its employees was one of the
main’ points on the agenda of this
meeting.
While the Union is fighting with
skill and spirit:on these and other
grievances, the break-through
must come on: the wage front. To
get conditions we can live with, we
must wih wages we can live on!
‘The Story of
The General, Electric Company
did -not come to the bargaining
table’ in. good, faith. On Wednes-
day, September 19, it reeeived the
Union's demands. On the follow-
ing Wednesday, _.it turned all of
them down, (It said, take 2% per-
cent and an-up and down ‘escalator,
Nothing doing on day rates, skilled
xates and women’s rates. Noth-
ding doing on geographical differ. me
cntials, pensions : and insurance.
Nothing doitig on step rates, an
extra paid holiday and three weeks
vacation afler ten years.
Not An Offer.
Tt wasn’t an offer. It was an
ultimatum, It was a declaration
of Company intent to give noth-
ing across the table and take what
it could from the workers through
rate-cutting,
ing, job re-evaluations.
Further talks under the circum-
stances’ were useless, The con-
ference broke up and no new talks
are scheduled.
speed-up downgrad-
; o ° .
Negotiations
The UE Negotiating Committee, ,
of which Leo Jandreau is a me)
ber, has taken this chailenge ba
to “the membership. Preparations
are going forward for the fullest -
mobilization of GE workers every-
where in support of the Union’s
‘demands and.in defence of ‘hard-
won gains.
There. is, no alterna-
tive. : :
‘GE Banks on UE *
The JUE’s announced intention:
of settling for a de minimtim and
dumping day workers, skilled
trades and women, explains in a
large part the Company’s: -atti-
tude. GE is also banking” heavily
on IUE-CIO disruption, ,
“But we can do to’ GE what we
did to its labor agent, IUE-CIO, by.
uniting and fighting back,
be made to change its. mind about
meeting our demands, The first
step is to sign- the petition which
lets the. Company know we intend
to fight every inch of the way: and
to strike if necessary.
UE demanded increases for day workers...
The situation among day workers has progressively
worsened in GE. Whereas in 1946 day workers’ rates were :
15ce an hour below ‘incentive, by Rebtuary Mal, they wi é
2614¢c below,
i
GE offered day workers —- nothing. ©
UE. demanded increases for women, ..
“Despite UL's fi ht on women’s rates, women as of F Febru-
ary 1951 were getting straight ‘time hourly rates-52c under
bbe men’s rates on incentive work and 88¢ under:men’s day
work rates...
GE offered women workers — nothing.
Ne
“Friday, Oct. 5, 1951”
ELEC TRICAL UNION NEWS.
| aap si PLC EON
~ JRE SAYS STRIKES] |
GE can: .
Fa tc eet Bec es
_ PACT SRT BY NON
AND PHELPS DODGE
Terms Withheld Until Ratified
~Settlement Secorid With :
-One of Copper's ‘Big Four’ |
mm DOUGLAS, Ariz, Sept. 27 (Pim,
US. SEEKS 10 AVERT
STOPPAGE ON DOCKS}.
“Carrying: Talks Over Sunday
Deadline Urged as Evening
Work Teuiis Snag Pact
ae atte eta F aves Vp
Ju. A. W. THREATEN, STRIKE
Warns’ Borg-Warner to Pt
le Ten-Plant Cor Contract
sp! Special to Tre (0 THe Neiv Yon ime Al
DETROIT, Sept, 27—The. Borr-|
eae
“| SETTLEMENT REACHED
; IN TRACTOR STRIKE
WASHINGTON, Sept. $27 “Pi—|"
te ete i et
TEXTILE UNION WINS RISE: t
“18,000 Processing Workers Get
A Cents-an-Hour ‘Package’ |°:
STRIKE is AUTHORIZED
uilding Service _ Walkout mee
Bronx Sunday Night Looms -
1]
Appeals to Unions and-Builder:
_ to.End Disputes at 2 Projects
ce
Spectyl if Tun New Yorn Times,
) UPSET ATOM WORK}
'TON, Sept. 2
Steel Union
To Seek |
iPay Boosts
} PITTSBURGH, Sept, 80-UP)
Tee Ve me amalane Ae Ma ITA,
husvALD TRIBUNE,
-- The
’ the
throughout the country are
Strike Threats
And Extension
2 Pacific Unions Settles
Officers ContinticContract
Pty >
State Employes _
To Ask Raise
ALBANY, Oct. 1 (AP)—The
State Clvil Servica Hmployos Asso-
elation nrabahty will ask tha TAR?
Ended by Pacts]
Strike- Powered Wage Drives"
Are Sweeping the Country.
Caught between rising tax-
es and the , widespread sell-out
of CIO and AFL officials to
wage ‘freeze, workers-
pressuring their unions to de-
mand substantial wage in-
creases and strike for them if
necessary. ~~ 2
The. wage-strike movement
is reaching nation-wide di:
mensions and is resulting in
an impressive number of. big
pay boosts.:
Win 19%
Leading*the march to high-
er: wages are such independ-
- ent unions as the Internation-
al Union of Mine, Mill and
Smelter Workers. Unhamp:-
ered by"sell-out officials, the
“eopper workers won a 19140
an hour increase. from tough
Kennecott Copper and this
week followed up with a sim-
ilar settlement with. Phelps
Dodge, one of the — four”
of the copper indasury,
Some 22,000 workers in the Cat: .
erpillar Tractor Company in Pe-
oria, Illinois, hit’ the bricks and
won a 13%
wage increase and. a. graduated
scale which goes up to $8 an hour,
Prior to the successful’ strike the
Company had offered 10c an hour,
" Defy Murray
Its hand forced: by the member-
-ship which sees its living stand- .
“ards crumbling under the blows of
“taxes, and profiteering, UAW-CIO.
plans to. strike 10 plants of the
Borg-Warner Co. ~The’ members
of Phil Murray’s steel- workers are
defying the ‘wage freeze position
of the CIO president: The Assoe-
jated Press sh on September
30:
ting the big union’s~ top. policy
makers-know they want a substan-
tial wage increase, better pensions,
higher Bremiuimn pay and improved
safety programs. im
cents an hour general™
are being forced by
Rank and file militancy ‘algo’ won
for textile workers in New York,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania a
16 1/4. cents an hour padleags «
» which includés' improved pensions. :
The AFL Sailors Union repoits.
that the Pacifie’ Maritime Associ-.
ation “has agreed to
which calls for wage . increases
ranging from $25:to $70 a month. '
Workers in atomic installations
facts of life
as plain as groceries to walk off
the“ job for more money, the
Atomic Energy Commission re-
porting that, in Paducah, Ky. and
Dana, Ind. "alone, -there were 29
strikes by AFL atomic workers in
the past year.
The demand for higher wages to
_ meet higher. taxes and living costs
is’ sweeping ‘the nation. Reports of
“Rank and file members of the *
CIO United Steel Workers. are let-°
successful strikes and of wage set-
Yoments far in’ excess of the wage
ceiling are being: purposely buried
in the press. which,-is trying to
hide-from America’s workers the
rtruth that: how much they get is
strictly up to their ability and
‘fighting spirit.
VICTORY FOR’
UNION SHOP
> An important victory for
the union shop was scored in
the House of Representatives
- when the House Labor Com-
mittee last week approved by
a vote of 12 to 2:a bill which
: eliminates the requirement of
“union
shop election under
NLRB supervision.
Senate Okays Bill
The Union' Shop Bill was pre-
viously passed by*the Setiate.
With statuatory obstacles to
the union ship virtually removed,
‘the union shop petition now circu-
lating in’ the plant should be
speeded up. An. j impressive show
of names will coryince the Com-
pany_t hat-its employees mean bus-
-iness
about having job security
through a union.shop, Ib will alsa
cdemonstrate’to the Company that
its - employees are united. behind
their union and theht y wage de-
mands.
“Tf you hheien' Signed up, ask -
your. steward or a board member
for .a petition today. Your job is
more secure in. w union shop!
UE Mobilizing for Showdown
(Continued from Page 1) *
that a strike is in order if a
satisfactory settlement can-
_not be obtained thyongtr’ ne-
gotiations.
The petition, which is ‘now
being circulated in the Sche-
nectady plant, states in its
conclusion: ,
THE UNDERSIGNED
BERS . OF
FIND. THE GE OFFER UN-
ACCEPTABLE. WE IN-
STRUCT THE NATIONAL
NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
TO NOTIFY :THE COMPANY
'O THIS, EFFECT.
"THAT IF A. SATISFACTORY
MEM-
SETTLEMENT CANNOT BE.
REACHED THROUGH NEGO-
Point of Information
There have been. some questions .
asked about SECTION: 9 (e) (1)°
in our union shop petition.
Section 9 (e) (1) of the Act
states that. at least 30%
inust’ authorize the, union..to ask
the employer for a union shop; the
NRLB then preceeds-to hold an -
election.
UE, LOCAL. 301"
WE SAY |
plants will deal . with the wage
of the
employees in a bargaining unit -
TIATION. WE, THE MEMBERS
‘OF UE LOCAL 301, STAND
READY.TO STRIKE al NEC-
ESSARY. ;
In an effort to prevent sstoiane
of the. wage fight by IUE-CIO
leaders, the UE Conference Board
has prepared ia series of leaflets
for distribution at IUE plants,
‘The’ first leaflet has been distri- .
“We Need
buted, It is headed
Real Money,” sand urges IUE
members not to Jet the IUE nego-
tiators “scuttle the fight alk GE
workers must make together to
meet their needs.” Other UE leaf-
lets scheduled to.go into IUE
problems of day “workers, skilled
chee ades and women.
ELECTRICAL UNION NEWS
UNITED RLMOTRICAL, RADIO &
MACTUNE WORKSRS OF AMERICA
Schenveludy- GE Loew 80 UE
SST aC
Published by the Editorial Com,
Asst Rocording Secrulary....Frank D'Amico
“Troasurer <a: Henry Kaminski
Vice-President -- deseph Mangino
John P. Green
~ Willlam: Kolly-
James Cognotta
- Leo Jandreau
SCHENECTADY, N, Y.
*Chtof Shop Stew
Business Agant ~
301. LIBERTY ‘ST.
a package -
